Since September, Infanta Sofia has been living in Lisbon as a student at Forward College, where she is studying Political Science and International Relations.
She has already completed her first weeks of classes and taken her first exams—the semester began on February 9th—and now she is facing something familiar to many students at British universities: Reading Week. From February 23rd to 27th, there will be no classes or tutoring.
What exactly is Reading Week, and what does Sofia do during those days?
It’s not a week off, even though it sounds tempting. The idea is for students to use this time to catch up on overdue reading, organize notes, complete assignments, or simply absorb what they’ve studied in the first term.
It’s also meant to be a time to unwind a bit, spend time with colleagues, and take a break from the daily grind.
Sofia can use it at the university or in her residence, a building in the Benfica area where she has her own room—with a single bed, desk, and bookshelf—but a shared bathroom, like any student.
Where Sofia studies in Lisbon and what makes Forward College special
The faculty is located on Rua das Flores in Chiado, which is essentially Lisbon’s intellectual district, situated between the Alto and Baixa neighborhoods. A historic building in an area bustling with restaurants, boutiques, and, among its most famous attractions, the 18th-century Bertrand Bookstore.
Forward College is academically affiliated with the University of London, which explains its reading week system and the highly international profile of its student body: Sofia shares her residence with fellow students from up to 33 countries.
What’s next for Princess Sofia: Paris, Berlin, and the rest of her career
After Reading Week, she will resume classes until June 5th, with Easter holidays from April 3rd to 12th, when she is expected to return to Madrid with her parents.
In September, she takes her next leap: Paris, where she will live in the Cité Internationale Universitaire, a campus with over 12,000 students from 150 nationalities, just a few minutes by train from the Latin Quarter.
The third year will be in Berlin, in Kreuzberg. Each year, a different European city. It’s not a bad curriculum.