Imogen Calderwood
SEMANA Santa may be over – I’m very sad but just about getting over it – but there’s still plenty more to be done in Sevilla.
I took the advice of one of the Clic teachers and headed over to the Museo de Artes y Costumbres that lies hidden at the far end of the Parque de Maria Luisa.
It’s genuinely a beautiful museum, in one of the best examples of neo-Mudejar architecture (I think, please don’t quote me on that) that you can find in Sevilla.
But my favourite thing about it was how poetic all the descriptions were alongside the exhibits. For the majority, it traces the history of arts and cultures in Andalucia, including the development and gradual decline of the region’s artisans.
Almost the entirety of the ground floor is taken up with workshops donated by the last or most famous of these artisans as they retired, and they paint what could be quite a sad picture of these skilled arts being forgotten.
But, as the museum points out, a changing culture is a living culture.
(It’s also great for Spanish practice, for the self-controlled, with the English alongside to check your translations.)
Last week also saw a visit with Clic to Italica – the extensive Roman ruins that lie just outside Sevilla – in 37 degree heat. But even when in ruins the Roman houses are pretty adept at helping you deal with the heat, with plenty of shady spots to shelter in while you hear about the story of the town.
And managed to fit in a little weekend away in Portugal, to practice Spanish of course…
Word of the day: ‘perder el hilo’, a nice way of saying you’ve lost your way.
Find out more about Clic language school here.
