Beach, Party, University
, Seville
By now I feel like I got used to living here and have a little routine.
Until now I didn't see many tourist places as I've seen most when I was here for the first time. Maybe the only touristy thing was Real Alcázar which is a beautiful royal palace in the Mudéjar style. It's always worth a visit, even multiple times.
The next day (Sunday, September 4) there was an Erasmus beach trip to Barbate, Spain. Their tradition of tuna fishing can already be seen on the streets with their restaurants and a tuna museum I could see from the bus while arriving in the morning, shortly after having the first beer.
We started out by laying on the beach and having more beer and Sangría. Later, we played flunkyball, there was a DJ and we had a beach party at the bar. I only had a little snack and some pasta salad from someone else during that day, which is very disadvantageous if you meet people and buy each other drinks. In the evening I may or may not have asked my friends where the bus is while standing right next to it...
The following week I tried out Sevici, the city's bike sharing system, for the first time. It only costs 30€ to 40€ for a year and you get access to a widely-distributed network of bike stations. You can go up to a station, easily unlock a bike through the app and go to a different station to drop it off again. The bikes may be a bit heavy but I think it works really well.
With a flatmate I used Sevici to try out the nearest outdoor fitness park we could find. On the route I noticed that especially near our house, using a bike can be a bit stressful because there is no bike lane and the streets can become very narrow with a sidewalk that is so small you can barely walk on it, nevermind ride a bike. Since then my preferred method for going longer distances has been the bus.
The bus system here is also not optimal, though. Today it's only the sixth day of university for me and it already happened twice that the bus just didn't come and I had to either get a bike or a less-optimal line. The other times it seemed like the buses are also not very punctual.
By now, indoor clubs are also opening and there are Erasmus parties happening at Monasterio which is just two minutes from our house. I think the Erasmus parties are not my favorite as they are too crowded. What I enjoy more is our rooftop nights.
On Saturday, September 10 there was also a techno festival going on which I think was the best night until now. It took place at the olympic stadium and while walking there the navigation made us go through a street that was the beginning of the highway and it had no sidewalk. All other ways would have been way to far at this point so we walked a bit on the side of the street and behind the metal rail thingy. We got a few scratches but it worked, so after like an hour of walking we could finally get in.
Well, at least my friends did but my ticket... Let's say it had an issue for simplification. So at this point I had to think if it was worth it for me to pay the entrance fee or go home. Also keeping in mind that the next day there was a beach trip again with a meeting time of 8:15 AM. I was almost going home but I started talking to some random Spanish people on the street who just arrived. They ended up giving me a VIP ticket. I'm still not sure what I could have used the VIP for but I was just happy they got me in. Of course, I bought them some beer.
The beach trip on the next day was going to Benagil, Portugal which is part of the Algarve. We went to the Benagil Cave by Kayak and were going around the beautiful coast for 1.5 hours. This time I was sleepy from the night but the bus drive went better than the week before...
On Monday the classes started. Unfortunately, it was September 12. I thought I might not even go out but at least after university I got some coffee and salty caramel chocolate cake at El Viajero Sedentario. It was so good! And in the evening I had some red wine and ended up having pizza with a flatmate in a restaurant at Alameda. Not too bad.
On Tuesday I showed up at the psychology faculty at 8 AM. I didn't get any information about what groups I got assigned to or what the abbreviations on the timetable on the internet even mean which is why I and three other Erasmus students showed up for nothing. We just had breakfast in the uni café until the actual lecture started at 10 AM. At least it was interesting.
Until now I really like the courses and understanding the language mostly also isn't a problem. Thursday is my only day without any university event (sometimes maybe also Friday).
Now last Sunday I went to Cádiz with a few friends. We got a ticket that allows us to use the train between Seville and Cádiz for free if we travel the route 16 times until the end of the year, so basically 8 Cádiz trips. Otherwise it only costs 20€ which is already cheaper than getting a normal two-way ticket once.
I think there is not too much to see in Cádiz. Besides beaches we basically only saw the cathedral, a nice park, and a castle. Which was good but I'd mainly go there for the beach. In basically two hours you can be at the beach from Seville. After coming back we went to 100 montaditos. It's a chain that sells little sandwiches with lots of different toppings. Every Sunday and Wednesday they offer most of them for one euro. It's really good.
Now I'll eat some tortilla for dinner and start winding down. Tomorrow's class starts at 8 AM (actually).
By the way, I still didn't unpack my baggage completely. ;)