To read more about
the site and the philosphy, at least what I've left off
in this section, check out my about
this site page. As you've probably seen my name is Jeff
Spielvogel. I am an American who grew up in North Carolina.
After a couple of years studying in New Mexico I made my
way back home to N.C. to finish my studies at the University
of North Carolina with a degree in Middle Eastern and European
History as well as Spanish. I spent several years running
my own business and then joined a local catalog company
where I worked as the director of internet marketing. The
job involved long hours, although with great people, and
I began to put some roots down in my home state. Still,
I wanted a new challenge and had arrived at a point in my
life where I realized that no matter where I went things
somehow turned out ok. In 2003, with that bit of confidence,
I packed up everything (and sold what I couldn't pack) and
moved to Sevilla. I now live in Santa Catalina, a neighborhood
in the center of Seville. I work with sevilla5.com, Flamencotickets.com, Exploreseville.com as well as this page. I
spend anywhere from 20-30 hours per week working on Exploreseville.com, Exploregranada.com and posting in a few travel forums. When I am not doing this I am working full time, or of course spending time with family, travelling, etc. If you're in Sevilla you may find me wandering around
taking pictures and jotting down notes when not in the sevilla5
office.
I also make frequent trips to nearby cities such as Cordoba and Granda, and a lot of little towns in between.
How did I come to know Sevilla? I first came to the city
in 1989 to visit my sister and returned again in 1992 for
her wedding. Like so many others I loved the place so much
I wanted to return again and again. So I studied and lived
here in 1993-94 and learned a lot from the student's point
of view. For several years I annoyed my friends always talking
about how I wanted to move to Spain one day. Not having
the resources to do so I made several trips in 1996, 1997
and then twice in 2000, each time for about a month. In
2003 I finally saved enough money and worked up enough courage
to come to Seville to live and see if I could "make
it". So far things are going pretty well.
How and why did I start this web site? After several years of working on Exploreseville.com, and traveling to other destinations, where I was taking photos and making notes, I decided it was time to take on another city, one of my favorites and perhaps the only other city I would consider living in! After several years of procrstinating, I decided to finally launch this site. It is and will be a work in progress for some time.
While I know I cannot (yet) offer the quantity of information I do on Exploreseville.com, I am trying to keep the same philosohpy - writing my own content, offering something as original as possible. And in keeping with the philosophy of these "Explore" sites, I will offer my own opinion as often as I can, no matter how much it bother's some of you. But I have to have a little fun, or why would I make these sites!
Thanks and good luck,
Jeff
