April 2025 – Page 2 – Journals from Abroad

April 1, 2025

Sevilla Cathedral and Córdoba

I have been going on a lot of adventures and day trips to religious sites, and wanted to share some of my experiences.

First, I went on a guided tour of the Cathedral of Sevilla, where we took an hour guided tour on the ground floor and then had some free time to explore and climb the Giralda (tower). The first photo is of the tower from the courtyard inside the cathedral, and the second is a view from the top of the tower.

A picture of the Giralda of the Cathedral of Sevilla, taken from the gardens below, the picture shows a display of green trees across the bottom of the cathedral with the Giralda peeking up over the top, which is a rectangularly shaped beige figure — Giralda of the Cathedral of Sevilla

Instead of having stairs to climb the tower, there was a ramp that spiraled up about 40 floors to get to the top, which was a 15 minute climb. The climb was so worth it though, for the view of the city!

A view of the city of Sevilla from the top of the Giralda of the Cathedral, the rest of the cathedral shown at the bottom and a cityscape above it, with a blue sky at the top — From the top of the Giralda

The next day, we went on a day trip to Córdoba, which was about an hour and a half bus ride from Sevilla. The architecture inside the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba was very unique and pretty.

A room in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, a large rounded white ceiling with intricate architecture, and a blue and gold rectangle frame at the bottom sided by an arch on either side — Inside the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

Then we also viewed the Synagogue of Córdoba, where nearby was this outside garden spot with a pretty flower wall in a classic Andalusian courtyard.

An outside garden in Córdoba, depicting as stark white wall above a staircase full of colorful flowers in blue pot holders, a beige stone building to the left and a slightly gray sky above — Flower wall in Córdoba

After our tour, we walked back through the streets of Córdoba, where we had two hours of free time to eat lunch. Erica and I grabbed coffee from a little shop and then sat on a stone wall outside the Cathedral-Mosque to eat lunch.

Me walking through an alley in Córdoba wearing blue jeans, a dark navy jacket and a black leather bag, there are two narrow walls on either side of me with a beige colored stone, with black metal grated windows, with a sliver of blue sky peeking out at the top — Walking through an alley in Córdoba

On the way back from the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, we passed a medieval style castle right before the stone bridge we crossed to return to our bus.

Me next to a castle in Córdoba, standing in blue jeans and a pink shirt and sunglasses leaning against a silver railing, with the beige figure over the castle rising behind me in the back — Castle in Córdoba

~Sofia

April 1, 2025

Month two in Sevilla

This week I discovered a new coffee shop, it’s called Jester Coffee, and it is about one block away from my apartment. I got a mocha and chocolate banana bread, and Erica got an iced mocha and a nutella croissant. We both loved everything, and will definitely be going back!

A photo of a mocha in a black mug, with whipped cream and cocoa powder on too, a silver spoon and fork, and chocolate chip banana bread on a beige wood tray, with my silver computer and pink computer case in the background, as well as a brown bowl with sugar packets inside, all on a brown wood table — Jester coffee and chocolate chip banana bread

For my history class we went to the Centro Nao Victoria and had a tour of the museum, and then afterwards climbed onto a replica of the Nao Victoria, which was the first successful ship to circumnavigate the world, captained by Magellan. The Nao Victoria replica sat right on the River Guadalquivir, and demonstrated how traveling on a ship as a sailor would have been in that time period.

A photo of a replica ship of the Nao Victoria, with brown masts and white ropes streaking across the frame, sitting on the blue-green Guadalquivir river — Nao Victoria on the Guadalquivir River

The third photo is an example of one of my meals from my homestay, it was a panini with salami, ham and cheese. I have had a wide variety of meals here so far, from tortilla de patata to croquetas to salads to omelets and more, and I have enjoyed almost every meal. We usually have a baguette or picos (little bread chips) with every meal.

A photo of one of my dinners on a table with a coffee themed table cloth, with two glasses of water and a beige ceramic plate with a grilled panini — A typical dinner in the homestay

The last photo is a crazy spontaneous decision Erica and I made- getting tattoos! Last time I was in Spain last spring, I got a spontaneous tattoo so I had to keep the tradition going. Erica got a stamp of a fan on the back of her arm, we both got matching tattoos on the back of our arm, and then I also got forget me not flowers on my ribs for my grandmother who passed away last year. I’m so grateful to be here enjoying this experience and have been wanting to get something to remember her by 🙂

A photo of me and my friend Erica right after getting matching tattoos on the back of our arms above the elbow, mine saying SOS and hers saying Love Language with a Spanish stamp above it, I'm wearing a white top and blue jeans and she's wearing a black top and gray jeans, with a white door in the background as well as a picture frame of a painted colorful mouth with the tongue sticking out — Matching tattoos with Erica

~Sofia

April 1, 2025

Excursions to the Highlands

Excursions to the Highlands:

Strathclyde partners with ISTours Scotland to provide students affordable options to explore the Scottish Highlands and parts of England. Every weekend from the beginning of January to the end of March, IsTours offered an excursion or two. I went every opportunity a trip was offered and got to see places such as:

~ Lochness

~Inverness

~Glencoe

~The Isle of Skye

~Various Harry Potter filming locations

~Various Outlander filming locations

Because many of these locations are not easily accessible by public transport from Glasgow, the ISTours excursions allowed me to see more of Scotland than I thought possible.

These trips are a great way to make friends from around the world. Several girls I met on the Isle of Skye Tour became quick friends, and a week later we were planning our own trips across Scotland, and a bigger trip to Denmark! I would highly recommend doing as many of these excursions as possible during your time studying at Strathclyde.

Isabella