Hallowe'en in Spain

I left the house for the first time today about an hour ago (I'm a bit under the weather) and on my walk to the shop I realised it was the first time it had actually felt like autumn in Seville. In the past week the temperature has dropped quite a bit, but the monsoon like rain and sunshine which follows makes it feel like a confused version of spring. I tried to work out why it felt so autumnal, and that's when I copped that it was literally in the air! Something somewhere was burning, and that smell and the chilly weather for me created such a familiar feeling of Halloween that I was able to ignore the fact that it probably wasn't a bonfire and rather something actually burning.

blurry

You see, Halloween doesn't seem to be a big thing here at all, whereas at home people start thinking about it weeks in advance. I can only guess that children have parties in school because there's certainly not much trick or treating, no bangers, no bonfires, and no monkey nuts in the supermarkets. I've seen a few in costumes, such as the little witch in the post office yesterday, but that's really it.  I would consider myself a Halloween person just because I like dressing up, but I have to admit that I've also missed the decorations, the excitement and the brack :) I also love Halloween because it marks the mid point in autumn after which you can start thinking about Christmas (which I intend to do). There are costumes and decorations for sale in some shops but not many up around the place. The girls on the tills in my local supermarket were more in the spirit of things than anyone else I've seen.

didn't want to be creepy and ask, so I was creepy and took it as I left :D

A Spanish friend just put up a status on Facebook "Do you all remember when we were little and dressed up and went from house to house asking for sweets? Me neither." Which leads me to believe that any Halloween traditions here are probably new ones that have come out of watching American films and television in the last decade or so.

Anyway, the fact that the general population and indeed a good chunk of the Erasmus students don't really see anything out of the ordinary about the 31st of October (French and German friends trying to get into the swing of things apparently purchased a butternut squash instead of a pumpkin and have carved it) makes me worry that even this pitiful effort at a costume will get me some strange looks if I do go out.

I'll let you know how it goes, Happy Hallowe'en, however you're spending it!

Being a Tourist: The Real Alcázar

I know the sightseeing posts are a smidge dull, but I couldn't think of anything else and look, a collage! I'll be more original next time :)

ooh.

The Real Alcázar in Seville is one of the most beautiful places I have been to in Spain so far. I'm very glad I went (with my mam) on one of the last very nice days we've had (autumn has come in) because I think you really have to see the gardens in sunshine to get the full benefit. Like many of the places I've been visiting, I had no idea what it was before I went, and just walked around enjoying the pretty. I have done some of my Wikipedia research for you all though and can tell you that this palace was originally a Moorish fort and is a UNESCO world heritage site. So there you are, two intelligent things you can say if you ever go there.

The gardens and the rooms of the palace itself are really beautiful, and it's conveniently located right beside the Cathedral so there's no reason not to go. We waited for almost an hour in a queue, but it was worth it because you could easily spend 3 or more hours (weather permitting obviously) just having a good wander around. They even have a café!

Anyway, two thumbs up from me for this one. A good time had by all. 

Talk soon x

Being a Tourist: The Mushroom

The Metropol Parasol or, as the locals call it, The Mushroom, is one of the newer tourist attractions in Sevilla. Opened in 2011, this huge wooden structure (largest in the world apparently, aren't they great) provides an interesting distraction from the pretty yet run of the mill surrounding architecture of the Plaza de la Encarnación and earns its nickname from the fact that, well, it looks like a giant fungal growth.

That is the first time I have ever typed the words giant fungal growth in succession and I sincerely hope that it is the last.

seriously though imagine this growing on a tree

The Mushroom is open during the day and until late some nights, admission is €1.35 (free for citizens of Sevilla, but I doubt there are many of them here) and for that you can access the viewing platform on top of the structure, from which you get a view of Seville which rivals that of the Cathedral's Giralda. Also there's more space to walk around :) There's even a bar up there, they couldn't fit that at the top of the Cathedral.

you can run along the paths and everything.

Apparently its design wasn't very well received at first, and you can understand why. It's fun to have around but well... it's not exactly subtle is it? Less "misunderstood masterpiece like the Eiffel Tower", more "what the hell is that?". Underneath the Mushroom are shops and restaurants, as well as the Antiquarium of Sevilla, which I was going to talk about here but the post is too long already, so we'll get back to it. For some much better pictures of the Mushrooms which give you an idea of its scale, see this article. Everything about that article is better, forget everything you've read here and go read that. Until next time, besos x

How I Get Around

Transport. It's something you have to think about when you need to move your body from the place where you are to another place which is a distance from where you are. It's also something that wasn't at the forefront of my mind living in the suburbs in Dublin. I got buses to college and town, I got taxis home from nights out, I walked the short distances and if the short distances weren't quite short enough on a given day I got a lift.

Here, however, I live in a city centre location (I have struggled in vain to think of an area of Dublin I could compare it to, the layout here is so different. You shall all have to visit me I suppose.) Most of the distances are short, and the ones that seem long aren't really, a half an hour's walk isn't much. To get to where I need to go, I use three forms of transport.

1) Bicicleta or Bicycle or Beeheecleha (Andalucian for Bicicleta, credit to Deirdre for that one).

I have very recently become a member of Sevici, Seville's city bike rental scheme. For 28 euro for a whole year you can have access to 2500 bikes which are located at over 200 parking stations. As long as your journey is under 30 minutes, which in central Seville they usually would be, each use is free. Lots of European cities have something like this, including Dublin, but you have to hand it to Seville for pulling it off so well. There are cycle lanes everywhere and its a very convenient and safe way to get around. Snaps for Ayuntamiento de Sevilla. The only disadvantage is the somewhat less than attractive appearance you might have when you arrive at your destination having cycled in 30 degree heat (It's still hot. Fingers crossed autumn arrives before winter, otherwise that's just confusing.) and the danger of arriving at a full station and having to find somewhere else to park your bike, which seems to happen a lot in the morning at the University.

bus ticket (pretty) and sevici card (functional)

2) Autobús or Bus (duh)

The bus system is pretty good in Seville, they run frequently and until the same time of night as in Dublin, with  I think a few more night buses. It's €1.30 for a single ticket regardless of where you're going, no need to pretend to be getting off at an earlier stop here, and you can also get bus cards (which the majority of people seem to use) for 10 journeys which are (I think) top-up-able (not a word) and which end up costing almost half the price for each journey. The problem I've encountered has been that the buses to some of the more far flung places I've needed to go to all leave from a more central location, such as near the University or on a main road. How do I get to these places? My favourite mode of transport of all...

3) Yo or Me
I walk. I walk a lot. I like walking. My shoes are going to be worn through by the time I get back to Ireland. Walking deserves its own post to be honest so I can talk about it at length. I cycle when I don't have time to walk, I get the bus when walking would take so long it would be impractical. Otherwise, it's me and my two feet.

I'm definitely writing a whole post about walking.

Students May Find The System A Bit Slow At First

I have neglected you, I apologise. I wish I could say it was because I've been so busy going to all my classes and reading and doing assignments... but the truth is I have been run off my feet achieving very little. Happens a lot in my life.

it has a recipe for soup and all

 Allow me to explain, the title of this post is from the year abroad handbook from my university at home, regarding the administration here in the University of Seville... and my they weren't lying. Assembling a timetable and choosing classes should not be difficult, and it's not. And yet it is. Everything takes forever to happen and yet it's already over by the time I get there. And it's interesting yet I don't understand it. And there feels like there's no pressure to go anywhere or indeed to do anything and yet it is so unbelievably stressful.

 I can't even explain, it's almost like you're standing in a crowded corridor and everyone else is just standing still and chatting and occasionally moving one step forward but then they stop again, and you're in the middle of the crowd, and there is a HUGE FIRE at the other end of the corridor but you're the only one who can see it, or at least you think you must be because no one else is panicking, or maybe you've just gone mad. The feeling is "I should do something... but... no one else... should I... what?"

Wow I think I just summed up Spain. 

Hopefully tomorrow I will hand in my form thing and that will be the end of the madness and I'll finally have a  timetable and *gasp* a routine (this elusive routine remains out of reach, I'm convinced it will solve every problem I've ever had. Worryingly, the past month and a bit has revealed me to be a creature of habit who loves order and planning... no wonder I don't fit in). Or maybe there'll just be more confusion and not-panic-yet-panic. 

Stay tuned for more non-adventures. I'll stop being so boring once I have a routine ;)

A Month of Sundays

"If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work" This line from Henry IV is what my mother has always used to try to make me accept going back to school after summer, or Christmas, or a weekend. Use Shakespeare to communicate with your children. Anyway, it never really reached me because, well, I don't like work? However, after almost one month in Sevilla without any definite routine and purpose to my days, I am going entirely stir crazy. Yes we've gone out and made friends, and it was important to get to know the city, but lord above yo vuelvo loca! Spending too much money, wasting time, either not eating or eating far too much... This holiday/I am an unemployed waster feeling is really getting old. I'm exhausted doing nothing. Classes start properly today, we hope, so finally I'll know what I'm doing and when. Granted, we have more hours than we thought we would (23 1/2! What am I, a first year General Science person?!) so this is going to be no walk in the park... in fact I'll probably be crying to various people over Skype in less than a week about how "it's toooo haaaaaard it's not faaaaaair". But seriously, I need a reason to get up in the mornings other than "It's sunny out".

please let there be one person in here who wants to teach me.

And while we're talking about Sundays in Sevilla... no, I'll get to that later.