Tour de la Sevilla

Milovan Majstorović

On the 7th of January, which coincided with Orthodox Christmas, Goran Dobrić and I travelled to Seville via Malaga. The first working day awaited us on Monday the 8th. That day began with a walk to the faculty, where we met Jose Maria, affectionately known as “The Professor” among Germans. He introduced us to the rest of the team: Manolo, Andrei, and Fran.

The days in the laboratory were engaging, spanning a total of five days. Initially, we walked to the faculty, but soon we discovered electric scooters, with me claiming the triumph in mastering the scooter application between Goran and me. Not to brag, but I feel this was quite an achievement, seeing as he’s completed his Ph.D., whereas I’m still waiting on mine. Unfortunately, the apparent lack of eye-hand coordination on my part limited photographic evidence of this experience.

The best photo I caught while riding the scooter.

After work, we explored the enchanting beauty of Seville. Our hosts treated us to an unforgettable evening filled with incredible food and drink. The highlight was the discovery of jamón, a dry-cured ham from Iberian pigs, overshadowing our initial plans to fully enjoy the effects of Moscatel and cerveza (if you know what I mean). Our hosts, realizing our delight, recommended visits to the Mercado de Feria. At Mercado, when communication in English with salespeople faltered, hand gesturing came in handy (get it?).

Sevilla, much like Belgrade, is home to bitter rival football teams, Sevilla FC and Betis. We chose to support Sevilla FC, much due to the presence of Serbian players in the squad. And the proximity of the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium to our hotel was somewhat a factor as well. Embracing the spirit of Sevillistas, we attended a match against Deportivo Alaves. The score wasn’t 1:0 as we are suggesting in this photo, it was 2:3 for Deportivo. Fortunately, we Serbians are accustomed to football disappointments, so no harm, no foul.

Clueless about what’s going to happen.

The idea of attending the game struck us during a visit to the stadium the day prior. The tour took us through the club museum, dressing room, press room, and the edge of the football pitch. Sitting on the bench, I pondered the comfort it offered, briefly entertaining the thought of being a reserve football player in the next life.

Me in my next life

Later that evening, while going back to the hotel, I tried to navigate my way without the help of the phone, due to my love for adventure and lack of battery power. That experience taught me two things: that the streets in Seville city center are very similar to one another, and to always carry a battery bank. Yes, I was utterly lost. In a city known as a starting point to many naval expeditions, no less. Eventually, I found the way, but my navigational self-esteem was ruined. Eventually, I learned in Torro del Oro museum that neither Magellan nor Columbus knew exactly where they were going on their journeys, so I decided not to be too hard on myself. After all, out of the three of us, two eventually managed to return home. So… success?

View from Torro del Oro towards Giralda

We explored the beautiful university building in the city center, with the author playfully posing as a wannabe professor after finding an ajar (great word, had to use it) classroom door.

“Los inversores son DC/AC convertidores”

Despite less-than-ideal weather, learning that temperatures in Serbia were well below the freezing point lifted our spirits. Our hosts confidently assured us that the weather will improve for our next visit, prompting whimsical thoughts about their ability to control the sky. If that’s really the case, I think they should share this technology with the rest of the universities on this project.

I noticed that Serbians are not very different from Spaniards. With our mutual love for sutlijaš (Arroz con Leche), čvarci (I forgot the Spanish name for this meat product, but I was treated to it at the meat tasting at Mercado de Feria), and pork meat in general. Also, we both enjoy assigning many creative names to football referees. Because of all the similarities, my suggestion is that the final task of this project should be filing the application to include Belgrade in Plaza de Espana square.

Plaza de Espana before Belgrade inclusion

Eager to reciprocate hospitality to our colleagues from Seville, we require only that a sufficient supply of jamón is secured. The quantity which constitutes “sufficient” is yet to be determined.