The Inspirational Surroundings of Seville

With exams right around the corner, we found the time to enjoy our stay here. During the semester, we had a lot of work to do, from essays, to projects, to exams. To be honest, the workload here is not what we expected. We have a lot of studying to do in preparations for our classes. We expected to have more free time to travel and enjoy the life in Seville. Well, at least we got some rain here, so studying is not that hard!

With all the workload, we still found some time to travel and enjoy the time here.

I (Shani) got the chance to travel around Andalusia. I got the chance to visit Cordoba, Malaga, Granada, Ronda, and Cadiz when I traveled outside of Seville. In Cordoba, I got to visit the Mosque- Cathedral of Cordoba, a building that was once a Mosque, and turned into a Cathedral. It was interesting to see the architecture, and how there are mixed styles in it, like seeing the style that is very common for mosques with church characteristics. 

In Granada, I got the chance to walk around the walls of Alhambra, which is complex of palaces built by different sultans. Just walking around and seeing the park and the city is inspiring to see. Going to Malaga, I got the chance to see the city center, with the architecture that is familiar to Andalusia. Also, I went to the formal Picasso Museum in Malaga, the birth place of Picasso.

Ronda is a city split in two by a valley, and the two parts are connected by a chain of bridges. I found it amazing how people live there. I got the chance to see the city from the valley, by walking down in gardens created during the Arab times. I was briefly in Cadiz, walking around the old part of the city, enjoying the views, and passing by the Cathedral that is in the center.

Seville is such a perfect place to stay if you want to do a lot of traveling. From Friday to Sunday, I (Vivien) went to Northern Morocco. It was such an interesting experience and seemed like a totally different world. Next week, I will go skiing in Sierra Nevada and two days later, I will be sitting in the Sahara desert of Africa. How amazing is that?! And in between I will quickly write the Spanish exam, study for the two upcoming exams and enjoy some Christmas vibes. It is a lot of stress, but it’s great like that and I wouldn’t like to miss any of those unique opportunities.

With Christmas coming soon, we can start feeling the holidays spirit that is filling the air around the city. Seville is covered with Christmas lights, and people are enjoying the sunny days that are sneaking out between the cold and rainy days, by sitting outside eating tapas and drinking beer. Walking in the city center, we see Christmas markets around, but they are not comparable to the German ones. 🙂

We found that we have mixed feelings about the culture here and the people. On the one hand, they are very happy and warm. They know how to enjoy life and are always very friendly to the foreigners. On the other hand, when we are in a rush, they decide to stop in the middle of the way and seem a bit ignorant about the surroundings and block the way. Spanish people are also very loud and not notice that there are people in their surroundings trying to work.

With three weeks left till the end of the semester here, we exploit every single sparkle that December in Seville is offering.

Sincerely,

Vivien and Shani