“Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than a moving plane, ship or train. There is an almost quaint correlation between what is in front of our eyes and the thoughts we are able to have in our heads: large thoughts at times requiring large views, new thoughts new places. Introspective reflections which are liable to stall are helped along by the flow of the landscape. The mind may be reluctant to think properly when thinking is all it is supposed to do.” ― Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel
I love to move. I love the onslaught of sound, smell, colour, different social norms, language, different paving, buildings, types of shutters on the windows... not to mention entire architectural styles of a different city or town. It is true that when you move to somewhere new, you see things in detail. You question everything because it is all in the foreground. Your brain, over the days, weeks and months, analyses and organises these experiences and pushes them into the background. Our brains are remarkable at normalising. So when moving house or country, everything hits you with a refreshing impact. It's like being a child again. So I find travelling, or particularly staying mid-term somewhere new, elicits all the wonder of observation and makes me feel alive. Here are some (I won't say "top" so much as "first to come into my head when writing") observations from my couple of months in Seville this year. (As posted on faceyb).
#1: I love yoga. I've been converted. @nillyoga - If you're ever in town, check out her classes in Sevilla. Phenomenal.
#2: Do not attempt to do anything in town between the hours of 2 and 5. You will be thwarted.
#3: Do not attempt to do anything on a Sunday between the hours of... all of them. You will be thwarted.
#4: When Sevillanos say to wrap up warm, they mean it is briefly dipping below 20 degrees.
#6: It is stupidly easy to get work here. It is also stupidly easy to lose it again and wonder where it went.
#7: "Do you speak spanish?" is very different to "Do you lip-read Spanish?" (turns out learning Spanish sign language is very challenging!)
#8: Food is affordable, fresh and often local by default, unlike our imported supermarket produce in England. Yum.
#9: Seville will spoil you. I've heard from many folk that no other city will seem as beautiful or splendid once these streets get under your skin.
#10: Seville was built to confuse invaders. Do not try to navigate without a GPS. You will be thwarted.
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