One of the benefits of being abroad in Europe is that there are a large number of countries nearby, and the majority of the relations between these countries and Spain are positive. Because of the positive relationships, and because Spain is part of the European Union, it is usually easy to travel between countries. While I have been in Sevilla, Spain, I have taken many trips around the continent and especially the Iberian Peninsula.

My affiliate program, called International Studies Abroad (ISA), has taken my classes on a few excursions together, and then in addition to those trips my friends and I have traveled most weekends. I have gotten the opportunity to go to the UK (London and Gibraltar), France (Annemasse), Switzerland (Geneva), and Portugal (Lisbon), in addition to many of the popular destinations in Spain such as Ronda, Malaga, Cordóba, Salamanca, Ibiza, Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla (claro). In traveling to these countries, it is interesting how little security there is between the countries within the EU. While it is necessary to have your passport, there is nowhere near as much security as there would be traveling from the United States to another country.

Of these locations, the majority of the Spanish cities have been my favorite. I’ve come to learn about Spanish to the point where it is more comfortable to be speaking and hearing it, and when I am in France or Switzerland, and there is not much Spanish, it is once again hard to understand. In addition to this, I have loved being able to explore the monuments, history and people that I get to experience in Spain, and each city holds a different story. Malaga and Ronda were two of my favorite Spanish cities, as Malaga gave me my first perfect beach day in the Mediterranean ocean, and Ronda had the most astounding architecture and infrastructure within it.