Valencia

We have had a couple of days in Valencia.  The ride from Granada was smooth and the boys met their next set of Spanish parents.  We walked the center of the city and climbed the Cathedral tower.

Bullring in the background

The famous central market of Valencia

Wedding at the Cathedral as we passed by

One of the remaining doors to the old, walled-in city

The one and only Alhambra

I hope my friends from California forgive me, but there is only one Alhambra.  While this one does not have a Costco, it is easily the most impressive building one will likely ever visit.

Granada

We took the train this morning for Granada.  We checked into our hotel, walked a bit of the center and up to some lookout points.  The boys were then sent out to dinner on their own as Granada is one of the last holdouts for giving out free tapas with your drink.  Oh yeah- Spain beat Portugal tonight to advance to the finals of the Eurocup.

Cante

We had a class with our flamenco singer, Ana Real, who was also the singer at the show we had previously seen.  Like many of our teachers, she has been with us since I started leading the trip and continues to do a great job involving the boys in seeing how hard flamenco music is to take up.  The boys also visited the Alcazar of Sevilla where the different forms of architecture (Moorish, Mudejar and different Christian styles are seen all in one palace as it expanded and adapted as different groups took it over.  Tonight they had a scavenger hunt which included finding placed and getting locals to perform on tape.

Cordoba

This morning we headed to Cordoba, one of the most important cities in Europe in the 10th century.  We toured the Jewish quarter, the mosque/cathedral, and sampled some of the cities famous dishes.  A museum of torture was an added bonus.

At a gate to the old center of Cordoba

Slamorejo, bull tail, fried eggplant and honey