Mixed Thoughts About Sevilla
After my first week in Sevilla, all I can say is that I have mixed feelings regarding this city. I always thought of Sevilla as a too hot, too sunny city, but I arrived on a rainy day (right after a storm that filled the streets and cars with fallen oranges) and have seen the sun just for one or two hours in 2 different days.
And it’s damn cold in our apartment, especially at night! We’re taking turns with the only electrical heater we had and try to warm up every room before going to sleep (can’t leave that old thing turned on during the night – it looks like a hazardous device waiting to catch fire any second).
Honestly, deep down I felt a bit disappointed because my high expectations of warm weather were not met.
But on the other hand…
Sevilla surprises you at every corner. From a large boulevard you go through a narrow street, pass by old edifices and right after the corner you land in a plaza with amazing architecture of Islamic influence. Also, the variety of textures everywhere is spectacular!
Oh, and the smell of yummy food that fills your nostrils… You can’t help but feel hungry on the streets of Sevilla! It’s tough to stay on a budget when every street has at least one deliciously-looking tavern waiting to fill your belly with amazing tapas and bebidas. I’m on a tough quest to try everything they have to offer on my stay here.
Except the oranges from the trees. Never again! Do not try that! I repeat: DO NOT TRY THAT! We did it and… bleah. The most bitter orange I have ever tasted! Everybody laughs at us when we tell the story. Apparently it is known that the orange trees on the street are just for the looks and the smells when blossoming (and for selling them as marmalade with tons of added sugar…).
Anyway, the people are so talkative, anywhere and anytime (a woman was making small talk with the ticket vendor from a news stand, while it was raining and people where waiting patiently in line – is it that nobody hurries here?!), always willing to help us, explain us stuff, give us directions. They also like to guess our nationality and so far their first guesses were Greek, Polish, Serbian and Italian. When we reveal we’re Romanian… well, I should write a whole article about the types of reactions we get (not all of them are fully positive, unfortunately).
The Spanish language seems so difficult to understand here, they talk SO FREAKING FAST, link words and never pronounce the letter ‘s’ at the end of the words. And it also seems to me they have different pronunciation for some words… or even completely different words for the same thing. But they don’t mind repeating stuff as many times as you need to understand. They’re also very good at understanding what your pantomiming (extremely useful in supermarkets).
Little secret? I miss my home.. but I can’t wait to discover more!
Pues.. hasta luego!