My unforgettable Erasmus experience in Seville

Hey everyone! Hola a todos!

So I was extremely lucky to be able to spend the second semester of my Erasmus experience (from February 2017 until June 2017) in the wonderful city of Seville, southern Spain. I can safely say that my experience of living in Seville has by far been the best 4 months of my life! The famous music group that created the 'Macarena' song is from Seville and if you follow this link: La Macarena, you can listen to a song that they made about the city called 'Sevilla tiene un color especial' (Seville has a special colour).

I can definitely say that I had the most authentic Andalusian experience in a city so full of culture and architectural beauty. The only negative aspect of my stay in Seville was the infamous intense heat from around May onwards where it would reach heights of 37 degrees (ouch), making it unbearable to walk around outside. Of course, in such heat it would be a miracle to be able to wander down to the sea and cool down and obviously this is impossible in a city with no beach (another slightly bad thing), however, via coach or BlaBla car it is possible to get to Matalascañas beach or even Cadiz beach in about 2 hours.

I managed to arrange my accomodation fairly easily before I was due to arrive in the city. I used the EasyPiso website to search for shared flats/houses and then contacted various landlords via whatsapp - using my knowledge of Spanish! I ended up choosing a shared home in the well-to-do Arenal area of the city centre. The house resembled a small palace and it was absolutely stunning - I had a balcony that overlooked the street full of traditional Sevillian houses. If you're currently searching for some accomodation in Seville just send me a message and I can give you the details of my old landlady! The house was in the most ideal location, only a 5/10 minutes walk from the main city centre hustle and bustle.

First of all, I'll talk about the principle favourite things that I got up to during my stay:

1. My housemates and I would take regular trips to Maria Luisa park, a beautiful widespread area of greenery a mere 10 minute walk from the centre of the city. Here you find lots of little lakes, fountains and picturesque views, it's a perfect spot to come to for an afternoon stroll or to come to relax with a book or picnic. In the photo below you'll see my 2 friends and I posing rather fabulously in the park in May (when it was scorching hot! )



2. La Plaza de España - this is an incredible plaza featuring a variety of different Moorish architectual styles, situated within the Maria Luisa park. You can hire peddle bikes or if you're feeling suave you can ride on the back of a horse and carriage. It's definitely another location in Seville where you can take a stroll whilst occasionally hiding in the shade from the sun! Below is a photo of myself standing on one of the breathtaking bridges in the plaza, this was late February and as you can see, I'm more or less dressed for summer already!



3. Evening drinks with a view of the iconic Giralda cathedral tower. My friends and I would frequently spend our afternoons/evenings at La Terraza de EME rooftop bar with a view that overlooks the cathedral. The drinks here are on the pricey side (around 15 euros for a cocktail) but I feel as though it's definitely worth it to buy a cocktail and admire the beautiful view of the tower and other buildings in the city. The cocktails are scrumptious also!



4. Evenings spent eating jamon and peanuts, relaxing by the river Guadalquivir. My friends and I would prepare mini picnics (usually Sunday hangover afternoons) and sit by the river that overlooks the other side of the bridge, Triana. Many other people had the same ingenious idea and sit and admire the view with their loved ones. I would highly recommend venturing to the other side of the river, to the famous Triana where you'll find heaps of riverside restaurants and bars. You can relax with a glass of natural orange juice whilst being serenaded by a group of Spanish singers with their guitars.



5. La casa de Pilatos - a magnificent 16th century palace located centrally. I often visited this historical site and wandered around the palace gardens whilst admiring the traditional Islamic Mudejar architecture. You can see the palace interiors and, if you like, there's also a guided tour available. During Semana Santa (Easter holy week) my friend and I received the extremely lucky opportunity to go up onto the main large balcony (you have to have a special pass for this) and we got to see the processions from high up! Here we are in our (unintentional) matching outfits, admiring the truly impressive view.

Now I will share with you the 2 incredible Andalusian cultural experiences that I had:

1. La Feria de Sevilla

   Wow oh wow, what an experience! The 'Feria' is a massive aspect of Sevillian life and occurs once a year, in May. People come from far and wide for this momentous occasion, forking out hundreds for their outfits and coming prepared to party hard for a solid 7 days straight. My friends and I knew that we just HAD to experience this in the most authentic way so we each bought the traditional Flamenco dresses (I Bought mine second hand for 30 euros and then sold it again afterwards! ). It took place over the bridge in the beautiful Triana, the Feria itself was like a miniature town in itself full of horse drawn carriages and many hundred of 'Casetas' which are essentially little rooms that each family or organization would drink at during their time spent there. The private Casetas were very exclusive, however, with our established contacts (hehe) we managed to spend our entire week in various different Casetas, dancing the traditional Sevillanas dances that we had been practicing from Youtube and drinking endless rebujitos (a spritz-like drink). The day began in the morning and finished at around 3am each night so you can imagine how exhausted we were at the end of the week, not to mention our aching bodies after wearing the heavy and slightly burdonsome dresses (all worth it though, of course! ) My friend and I even got the rare opportunity to ride a horse drawn carriage! We were invited by a group of Spanish men which of course was the perfect opportunity to practice our Spanish! We indulged in local Jamon and I ended up trying a bull's tail croquette (I found out afterwards eek). If you will be in Seville for the Feria, then I cannot emphasise enough how much you need to experience it and make the effort to go! I noticed that many Sevillians seemed impressed that a bunch of English girls made such an effort to experience some authentic culture.



2. Semana Santa (Easter holy week)

   A religious festival where the average Sevillian will receive a large quantity of days off work, however, its near enough impossible to get from A to B. The streets are full of processions as the masses stand and watch in awe. What I loved about this experience was how passionate everyone seemed to be about it. Thousands of people flooding the streets would stand behind the barriers to watch the bands march and the lucky individuals that were allowed to carry the various floats of Christ. I would suggest to avoid the streets at certain times if you have places to be during this week as it can be almost impossible to cross the roads due to the countless processions going on.

My favourite restaurant :

Los Coloniales (Website)

There are 2 of these restaurants both located in the city centre. The restaurant is so popular that it is impossible to book, you have to simply turn up and hope that the queue isn't too long and stick your name on the waiting list. Typically my friends and I have had to wait for up to 30 minutes at a time which might seem long but once you've had the chance to dine there you will see why its worth the wait. The restaurant serves extremely high quality, local tapas at crazy low prices. For example, you can choose a selection of tapas (usually 2 or 3 tapas per person as the portions are large) at around 3 euros per dish! A bargain! My favourite tapa would have to be the ham stuffed croquettes or the fried squids. Trust me, once you visit this restaurant you'll soon see how quickly you become addicted!

My favourite night clubs:

1. Casino Terraza (Facebook Page)

   This is a rather exquisite club where everyone dresses smartly. Many Friday nights were spent here. From around May onwards the club is more or less entirely spread over the outside terrace area and its a truly attractive location with a great atmosphere to match. The only down side is that usually to be able to get in you have to be on a guest list, however, my friend and I befriended one of the door men and he would let us in each time! Usually we would spend a lot of the night in the VIP area as we would frequently get invited to spend time there!



2. MKC Lounge

   Located where many other bars and clubs are, on Paseo de Cristóbal Colón, this bar/ night club always had such a fantastic atmosphere where you could sit down and smoke some shisha if that's your thing or dance if you're feeling energetic! Drinks are cheap and obviously the great thing about bartenders in Spain is that they're not required to measure out spirits before adding a mixer- thus you're getting more for your money! I got to know many people when going to this bar and would usually go here most Friday/Saturday nights for a few drinks before deciding on the next place to go to.

Finally,

The beautiful Seville has a very special place in my heart and I will be making a return visit very soon. I miss the relaxed 'mañana' Spanish lifestyle and the friendliness of the locals. If you're planning on an experience in Seville any time soon it would be an absolute pleasure for me to give you more advice/tips that you may want - simply send me a message or alternatively follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/anyamoen, where you will also find a vast array of photos from my stay in Seville.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post,

Anya x