Granada—Flamenco and Pomegranates

We have had such a wonderful time in Granada! It is an incredible, beautiful city, with a rich and fascinating history. My daughter, Emily, spent a term studying in Granada when she was in college, and it has fascinated me ever since hearing her descriptions and seeing her photos. It is here that the Moorish influence in Spain is probably strongest, giving it a different flavor from the other cities we have visited.

One thing Granada is famous for is Flamenco—the dance and the music. Last night we went to a Flamenco performance. You never know, when you buy tickets for something like this, whether you will be seeing the real thing or something hokey that has been trumped up for tourists. What we saw seemed pretty great and authentic (but what do we know...?)

It was a very exciting, very intense performance. Nothing dainty about Flamenco. We loved it.

As we have walked around this city I started noticing a lot of images of pomegranates, including on this street cover for city water access. I was curious and learned that "granada" is the Spanish word for pomegranite. The city was not necessarily named for the fruit. It may have come from an Arab word that sounds similar, but nevertheless the city has adopted the fruit as its emblem. Once I noticed them, I started seeing them everywhere.

On the sidewalks

Carved into the pews in the Cathedral

On local pottery

Sidewalk barriers

On a fountain

And today when we visited the gardens of the Alhambra, I saw actual pomegranates growing on trees.

Today's visit to the Alhambra was incredible and will be a post of its own one of these days. I took so many photos I really need to carefully edit and select.

Tomorrow we head off to Seville.

 

 

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