Granada Cathedral & Flamenco

 I had a free day today so I decided to walk to the Cathedral and check it out. 

It took awhile to find it, not because it was small, but because it was huge and took up a significant amount of space in the square but I couldn't figure out where the front entrance was. The entry fee included an audio tour. 

The main church was impressive with two organs on either side of the main aisle. The tour went into a lot of detail about all of the side altars and icons and artwork in each.

Attached to the church is a royal chapel where Ferdinand and Isabela (of Columbus fame) is buried. Again the audio tour is quite detailed about the art and architecture. A small stair leads down to the coffins underneath the impressively carved tomb figures on top.

On my way back to the hotel, I wandered in the area behind the church through the old Arab market street, Alcaiceria. It was crowded with tourists. For lunch today, I remembered an empanada place and thought I'd check it out for a quick bite. I bought one with a barbecued meat and another with eggplant (berenjena again!) and parmesan to eat back at my hotel.

In the evening I had the flamenco show. I had arranged to have the show pick me up and also go for dinner. It was fairly inexpensive for the package. The shuttle van showed up exactly on time and was full so I sat in the front. The driver took us up the narrow streets of the Albaicin to the Sacromonte, traditional area of the gypsies and where flamenco lives. The buildings here are built into the hills. There is a spectacular view of the Alhambra from the restaurant/tablao. 

The dining tables were in the back of the long narrow room. The meal was fine, nothing too special but a full 3 courses with wine. As the show time approached, more people started to come into the room and I realized that the new people would be sitting in the front. I asked to be able to move to the front for a better view and was glad I did. Before the show, I made a pit stop to the bathroom and saw the male dancer practicing. 

The show was amazing. I don't have any experience watching flamenco but there was a singer and guitarist on stage with 3 dancers, two women and the man I had seen earlier. While each dancer performed, the others would be clapping, calling out and providing encouragement. When the first female dancer came on, I thought she must be the best. She was wearing a long red dress and she looked exactly like the flamenco dancer emoji. She was able to flip her long skirt, twirl around it, flip it into her hand and had so much fire and energy.

Then the other female dancer came on and I realized, wow, she was special! She also looked very young. I learned later through some internet research that she is only around 16 or so. Her feet, hands, face were all very intense. The male dancer then performed and he was also amazing. Slightly different style with a masculine flair. The singer and guitarist were both very good. Finally the three dancers all performed together for a final bow. The show was about an hour but thoroughly entertaining. Afterwards, we found our way out to waiting vans. I ended up back at the front again. The roads were so narrow that at one point, the side mirror scraped the building wall on one side and I had to help the driver push it back into place. 

This was a great way to end my last day in Southern Spain.