Jerez - the Panoramic Route

Sunday 2 February 
Hello to you all from Jerez where the sun is shining so it was the perfect opportunity to explore this lovely town and its landmarks.  The weather here generally is changeable: rainy, overcast, bright - a little like Britain - but not as cold so you have to make hay while the sun shines.

Jerez de la Frontera is so-named as it was once the border between Moorish and Christian Spain.  Many battles have ensued throughout history as it was so important strategically and economically.  Jerez is an agricultural region given its climate and is very green in comparison with the east coast and some of the dry, inner regions.  Its geography and climate made Jerez a wealthy region and is why it was the site of so many battles.  Today its main export is sherry, followed closely by flamenco, mainly because Jerez is home to a sizeable and integrated Roma population.  It was in the infamous Roma barrios (neighbourhoods) that flamenco was born.  Jerez has its own brand of flamenco - the cheerier buleria as opposed to Seville's more tragic solea.

Jerez is also renowned for excellent food and wine, in particular sherry and brandy which we'll be sampling later in the week at the Bodega Tio Pepe (Gonzalez Byass).

The Gonzalez Byass Bodega with cathedral in background

As you're probably gathering, you can't go too far in Jerez without being reminded of sherry or brandy.  Below is a piccie of a landmark building, El Gallo Azul (the Blue Cockrel), a top restaurant and tapas bar which is emblazoned with the Pedro Domecq logo advertising its sherry - Fino La Ina - a dry white sherry, best served cold and with food (sushi, chicken, fish).

El Gallo Azul (the blue cockrel) restaurant & tapas bar

So far, we've only managed a coffee and cake at El Gallo Azul but plan to visit for some highly recommended tapas.

Coffee & cake at El Gallo Azul

A short walk from here is the cathedral which is amazing - only inaugurated as recently as 1980 and named for San Salvador.  Unfortunately, it was too dark inside to get any piccies but here's the impressive exterior.

Cathedral of San Salvador

The Alcazar is an 11-12c Moorish fortress and one of the best preserved in Andalucia.  Within the fortress is a mosque, a patio, Arab baths and a later addition, a palace.  We were going to visit but with all the other tempting sights on offer in Jerez we decided not to as entry fees soon mount up on a trip likes ours but here's a piccie of the exterior.

Alcazar fortress

Another view of the Alcazar

Jerez also has its own Plaza de Toros (bullring) which doesn't have a museum alongside - it is used only for corridas (bull fights). We're not fans of the bull fight but we do like the structures themselves.  We haven't yet visited a plaza on this trip although we plan to see Madrid's bullring soon en route back to northern Spain.  On a previous visit to Seville we visited its revered bullring and it is incredible to see the scale and design of the structures - truly magnificent.  Bull fighting is increasingly being banned throughout Spain and these fabulous structures are being converted into shopping malls.  See them while you can!  And I can't sign off without bringing you an image of shop we passed on our walkabout: check this out ladies!

So that pretty much sums up our tour of Jerez.  I hope it has brought you a flavour of what's on offer here and we would recommend a visit here.  Of course, our time here is not over yet.  I'll publish separate posts on our trips to the bodega, the horse show and our next flamenco show.  We may also go to a flamenco fashion show - heaven!

Ooh, and here's an example of a Spanish delicacy.  You see these little boxes on sale all over southern Spain: snails - cooked in garlic, butter and served with herbs - los caracoles - fancy them?!  I didn't pluck up the courage but next time around for sure!