Seville Diary Pt.3: The Spirit of Sevilla

Written January 2023 via journal. Photos via my phone + disposable camera.

This trip was what inspired me to start Abby’s Mancave. I hope you enjoyed the diary entries, thank you.

Few places in my lifetime have filled me with childlike wonder quite like this place.

The first thing that stuck out to me was the people. They all carried with them a presence, a spirit. The eagerness, confidence, and easiness of living. They spoke with vigor and acted with directness. Many had traveled and lived in other places, but Seville forever lay anchor in their hearts. This was their proud home. I wonder if when they eat tapas, drink their afternoon rioja, or walk down the narrow streets, they know they live in a special place. I come from a small town in Ohio, I am no fit judge to determine the beauty of a city given how low the bar is for me. Yet, it feels like they do. When I visit Casa Questa for breakfast, the servers would welcome everyone they knew by shouting their names with enormous toothy smiles. People would stop each other on the streets to embrace, kiss each other’s cheeks, admire how much their children have grown. People here have a familiarity with one another. They have not been afraid to extend it to strangers, too. I am a foreign vagabond to them. At this point they’ve all seen me lugging my bag on my shoulder for multiple days, roaming the streets going hostel to hostel, certainly overdue for a shower, still trying to comprehend conversational Spanish so I can talk more casually with locals. Still the servers find me a seat at their tables with a smile, and the people I meet in the street still recommend me the best places to stay and food to eat. Today a waitress I met six days ago told me complimented me and said that my Spanish has improved since I arrived.

Everywhere I went, I thought to myself “I hope to remember this forever”. How could I not?

It hurts my heart so much to leave. 

I’m going to miss sitting at the park next to the river, watching the calm water become disrupted with rowers, ships, and the same ducks waiting for onlookers to throw them crumbs. I finished two books reading by that river. I don’t think I’ve finished reading an entire book since college. I’m going to miss my host Ignacio and his beautiful apartment. I’m going to miss his niece Valeria and the smell of the herbs she used when cleaning his apartment. I’ll miss my second host Fernando and his gorgeous room right in the heart of town. I bought them all flowers and wrote them letters before I left. Valeria, though she only knew me for five days, threw her arms around me and kissed both of my cheeks before I left. Hopefully I can stay there again.

I hope that everybody gets the chance to do this. I know it’s not easy for some people to drop everything and take a few days to go somewhere, but I hope they get the chance to. Everyone needs to experience this feeling, to find the place that feels like a home away from home. Seville will always be special, and I can’t wait to return.

Thank you to Ignacio and Fernando for extending your homes to me.

Thank you Valeria for being such a sweet-hearted individual. I wish you all the bouquets in the world.

Thank you to the waitress I saw almost everyday at Casa Cuesta. You have a wonderful voice.

Thank you to the taxi driver who brought me to my hostel from the airport at 2:00 a.m. You gave great recommendations for coffee!

Thank you to the Black Swan Hostel. I love this place, 10/10 recommend.

To everyone I spoke to on this trip, thank you so much.

If you get the chance to today, talk to a stranger. You never know, you could change someone’s life forever.