I am amazed at how after 5weeks, Spanish cities still are able to captivate me. This weekend we spent about four hours traveling from Cadiz in the city of Granada. Before leaving Cadiz, I had spoken to many people who said Granada is their favorite city. After doing some research on the history, food, and people I had high expectations for the city. After a long, windy, and beautiful bus ride we reached in Granada around 2:45pm. Although we had only been on the bus, most of us were exhausted. We took a short siesta in the hotel, mainly poolside.

Around 4pm, we ventured out into the city of Granada. As a group, we toured through the city, along with a wonderful guide. He explained the historical significance of many areas in the city including the cathedral, the Moroccan market, and the Arabic area. The cathedral was massive and was in actually three different buildings. To my surprise, in the cathedral were the tombs of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. This underlined the great historical significance of this city. I was shocked by the overall beauty and energy that surged through the city. Whether I was looking at solid gold master pieces in the cathedral or the people relaxing with a drink and a tapa, I knew that this was not going to be a boring weekend in Granada. Once the tour finished, together with a few friends, I went back to the Moroccan market to explore. I was brought back to summers in Israel, in the open air markets, haggling, searching, and feeling utterly overwhelmed. There was so much to look at! Beautiful things were everywhere in sight. After the market, we went back to the Arabic area. I bought a dress and had a Moroccan woman put henna on my arm. For the hour or two that I spent in those two areas, I felt like I had been taken from Spain and brought to Morocco.

Moroccan Market Place p.c. Alexandra Amores

Now it was time for dinner, which meant time for tapas. I was so excited to try tapas in Granada, because I knew that with a purchase of a drink they would bring out a tapa to match. Although I knew this, I was still shocked when it happened. By the time I had finished with my tapas there wasn’t even a need to really order a meal, but for the sake of delicious Spanish food, it was my duty to have more. We all quickly ran back to the hotel to meet with the group. We would be going to a Flamenco show. While in Cadiz, we had gone to a flamenco class and talked extensively about it in class. However it had never occurred to me that there are different types of flamenco. The flamenco in Granada was very different than the flamenco in Cadiz. My observations were that flamenco in Granada was more staged, dramatic, and had a stronger focus on dancing. While in Cadiz, it is much more toned down, very serious, and filled with emotion. A group of five people preformed for us; It was an intimate venue and the performers were feeding off of our enthusiasm.

Flamenco Show

Around 12:30am were headed back to the hotel. After an exhausting, busy, and wonderful day, I laid to rest in an air conditioned room for the first time in 5weeks.