Our tasty romance with this Andalusian capital city continued on Tuesday with our midday olive oil tour. We began with a 30-minute bus ride out to a small pueblo outside of Granada, where we wandered through an olive grove, observing the fruit up close.
The view of the mountains from the pueblo, with the Sierra Nevada mountains rising up behind the olive groves.
We got to try some (very bitter) unripe olives straight from the tree while we learned about different varieties of olives, their cultivation and their preservation.
After spending some time in the fields, we walked up through the town and learned about the processing of the olives into olive oil at the oldest standing olive mill in Spain. Our guide was very patient and kind, she was eager to share this history with us and the students really seemed to learn a lot about the process. They are now all olive oil connoisseurs!
This ancient olive mill is called the Blood Mill, because the ancient Romans used slaves to turn the stone and crush the fruit into a paste. The Spanish were more civilized and used donkeys, but we threatened the kids that if they misbehaved we would have to revert back to the historical methods of production for their salad dressing!
We tasted five different types of olive oils, each with their unique scent and story. The fifth sample was by far the most original — an orange infused blend to be enjoyed on bread with sugar! We each got to take home a sample of olive oil and an olive oil soap.
After the delicious tasting, we headed back into town, ate a light lunch, and then had free time to get to know the city more intimately in smaller groups. This was also an opportune time for our last Spanish shopping extravaganza, as the next and final two locations will be more rural and less commercial.
In the evening, after a tapas dinner, we headed back up to the Alhambra where we began to enjoy a flamenco show, until a sudden summer downpour dashed our chances. Luckily, we were able to get a full refund and snagged tickets to the same show on Thursday night, which turned out to be a beautiful clear night, perfect for a moonlit spectacle. Instead of flamenco on Tuesday, then, we went to a nearby karaoke club and sang the night away to such classics as “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, “Your Song” by Elton John, and of course the duet from High School Musical – as well as many romantic Spanish tunes. A very fun and effective way to learn lyrics in Spanish!
On Wednesday, we began the day with a Spanish lesson on Federico García Lorca, a famous poet and dramaturgist from Granada who was killed at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, in 1936. Daniel and I gave a presentation on Lorca’s life, and then conducted an extended poetry reading and analyzed several of his important works. Then we walked over to Huerta San Vicente, a nearby park and museum in Granada dedicated to Lorca, where we toured the grounds and some chose to take a guided tour of his family’s summer home.
The group in front of Federico García Lorca’s summer home in Granada.
On Wednesday evening, we were able to reserve the entirety of an Arab bath house for a private session for the group. And, on top of this exciting luxury, we surprised the kids with their own 15-minute massage in the bath house! Everyone was absolutely thrilled by the experience. It was surely a highlight of the trip!
The next day, on Thursday, we all went for an outdoor drawing lesson with a local art teacher, who provided pencils and notebooks for an extended guided sketching session in Spanish. And, in the evening, we were finally able to catch up on that flamenco show that had gotten cut short before.
Feliz Cumpleaños! We celebrated Jack’s 16th birthday with a big “cheese-cake” before dinner. Jack and friends (notably Colin and Payom) are all big cheese aficionados and we have sought out local quesos at every stop on the trip. Here we shared this local goat cheese from a small farm near Granada.
A photo from the first attempt at the flamenco show. We all had fun getting drenched in the warm summer rain, and we even got to practice our Spanish chant!
On Friday morning we head to Capiliera, where we will be high in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. There, we will ride horses through the mountains, go on a long weekend hike, and have fun splashing in the hotel pool during downtime! Not sure how great our service or reception will be, but we will try to write again soon.
Hasta pronto,
Camila y Daniel