Flamenco and La Alhambra in Granada

By the time we were ready to leave for Granada, our journey was approaching the ninth day mark, and we were all exhausted and re-wearing the few clothes that we’d brought to Morocco for the second or third time in a row. A rough bus ride on narrow and winding mountain roads between Malaga to Granada didn’t exactly help anyone’s spirits – that is, until we arrived at our designated meeting point, which was a gorgeous four star hotel in downtown Granada that ISA had booked for the weekend to commemorate our last big school excursion. Cecily and were placed as roommates, (as always) and when we opened the room to our door and saw a decked out bathroom and two king sized beds, neither of us could contain our excitement. I nearly hit the ceiling jumping on the beds, and both of us took excessively long showers to celebrate the existence of full sized bathtubs and HOT (not just luke-warm!) water.

Over the weekend we toured all through the gorgeous city with our program advisors, and learned a lot more about Granada’s history in relation to the rest of Spain. Until the end of the 15th century Granada was under Arabic rule, so most of the architecture and a huge part of the region’s culture have a strong Arabic and Muslim influence. The mix of Spanish and middle-eastern culture was fascinating: we walked through the city’s Arabic marketplace, (not quite to the level of Fez, but Granada’s had WAY better prices) went to a tea and hookah bar, (they infuse honey into the spices to make it extra sweet – best tea I’ve ever had!) and visited La Alhambra, a preeminent 8th century royal palace overlooking the city that has miles of winding gardens, hand carved marble and wood architecture, and thirteen centuries worth of rich and fascinating history.

Our last night, we went to an authentic Flamenco show in an intimate little venue on the edge of the city. Despite the informal set up, (the dancers just casually walked onto stage, talked for awhile, then began playing their instruments and dancing when they felt like it) the performance was absolutely incredible, and exceeded my already high expectations. There were five dancers – two men and three women, and they all had very distinct and passionate styles. Here is a video of my favorite dancer, the man who we aptly titled “the epic flamenco dancer”