Los Habichuela

The river Darro that flows through Granada comes from a valley behind the city. Walking up to the Albaicín, you can take a turn right to follow a sinuous road that goes to that valley. Strewn along the hills are the cuevas, or caves of the Sacromonte - the name of the neighbourhood.

Entering the Sacromonte, you immediately feel the different air. We are not in the Albaicín anymore. It feels more like the countryside. Cactus plants and fig trees grow all over the place. And on every corner of the way, the majestuous Alhambra:

We picked our way through the small streets yesterday to attend Juan Habichuela Nieto's guitar concert. He is one of the most renowned young guitarists of today. Two weeks ago, he won one of the toughest guitar competitions: The Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas in Murcía. 

Yesterday, he played in a concert series which is dedicated to Enrique Morente. The concert took place outside, in the Museo Cuevas Sacromonte. 

I have to say this guy is a monster. I have never heard anyone with such a dense and gripping sound. His playing feels like an animal is biting your heart and not letting go till the final note. It was very intense.

The Habichuela family is a famous flamenco dynasty in Granada. Juan Habichuela senior and his brother Pepe Habichuela are the most renowed guitarists. The band Ketama was also made up from members of that family. The Habichuelas own a bar in the Sacromonte called "Bulería". You never know who might be playing there. On a busy evening the bar will look like this:

When you go in, you first find the long bar behind which Antonio, Juan's father, will be working:

The bar is decorated with many flamenco pictures from the family members:

Rosemary twigs are placed on the bar to bring luck:

At the back, there is an space lined with chairs all around. This is where the fun happens. Anyone inclined from the neighbourhood can walk in with his guitar and play. Those who can sing, sing. Dancers dance. And we tourists stand there and watch. 

Antonio threatens to throw anyone out who won't order anything to drink.

The place abounds with alcohol and cigarette smoke, just like the good old times... Mostly tangos are played all night.

If there is no room to watch, we make our own rhythm.

Still alive

Lately I haven't been in the mood for posting... much! But here's an update. Granada life is hot, quiet and intense. I share my flat with three other girls, two of which are also staying for a long period of time. We spend many hours at the kitchen table chatting and laughing. It's still very hot here and the heat is stifling. There's not much that can be done in one day.

The last two weeks I had flamenco technique and learned a caracoles choreography with Estefanía Martinez. She has the patience of an angel. Dance classes are fun and we work hard. The only problem is that we have a great range of different levels in our intermediate class. It's hard for the teacher to give everyone the appropriate attention. Somehow Estafanía managed it - she was great.

This week I am dancing tangos with Pilar Fajardo. I have to be careful because my lower back has been inflamed of late. It's a result of the bad blocking I had on the day before I left for Spain, nearly two months ago. One tiny wrong movement can cause the inflammation to flare up again. I've been seeing an osteopath though and that has helped me very much. I will need to get a better bed though... my current mattress is the main suspect for the recent back pain!

Granada... the city is the same than it was 8 years ago. And yet, many things are different. People seem more tired and less motivated. It's very difficult to find good flamenco throughout town. We usually go to the Chien Andalou Bar and afterwards on to the Bulería Bar, which belongs to the Habichuela family. But there are almost no street musicians. I hear of no great dancers in town. Our teachers, excellent as they are, break their backs working in the tourist tablaos throughout the town. I want to start looking for more flamenco! There is so much to learn...

Last week was beautiful. My best friend came to visit from Switzerland. We checked out the tapas restaurants and rated all gazpachos and salmorejos. We ate at the delicious Mirador de Morayma. We saw Eva Yerbabuena's flamenco show in the Generalife (the gardens of the Alhambra). We visited the entire Alhambra. The Nasrid Palaces truly take my breath away. We then went and relaxed in the sumptuous Arab baths, also called hammam. Afterwards we savoured Morrocan peppermint tea in the quiet of a tetería to round off the evening. A little holiday in a holiday!

Back to my routine of sleeping till ten, cleaning up my room and going to dance today.

Dance classes...

...have started. I'm so happy. :)

First week over

Well, I'm slowly getting in the flow of things. Getting used to the heat, for example. Yesterday I had a flash. I'm actually living and buying my groceries and sleeping and cooking and walking around in Spain! It's been more than a month now and I finally feel like I can breathe a bit.

Here's what I did this week:

Walked through the Albaicín a lot.

Carmen de las Estrellas

Went to Los Veranos del Corral and saw three excellent dancers:

David Coria

Raimundo Benítez

Agustín Barajas

And I went horseriding! I took the bus down by the river Genil that went to Dílar, a village at the foot of Sierra Nevada national park. There, a very friendly Fernando and Silke take care of the horses in Los Alayos.

Faraón, who was so gracious to carry me.

 We went for 2-hour rides in the countryside, which was absolutely gorgeous. We passed olive and almond trees, garden with fresh corn, tomatoes and figs. We touched the base of the national park, where the forest begins. We went down to the river Dílar. We never went faster than at walking pace, but I did enjoy myself immensely.

Dílar landscape

On Wednesday we killed an amazing platter of cheese and pâté with Annemarie and friends. She's from Holland and I met her in Sanlúcar. She had spent a month in Spain and it was her last night in Granada! Patrick took us to a place where they have a selection of 45 cheeses from Spain, France and Italy. I was in heaven. Julie, I will need to take you there!

The platter was gone in 10 minutes flat (sorry for the bad lighting)

Of course we couldn't go without wine.

Annemarie 

Michelle

Dag

Patrick

Yours truly!

We could say the week was a success. :)