Sevilla ...the land of Flamenco !!

Beautiful city !  the people are friendlier here than in Madrid (shhhhhh!), the food still good and the royal palace of Alcazar stunning !  

Spain is having a heat wave (and of course I decide to visit Spain in August !!)  Today its only 102 degrees...ouch ! but I still manage to see some incredible places AND learn how to dance Flamenco !

Our first stop is at the royal palace Alcazar ...wow !  truly an incredible place.... Built by the Moorish Muslim kings during the Islamic Arab reign in Spain and later expanded to many other rooms and gardens by King Peter I.

 The palace is still used today by the current royal family as the official Sevilla residence. Alcazar comes from the Hispano-Arab word Alqasr meaning "Royal House or Room of the Prince".

This palace is huge and surrounds an immense courtyard that has reflecting pools , a gorgeous bridge and gardens.  The rooms are exquisitely done in an assortment of arabesque style with tiles, intricate stone and wood carvings.  I loved it and would see it again in a more leisurely pace.

The palace has been the site of many movies including "Kingdom of Heaven", "Lawrence of Arabia"  "El Cid" and "Star Wars- the Prequel".  It was also used in a recent very popular TV cable series....can any of you guess which one?  Look at the pictures (see answer at the end.)

Later we walk through the city and also visit the Cathedral which although beautiful and very detail, as all Gothic cathedral are, I found it very ostentatious and elaborate.

 Nevertheless, it is one of the largest in Europe.

By this time we are completely exhausted and we head to the hotel to get ready for our Flamenco dancing class !!

Anyone that knows me knows i love dancing and I enjoy Flamenco music too. Actually, as a little girl of 6 or 7,  I used to fancy myself a Flamenco dancer.  I had a set of "castañuelas" and would have "dance shows" and "perform" in front of family members where I would dance and use my castañuelas.  Of note is that I never took one lesson of Flamenco dancing or learned how to use the castañuelas.... I'm sure my parents, aunts and uncles who endured this must have laughed to tears watching me...but bless their hearts for sitting there while I danced and they clapped profusely and made a little girl believe she was a great Flamenco dancer...:)

So we get to the dance hall and we had been instructed to wear shoes that had some heels...Well of course the only two that wore heels were the two Latin woman in the group, Martha, my friend and traveling companion and me !

I'm thinking I know how to dance..why this would be easy!!!....not quite!!  Even Martha, who is a good dancer too, found it difficult.  But I didn't do so bad I guess when I ended being paired with the teacher.

 By the end we managed to learn some basic steps and finish with a flourish of arm and hand movements and I fulfilled my dream of finally learning how to learn from a master Flamenco dancer... check that off the bucket list !!

 Afterwards we got to see a show by professional dancers that was simply amazing...

 Incredibly talented dancers....their feet were flying and the passion they showed in the dancing was emotional and dramatic.  Hmmmm,  I think I need quite a few more dancing lessons....oh well...

 Still, all in all a very interesting  day !!

Life is Good !

Traveling Redheaded Lady

PS -(the 5th season scenes of the Martell royal palace were shot at the Palace of Sevilla.  The fight scene between Jamie Lannister and the Martell girls is filmed in the courtyard and when Jamie is brought in front of the Martell prince, it is in the reception as in the picture)