Granada

I went to Granada for the weekend with Annie and Maggie, 2 of my American friends. For being the middle of May, it was surprisingly cold! Jeans, sweaters, and scarfs were definitely required. Granada, which is about a 3.5 hour bus ride from Sevilla, is a very quaint, walkable city. It is home to the famous Alhambra, which is an old Muslim palace/fortress. There is a big gypsy/hippie population in Granada, most notably in the Albaycin neighborhood. You find lots of teterias (or tea houses) in Granada, and quite a bit of Arabic food. We made sure to visit a tea house, and of course try a kebab!

I was also able to meet up with my Spanish friend, Fatima, who lives in Granada with her husband Jaime and daughter Paola.  I hadn't seen Fatima in at least 3 or 4 years, and it was great to catch up with her. She and Jaime invited me to stay at their home, cooked wonderful food, and demonstrated again how hospitable Spanish people are. Overall, it was a great weekend trip!

Annie and Maggie enjoying a tinto at the base of the Alhambra.

Moorish architecture - this was one of my favorites.

A monument in honor of Ferdinand and Isabella.

A view from the Mirador de San Nicolas in the Albaycin.

Maggie, Annie and I.

Feria in Jerez de la Frontera

A group of teachers from my school were going to the Feria in Jerez de la Frontera, which is a town near where I teach, so we decided to go as well.  Becky, Tyler, Chuck, and Carol took the train and spent the day in Jerez, including a visit to the Tio Pepe bodega. I met up with them after school, and after a siesta, we headed over to the Feria. It was neat for Becky and Tyler to see how the Feria works - with the women in flamenco dresses with flowers in their hair, lots of men riding horses, casetas, dancing, flamenco music, food, rebujito, etc. We met up with some of the teachers from my school, had some tapas and rebujito, and listed to flamenco music. The light display after sunset (above) was incredible! Everywhere you looked there were arches covered in lights. Simply stunning!

Becky and Tyler in a caseta.

Sisters. :-)

Becky and Tyler in Sevilla!

Becky and Tyler came to visit with their friends Chuck and Carol, and we had a blast!! They arrived late last night, so we just went out for some tapas and a glass of wine in Barrio Santa Cruz, before calling it a night. Today, however, was a whole different story!! We met up and walked around Sevilla for a bit - across the river to Triana, near the Cathedral, Plaza Nueva, etc. In the afternoon, we met up with some of my friends in Plaza Salvador for a beer or two. The weather was perfect, and I wanted to show Becky and Tyler a typical Spanish Saturday - filled with socializing, walking, tapas, and drinks.  Becky and Tyler had met my friends Jorge and Jose the previous year in San Francisco, so it was really fun for all of us to meet up again. We went to my favorite bodega in Alfalfa for some tortilla, espinacas con garbanzos, and delicious baked queso. Then we strolled over to Bar Alfalfa, where we had serranitos (a typical Spanish sandwich of pork, jamon, tomato, and fried green pepper), and Becky was even brave enough to try the snails!! We showed them the amazing rooftop bar that overlooks the Cathedral, then went to El Arenal, where we found a small bar with live flamenco music. Jose and I danced a Sevillana, to show the visitors, and we all enjoyed the live music. The afternoon turned into evening, which turned into night, and a visit to Las Columnas, followed by a copa in Barrio Santa Cruz. It was a long, but perfect day, filled with lots of laughter and great company. :-)

Becky and I near the Puente de Triana.

The guys in Plaza Alfalfa.

The gang at Bar Alfalfa.

Becky tasting the caracoles (snails)!!

The crew outside the flamenco bar in El Arenal.

Maria, Becky, and Tyler enjoying a copa in Barrio Santa Cruz.

Jose and I, enjoying a copa as well!

Feria - Day #6

Day 6. Understandably, our Feria stamina was running low at the beginning of the day. So we planned on a mellow day, followed by an early night. But there must be something about rebujito because once we had a little in our veins, the energy and dancing came right back! In fact, I think we danced more this last night than we did any other night. We started at Antonio's caseta, and ended the night at Javi Ponce's. It was a mixture of dancing Sevillanas, salsa, and whatever else the band played. It was a blast!! ...and the perfect ending to Feria 2010. Ole!

Noemi, Aranoa, Maria, and I.

Mike doing the "camarero" - our favorite dance move.

Noemi, Maria, Antonio, and Aranoa.

Last (silly) photo by the entrance arch.

Day Five

Day Five. As can be expected, with all the celebrating, dancing, and activity, one gets a little tired by day five. So we had somewhat of a mellow day/night at the Feria. We still wore our trajes, which was fun, of course. I got to see Aranoa and Maria's moms (they are sisters) dance Sevillanas, which was really neat because they have been dancing all their lives, so their styles are perfect. After dancing, we all went to have bunuelos con chocolate, which is a traditional gypsy treat to eat at the Feria. It's very similar to churros con chocolate (i.e. fried dough, which you dip in chocolate), and it was delicious!

Noemi, Maria, and I.

Maria's mom, dancing a Sevillana.

Bunuelos con chocolate!

Veronica's Birthday

Today was my friend Veronica's birthday. So she had a little party at her apartment in Triana...before we headed back to the Feria. Today was the first day that we wore our trajes -- the typical flamenco-style dresses worn by the women at the Feria. Luckily, Aranoa's sister Noemi had one that I could borrow, because the dresses are really expensive! Along with a traje, it is typical to wear a mantoncillo, which is similar to a shawl with long tassles. Then, of course you have to wear big earrings and put a flower in your hair to complete the look. It's amazing to see the Spanish women dance in trajes. It really is an art form. I have to admit, wearing a traje makes Feria even more fun. It was really neat for me to be able to participate in yet another aspect of traditional Spanish culture.

 

Aranoa and I.

With Aranoa and the birthday girl.

Me.  :-)

Our dancin' shoes.

Mike, Abraham, Maria, Veronica and myself.

All the girls!

Taking a dancing break.

Action shot.  I love this one.

Feria - Day #3

Well you guessed it, back to the Feria again today. More music, dancing, eating, and rebujito. I can't think of anything monumentally exciting to write about, so I'm just going to share some of my favorite pictures. Ole!

Traditional Feria suits for the men.

...from the backside. :-)

Horse-drawn carriages.

A typical caseta, full of people dancing.

Mike and Aranoa, dancing a Sevillana.

The Feria! Ole!

Day #2 of the Feria. This is my second time experiencing the Feria in Sevilla (I was here in 2007 also), and it is just as exciting the second time around! Basically, the Feria is a week-long celebration in Sevilla. Most people don't work at all during the week - essentially the city shuts down - it's pretty incredible. But the women wear traditional flamenco dresses and the men dress up in suits. There are horse-drawn carriages everywhere, live music, dancing, lots of food, and the drink of choice is rebujito, which is a type of sherry mixed with Sprite. Technically, the Feria never closes, so you can find people celebrating at any hour of the day, for 7 straight days! Since this is Spain, the most popular time to be at the Feria is late afternoon...and then stay until the sun comes up. No joke. Then you go home, sleep a few hours, and start the whole thing over again! It's an amazing test of endurance. ;-)

A view of Calle Inferno, where all the games and rides are located.

With Maria, Inma, and Aranoa - my Feria cohorts. :-)

Our first rebujito toast - Ole!

Alumbrado

Today, the Feria officially started!  The opening ceremony is called the "Alumbrado" - essentially, it is when they light the entry arch and all lights in the fairgrounds for the first time at midnight. The tradition here is that people eat fish (mostly fried fish) the night of the alumbrado...but I'm honestly not sure when or why that tradition started. Anyway, the photo above is of this year's portada (entrance arch). They design and build a new/different portada every year, which I think is astounding. The arch this year is modeled after the symbol of Sevilla -"no8do"- and it also commemorates the centennial of the 1st military flight from Sevilla. There are something like 22,000 lightbulbs on the portada - it's beautiful, I think. I live a block from the Feria fairgrounds, so I was able to watch them assemble the portada, as well as the rest of the Feria, which was a neat process.  They started to work on the Feria in January, and everyday for 4 months, there were large crews of men at work. It was amazing to watch what is essentially a square-mile dirt lot turn into a beautifully decorated miniature city. That just goes to show how important the Feria is to the city of Sevilla!

 

A close-up view of the portada.

A view of the airplane.

With Annie and Maggie.

A typical caseta...it's hard to believe that this is a temporary tent, huh?!