Flamenco, and Cordoba and Granada

Flamenco in Andalusia is like clam chowder in a bread bowl in San Francisco, only better. It's tradition, and you have to experience it when visiting the south of Spain. Last week, a group of us from school went out for what has been my best night in Spain so far -- we saw flamenco at Casa de la Memoria in Sevilla. A friend I made while studying in Scotland 8 years ago recommended Casa de la Memoria, which maybe seats 75 people. Maybe. The venue is actually a patio in the middle of a traditional Spanish casa, and the show consists of one singer, one guitarist, and two dancers -- one male, and one female. Throughout the entire show, both of my eyebrows were raised, and my mouth was definitely open... I had never seen anything quite like this. The dancers were very emotional, and very authentic.

I've been told that flamenco started in the 16th or 17th century, with a lot of African influences, but I've also found that its history really depends on who you ask. Flamenco is first mentioned in literature in 1774 by José Cadalso, in Cartas Marruecas (Moroccan Letters/Cards). I'm no expert, but I don't think the style has changed drastically over the years -- the dance is very purposeful, and each move of the dancers' body, right down to his or her fingers, seems intentional although it's never choreographed. Everything is improvised. It really was fascinating, and enchanting, to watch something so meaningful to Spanish people... even the guys I was with loved it. Que fuerte.

Friday night, a friend of mine I know from home arrived in Sevilla, from Madrid. Even though I have some American friends here in Sevilla, it's been a while since I saw someone I know from home so when she showed up at midnight on my doorstep, I was pretty damn excited to see a familiar face! We woke up in the morning and headed to Cordoba by train, and my friend Kate from school also joined us.

We arrived in Cordoba around 10:30AM, just as it was beginning to rain. We walked aimlessly from the train station, which I found curious -- between three women, we couldn't be bothered to take out a map to figure out where we were going. We walked for about 15 minutes and ended up at the Alcazar; we decided to return to the Alcazar only after visiting the Mezquita.

The Mezquita is a huge Catholic cathedral, which used to be a mosque. The Muslims began building it in 600AD! The Mezquita used to be the second largest mosque in the world, but the Catholics took it over from the Muslims in the 13th century, under King Ferdinand III. I was struck by the "mezcla" of Catholicism and Islam -- there are countless Islamic remnants within the cathedral, including lots of Arabic inscriptions around the church. The detail in the tiles on the walls, and the carvings in marble was mind-boggling -- I can't imagine how many men it took to build such an ornate structure. I'm not quite sure, either, that something similar could be built today. I don't think that type of patience exists anymore.

We walked out of the Mezquita to find that the light rain showers had turned to an all-out downpour, so we headed for the first restaurant to have lunch, and wine. After a few glasses, we headed toward the Alcazar, but when we arrived it was closed for siesta. So we went for more wine. The Alcazar reopened around 5.30, by which point we were feeling no pain -- I highly recommend sightseeing after a couple of "vases de vino."

The Alcazar is actually a castle with ornate gardens and a Moorish bathhouse. A Muslim alcazar once stood on the exact site of the current one, and you can still see some remnants of the old buildings. It's fascinating to me that there was once such a strong Muslim community in Spain, mostly because it's now such a Catholic country. There is, however, still an Arab feeling to much of the architecture in the cities I've visited, and even flamenco has an Arab flare about it.

After spending the day in Cordoba, we boarded a later train to Granada. Granada is about 2.5 hours from Cordoba so I planned to sleep much of the way... I didn't have any problems resting until the train came to a dead stop, for what seemed like an eternity. Given my shaky past with trains, I was sure something had gone awry, so I looked out the window to see if the ground was running parallel with the train. Everything looked fine, but what I did notice was A LOT of mud, so I was pretty sure we were stuck. I immediately told Kate and Alyson of my bad luck with trains, and that I was sure we were stuck. Two minutes later, we started moving. We never heard anything about why we were delayed, just a simple "Disculpe las molestias" (Apologies for the inconvenience). God bless the Spanish for their eloquence.

Sunday morning, we woke up early and realized that the train we wanted to take back to Sevilla late Sunday afternoon was full. In a bit of a panic, we headed for the train station to purchase tickets before going to the Alhambra (literal translation: the red one) -- yes, I know, we should have bought them when we arrived. Anyway, once that mission was accomplished, we stopped into what we dubbed a Spanish Denny's, and had a fantastic breakfast of fresh squeezed "zumo de naranja" and "tostadas." We smiled about the fact that we were about to view the Alhambra -- we had to purchase tickets online a week prior to our visit because it's such a popular destination, and a restricted number of tourists can view the grounds each day. If you've seen Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, I kept saying "I've got the golden ticket" during breakfast :)

When we headed for the Alhambra, we surprisingly knew exactly where we were going, and we had plenty of time to make our 10:00 appointment. And besides, as long as we are there sometime after 10:00, we should be OK, right? Unfortunately, once we set foot on the grounds of the Alhambra, we had no idea where to go. I think the signage was organized by the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, because the ones for the ticket office were accompanied by arrows pointing in every direction. Needless to say, we got lost, and we were late. And then we were denied entrance. I wasn't quite mad yet when the woman told us we were too late, because I thought we'd be able to talk our way into the palaces. Oh, how I was wrong.

A man and his wife, both Spanish-speaking, got in line in front of us and managed to just force their way through, even though they were also late for the 10:00 showing. We asked what was up with that nonsense, since we'd been denied entry. The man tending the turn style told me that the others were able to enter for one reason or another, and then he stopped listening for a bit. I told him that the ticket machine said I had one hour after 10:00 to make it to the palace, but he told me it's actually one hour BEFORE, which I knew was a lie since he wouldn't let the 11:00 guests through as I stood there arguing. I don't quite have a command for the Spanish language when I'm mad as hell, so I wasn't getting very far. He then proceeded to tell me that I don't understand the concept of the ticket process, and I just stared at him -- as if my evil eyes would get us in. No luck, so we bought new tickets for the afternoon showing, and I am so glad we did. The Alhambra is like nothing I've ever seen.

After you enter the palace, you walk through room after room of tiled walls, carved ivory and marble, and perfectly manicured gardens. There isn't a detail missing, and it truly is amazing. The Alhambra, just like the Alcazar and the Mezquita, was built by the Muslims and completed in the mid-1300s. Not long after, in 1492, the Alhambra was taken over by the Catholics when the Muslims lost control of Granada. Again, here is an interesting mix of Islam and Catholicism which, I can't help but think was purposeful -- it's almost like a trophy declaring Spain's victory over the Muslims.

The Alhambra was said to be full of wonder at the time of it's construction, because of its mixing of natural elements with man made ones, and so easily. At the time the Alhambra was built, water was in very short supply, so the Muslims installed a state-of-the-art irrigation system, allowing them to collect enough water to fill entire pools and a number of fountains around the grounds. On one of the main patios in the Alhambra is a huge pool that, functionally, was a sort of air-conditioner. It was also symbol of power since it required so much effort and money to keep it full.

Views of Granada from the Alhambra are incredible -- from above, the city still looks like a quiet, old, white-washed Moorish village even though it's one of Andalusia's larger cities. While we had to hoof it up the hill to get to the Alhambra, it's easy to understand why the Muslims chose such a location to build their palace -- you have full sight of what's going on down below, and you've got one of the most lush locations in Andalusia (at least, from what I've seen!).

Once we left the Alhambra, we were all pretty much done with sight-seeing, so we went to a cafe to sit and relax a little, especially since we had four hours until our train was set to depart. I ordered a cafe con leche, and the girls each had "hot chocolate." I haven't seen chocolate pudding as thick as what was in their glasses, but it did taste good! We then walked the city a bit and ended up at another cafe for some wine. Good way to wait for a train...

Monday morning, back in Sevilla, I decided to skip class and go around town with Alyson. First stop was the post office so I could mail some things home -- 100 euros and a little bit of confusion later, my boxes of goodies were on there ways to California... let's just hope they make it! We then headed across the street to the cathedral and the Giralda, for a tour of the inside. The church is fascinating -- it was built in 1402 and is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the fourth largest Christian church. The cathedral was built on the site of an old Muslim mosque, mainly to signify Sevilla's wealth at the time. What are said to be the remains of Christopher Columbus are entombed at the cathedral, and there's also quite a collection of relics from various saints.

After I wandered through the cathedral (and was separated from Alyson), I climbed the Giralda, or bell tower, to the very top. The tower has 35 flights, although there are ramps rather than staircases, so it isn't as much of a feat as you might imagine. From the top of the tower, you can see the whole of Sevilla, which was amazing. The city looks a lot different from above... there's so much sky! Since I spend most of my time on the tiny streets of the Santa Cruz neighborhood, the city always seems so small and enclosed to me, but it really isn't. I also noticed when I was standing at the top of the bell tower that each bell is dedicated to a saint. I liked that.

Now that it's a new week of class (and also my final!), I have two new teachers, and I'm the only student in the extra hour of conversation I opted to take. My teacher's name is Paco, and I'm pretty sure that the few times I meet with him will be what makes my classes worth every penny. It's tough to speak to a teacher for an hour straight, but that's what I need... we're working on vocabulary, and if I don't know a word, he makes me describe it. No dictionaries, no pictures -- it's great.

Saturday morning I head to Malaga to kick off my two weeks of traveling throughout Spain. While I'm there, I plan to go to Gibraltar, Ronda, and Marbella, as well as tour Malaga. Hopefully the weather will cooperate, because I've got a gnarly cold at the moment. Then it's off to el norte!

Pictures from Granada and Cordoba are here. And I've added many more Sevilla pictures, starting here. Still not annotated, but I'm working on it!