After our time in Morocco, we flew from Marrakech to Seville. It was a quick flight, less than 1.5 hours. We had beautiful, sunny weather in Seville which made exploring the city more enjoyable.

We stayed in an apartment near Setas de Sevilla, which is a massive wooden structure in Plaza de la Encarnación. It has curved, lattice-like canopies resembling a cluster of giant mushrooms (hence the name, as ‘setas’ is the spanish word for mushrooms).

It has a rooftop walkway & viewing platform that offer panoramic views of the Seville skyline.

I got back to running while we were in Seville, which was nice. Took the following picture on one of my morning runs.

Our first day in Seville, we crossed over the water to the Triana neighborhood. We enjoyed lunch at the Triana Market, a local market that has been in operation for over two centuries.

After some time in Triana, we went back to the other side of the water to explore the main sites of the city.

In the backdrop of the picture above is the Seville Cathedral and its iconic Giralda tower. The tower was originally the minaret of the Great Mosque of Seville, during the 12th century when the area was under Moroccan rule. Interestingly, it is strikingly similar to the Koutoubia Minaret in Marrakech (where we were the day before!). Both were built under the same dynasty and it’s believed that the Giralda in Seville was inspired by the Koutoubia in Marrakech.

In lieu of paid admission to the Seville Cathedral, we went to mass there that night. The mass was entirely in Spanish and I’m fairly certain we were the only non-locals in attendance.

The next day, we rented a car to spend the day hiking in the Sierra Morena de Sevilla Natural Park.

It was a little Fiat. It worked out well to have something small to navigate all the tight streets. I’m glad that Jay did the driving as I would have been too nervous navigating all the roundabouts and winding roads. I was in charge of navigating and that was challenging enough.

From the village of Cazalla de la Sierra we hiked through pastures, orchards, olive groves and vineyards.

After Seville, we took the train to Córdoba which was the Roman and Moorish capital of Spain. We stayed in an apartment in San Basilio, a charming neighborhood in the old city.

Córdoba is famous for the stunning Mezquita, a former mosque turned cathedral (like Seville).

We ascended the steps up the Bell Tower to the different viewing levels which offered panoramic vistas of Córdoba’s historic landscape. 

Another iconic site in Córdoba is the historic Roman Bridge. It was originally constructed in the early 1st century BC.

From Córdoba, we spent a day doing a long stretch on one of the Camino de Santiago routes (the Ruta Mozárabe Norte de Córdoba). We made it a point-to-point hike by taking the bus back to Córdoba at the end of the day.

We ended our hike in the town of Cerro Muriano, where we visited the ruins of an old copper mine. Archaeological findings suggest that mining in this region dates back thousands of years.

Nearby was the natural rock formation ‘La Piedra Horadada’ (The Pierced Stone).

From Córdoba, we took the train to Madrid, our last stop before Jay flies back home. I’m stay a few more weeks to study Spanish.

We arrived in Madrid late Sunday afternoon. I started Spanish classes on Monday morning and then Jay flew back home Tuesday morning. We didn’t have too much time to explore Madrid together, but we did hit some of the main sites.

And now, Jay is back home and I’m focused on studying Spanish for a few weeks. I’m doing an intensive Spanish program through Enforex. They have schools in 11 cities in Spain and courses commence every Monday. This week, I did classes in Madrid, next week I’ll be in Salamanca, and my final week will be in Valencia.

The last time I took a Spanish class was back in college, which was now 25 years ago! I’ve unfortunately lost a lot of my Spanish since then. I’m hoping this jump starts my relearning. It’s a life goal of mine to become fluent in Spanish and I’m thankful for the opportunity to dedicate some time toward that now.

At 8:00a on Monday morning, I took a placement exam upon arrival at the school. There were three parts… a multiple choice exam, a written exam, and an oral exam. I tested on the cusp of A2/B1, so they decided to put me in A2 this week as a refresher and then the next two weeks I will be in B1. There are 6 levels of language proficiency, from beginner to near-native: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. I asked ChatGPT how long it takes the average person to progress through all the levels and this was the response. Needless to say, I’ve got a lot more to learn!

While I’m in Spain, I have 5 hours of classes a day, Monday through Friday. The teachers have been excellent and the classes are small (6-7 students).

This week, I was the lone older student amongst all the college-age students. And, I was the only one from the United States. In my classes were students from France, China, Luxembourg, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan. I enjoyed the diversity. I’m curious to see what the schools will be like in Salamanca and Valencia.

But for now, time to go to bed as I’m running the Madrid Half Marathon in the morning!