Posted by Invariably wherever I go, one of my evaulations is whether I feel I could live there, if only for a year or tow or more. So far in Europe, only Malta would be a ‘one year’ decision. Amsterdam, Roma – no. But I feel at ease in southern España. Like much of trible’ yet cosmopolitan Europe, it’s got those quaint old-world narrow alleys & streets. The closed-in urban life that probably characterised New York City’s immigrant neighborhoods before the sprawl.
Life here is slow, not molasses but a natural, relaxed pace. I had a late dinner on getting in to the city; it was only an hour and a half. I am an instinctively slow walker; here I feel almost fast-paced.
Sevilla’s cathedral and tower are immense. The Lonely Planet say that the architects wanted to construct such a structure that their descendents would think them mad. I think they were mad – geniuses but mad. What I enjoyed most was the Alcazar and its gardens. They were beautiful and peaceful. And within those walls, the Ducks waddled and quacked, free from the trappings of modern society.
Sevilla is a nice culinary treat. Paella. Good food. After my utter disappointment with the level of service in Roma, it was nice to visit a place that had the audacity to seat a solo traveller.
I met up with one of Aziz’s old friend, Puja. We had coffee adn talked of living abroad and the difficulties faced by Steelers fans away from the motherland. She finds bars and other sports joints to see the team, staying up to crazy hours of the night. Two years ago, her mom was nervous about going to India because she didn’t want to miss Superbowl XL. I have texted friends from across the Atlantic to get scores, stayed up till all hours of the night to watch my team and talked to many ex-pats who have gone to work super sleepy the next day after staying up late themselves.
