Katholische Universität San Antonio de Murcia, Spanien

The journey begins!

Five Brazilians, another German and I made our way to Andalusia during the first weeks of our stay abroad. More precisely, our journey took us to the two wonderful cities of Seville and Granada.

After a 5 hour ride in our rented Volkswagen bus, in the evening we arrived in the Andalusian capital Seville at our centrally located Airbnb apartment.

The next day we painted Seville red and what can I say, it really is as beautiful as it is described in every travel guide and on every website. At the beginning of March there weren't many tourists in the city and so we were lucky to discover "Seville at its best".

What I found particularly impressive were the buildings that looked so different from the typical Spanish construction style due to their Moorish influence. The Giralda (the bell tower of the cathedral), the Plaza de España and the Royal Palace Alcázar are the landmarks of Seville. In general, visiting these places means immersing yourself in another world.

However, what impressed me most was the "Metropol Parasol". We went there exactly at the perfect time, at sunset, and had an amazing view over the whole city and could enjoy the last rays of sunshine before we had to take out our scarves again because it is still quite cold at night at this time of year.

When I think of Seville, I can't stop to wax lyrical about that city. That’s why I was curious whether our next stop in Granada would be just as great...

Already days before we left, I had tried to buy tickets for the famous and most important city castle "Alhambra" online, since this is Granada’s famous landmark. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to buy the tickets online and so we had to get along without tickets. The next days, someone gave us the hint that there is a hotel in the middle of the city, which still sells tickets and so we were really lucky to get the last tickets. The "Alhambra" is really fascinating. No wonder that the gardens and buildings of the Islamic rulers are called "the most beautiful evidence of Moorish architecture in Europe". But Granada also has a lot to offer besides the "Alhambra". For example, you can stroll through the narrow streets and drink a cup of coffee or tea in one of the small cafés.

When we came back to Murcia, the temperatures dropped a bit again. Meanwhile, I have the feeling that the Spaniards in general are not really prepared for colder temperatures. I also asked my fellow students... in hardly any flat you can find permanently installed heaters. Kilian (who is also studying at the FHWS in Würzburg and is also completing his semester abroad at the UCAM) and I directly equipped ourselves with warm blankets during the first weeks. That was really necessary, because the small fan heater didn't really help us not to feel cold.

All in all I can already say after this time that it is great to travel to Spain and simply be away from home for a certain time to become even more independent, learn to master crisis situations alone and get to know myself better.