Spain Travel Diary: February and March 2023
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Madrid — Mayuko Harada
23–24 February 2023
We finally arrived in Madrid, the capital of Spain!
The vivid blue sky, the cobblestone streets, the buildings full of history, and all those shops displaying products in lovely colours… The colour combinations we rarely see in Japan were so stylish and absolutely adorable! Every little thing we saw delighted us. The streets, the buildings—everything felt so grand in scale that we were simply overwhelmed.
The incredible variety of tapas on display at the market looked so delicious that we wanted to try a bite of every single one…
Spain has so many wonderful things to offer, and food is certainly one of them, isn't it?
Fish, meat, vegetables, fruit… everything was delicious.
We were definitely going to put on weight!
After something to eat, we headed to Madrid's well-known Tablao Cardamomo to watch a flamenco show.
The extraordinary technique, the connection between the dancers and musicians, and all that contemporary flamenco left us completely exhilarated!
We brought our first day in Spain to a close with a night full of passion.
Our second day in Madrid was warm, sunny, and wonderfully pleasant. There was something remarkable about Spain: wherever we walked, being out in the sunshine felt so good.
In the morning, we visited Madrid's famous Prado Museum and enjoyed Spanish painting. Afterwards,
we went to Amor de Dios, the well-known flamenco studio where our teacher Beni had once studied.
The school was closed for Madrid's carnival, so it was very quiet. As we looked at photographs of celebrated dancers from different generations and explored the practice studios, we happened to run into Alejandro Granados, one of Beni's former teachers!
It really felt like a miraculous reunion!
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Seville — Eri Takahashi
25 February 2023
On the train from Madrid to Seville.
We set off a little early so we could watch the sunrise through the train window.
I was surprised that the colours of the sunrise looked different from those in Japan.
Even the colours change depending on where you see them.
We left our bags at an absolutely lovely hotel
and went to Plaza de España.
The buildings, the scenery, the sounds… everything was truly wonderful.
Then, to our surprise, we came across what seemed to be a street flamenco performance. Beni even joined in for some sevillanas! Olé!
We walked along the Guadalquivir River and crossed the Triana Bridge.
Delicious food and delicious beer.
And in the evening, we went to a tablao.
Natalia Marín's voice
resonated from soul to soul, and tears began to flow before I knew it. I couldn't stop them.
It was a day when I felt Seville with my whole body.
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Jerez — Kurosu Nobue
We spent four days in Jerez, from 26 February to 1 March 2023, taking classes during the day and watching flamenco at the theatre in the evening.
We took three days of bulerías classes with Chiqui de Jerez, who had a school in Jerez. Beni took the classes with us too!
Each lesson started with an intensive routine of footwork technique, followed by choreography. The choreography was simple, but bringing out the feel of Jerez bulerías naturally was difficult—and so much fun! We ended every class drenched in sweat.
After class, una copita: a little drink.
Before the evening flamenco performances at Teatro Villamarta, there was also a reunion with the famous guitarist Antonio Rey, whom Beni had known since his younger days—though to us, Beni was still young!
We also went to Cádiz, where there was yet another reunion, this time with the very famous David Palomar. Every day was packed with memorable experiences from morning to night.
On the evening of our last day, 1 March, Hideko Yamamoto and I, Kurosu Nobue, danced at La Guarida del Ángel, a well-known tablao in Jerez. We were fortunate to have such an incredibly valuable experience.
Those four days flew by… and then we were off to Córdoba.
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Córdoba — Kurosu Nobue
From 2 to 8 March 2023, we stayed in Córdoba and spent each day surrounded by love and laughter with Beni's family.
When we arrived at Córdoba station, Beni's mother and his sisters Rafi and Ángela came to meet us and drove us to his mother's home.
We left our bags and went out for churros for breakfast. Then, while taking a walk, we stopped to try a seasonal local speciality: caracoles, or snails! They were a little spicy, with a shellfish-like texture, and absolutely delicious.
From there, we visited the Mosque-Cathedral, a World Heritage monument whose architectural history combines a former mosque and a Christian cathedral.
For dinner, we finally had Mama Teresa's much-anticipated tortilla and salmorejo, a Córdoba speciality. Everything was so delicious that we could have kept eating it for the rest of our lives! We were all completely bowled over.
On our second day in Córdoba, we had breakfast at a neighbourhood café, walked around the city, and in the evening even joined Beni at a reunion with his former schoolmates!
On our third day in Córdoba, we went to stay overnight at Rafi's home. She is Beni's eldest sister. Her husband was such a talented cook that he had won a competition on a Spanish television cooking programme. He put an extraordinary amount of time and care into our meal, serving a dish that combined paella with rabo de toro, Córdoba's local speciality of stewed bull's tail. It was so unbelievably delicious that we could barely contain our excitement!
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A Side Trip from Córdoba: Granada — Kurosu Nobue
The next day, we went to Granada with Beni's family.
There was a reunion with the dancer Irene, who was attracting considerable attention in Spain's flamenco world at the time.
Afterwards, we went with her to watch flamenco at Cueva La Rocío, one of Granada's cave flamenco venues known among local people.
We enjoyed an even more intense flamenco experience.
When we went up to the rooftop of our apartment, the Alhambra stretched out right in front of us. It was a wonderfully luxurious moment.
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Our last day in Córdoba…
By the way, a video director, Tsukuda, accompanied us on this trip.
One of the purposes of the trip was to photograph and film Beni against the scenery of Córdoba. We therefore returned to the area around the Mosque-Cathedral, the Roman Bridge, and other locations, shooting from various angles.
At the time, we announced that the edited video would be available to watch later. We were looking forward to sharing it!
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Finally…
On this trip, we experienced not only flamenco but Spanish culture from many different perspectives. These were experiences we could never have had in quite the same way without travelling with Beni.
After such rich experiences, we returned to Japan, all of us reluctant to say goodbye. It was a wonderful journey through Spain!
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