My New Home

I couldn’t believe my luck when I ended up loving — and moving into — the first apartment I saw in Sevilla, but a week later, my luck changed. My roommate informed me that she and her girlfriend were having problems with the landlady (who refused to fix some things that had been broken when they moved in) and therefore they’d be moving out at the end of the month. I had two options: 1) I could stay in the apartment, find a new roommate, buy new necessities (dishes, a toaster oven, etc.), take over the lease, and deal with the landlady on my own or 2) find a new place.

I spent weeks poring over every online apartment listing and asking around for any available rooms, but, as it was October, no longer the start of the new semester, few places were available. I was starting to think my easiest option was to stay, but I was hesitant and we were having problems finding a new roommate. Fortunately, with just a few days left in the month, I visited a house that I was totally charmed by, and now it’s my new home!

The front of my house. That's my balcony above the door!

I was previously living in a neighborhood called Triana, a beautiful, traditional-looking neighborhood near the river that I love, and I now live in La Alameda, known to be something of a hippie neighborhood. It’s in the casco antiguo (old quarter) of Sevilla, which means I still get the tiny, windy cobblestone streets I love so much. Wikipedia tells me that La Alameda de Hércules, the plaza just around the corner from my new house, originated in 1574 and is the oldest public garden in Europe. Fancy. Today, it’s a popular spot for bars, restaurants, and botellones.

My new house is old, with lots of typical Sevillano flair and tons of interesting details, and I love it. It has three floors, a big internal patio, and a rooftop terrace, making it downright huge compared to most places I’ve seen in Spain. I live with a Spanish girl, a Chinese girl, and an Italian girl (who replaced a Korean girl who was here last month), all grad students. The setup of the house is such that I don’t find myself interacting with them a ton, but, when I do, they’re all super nice and fun to talk to.

And now the fun part: more pictures!

The internal patio on the ground floor.

The ceiling outside my room on the 2nd floor (or 1st floor as they'd say here). UCLA colors!

My bedroom.

My bedroom, angle #2.

View from my balcony

View from the rooftop terrace

Part of the rooftop terrace

The kitchen

More of the kitchen