Part 13: (Bonus) Our Neighborhood

Now that you have an idea of what it's like to spend a day (or two or three) in Jerez, I'd like to show you what our neighborhood is like.

We stay in el Barrio de San Miguel, also known as La Plazuela, where the scent of flamenco is everywhere.

It’s one of the two main flamenco neighborhoods of Jerez.

It is steps away from the center of town.

Our street, La Calle Empedrada, is framed by a statue of Lola Flores on one end…

And a statue of La Paquera at the other end.

There's something to be said for two strong flamenco women greeting us at each end of our street.

The building we stay in used to be a casa de vecinos, a communal, working class living facility.

Together Luís, Maribel, and their family converted the building into apartments.

Here’s a taste of what you see upon entering the property.

Maribel and her mother are quite the gardeners

The renovated walls are decorated with old cooking artifacts.

So many nooks and crannies to explore,

When we want to see the whole neighborhood, or the sky, we just go up to the rooftop.

It’s one of my favorite places to go and the place I miss most when I come back home.

It’s a place we use to visit and rest,

Practice dancing,

Practice palmas,

Enjoy some tapas and a drink,

Clear our minds, and, of course, hang laundry.

We also spend time in this covered common area downstairs.

And this downstairs open common space,

Sometimes Maribel even leaves us something to nourish ourselves with after class. (She’s the sweetest.)

It's feels pretty amazing to stay in this historic building and to walk around everyday on streets full of so much history.

“It felt like I was a part of the community...They made you feel like family. In fact when I met Maribel the first thing she did was she grabbed us and she hugged us. We felt so comfortable, so at ease…It was the same thing with the teachers. They were open to all of us, and they had never met us…Your passion and love for this place and the people is so infectious! I get it!”

— Carol Carrillo (Flamenco Tour Alum)

Here’s what we see when we walk out our door.

To our left is Peña la Bulería.

To the right is how we get to class.

For just around the corner is Mercedes Ruíz’s studio.

And across the street are more apartments some people stay in.

If we keep walking we end up at Peña Flamenca los Cernícalos where we take bulerías classes.

This is the street where we have bulerías class.

Take a few more steps, and we encounter this view.

A bit further on is the convent where we like to buy cookies from the cloistered nuns.

And then we end up at La Iglesia de San Miguel.

And that’s a snapshot of our neighborhood in Jerez.

There's lots more to see, but I'll save some for the Flamenco Tour itself!

You can find out more about what I like about our apartments and our neighborhood in Jerez here.

And you can see more pictures from the apartments here.

Thank you for joining me to experience a day in the life of a student on the Flamenco Tour to Jerez.

I hope you enjoyed the journey.

Have any questions?

Before I went to Spain for the first time I had all kinds of questions. I imagine you have some questions of your own. What you would like to know about going to Spain to study? Leave your questions below in the comments.