Arrived in Jerez

Our move from Seville to Jerez, was one of the easiest that we’ve experienced. With bags in tow - and the train station only a walk away, we were off by noon to catch our pre-booked train. The regional train that runs every couple of hours from Seville to Cádiz, was great - with wide aisles and seats, lots of room for luggage and, on this day, relatively quiet - it took us just over an hour to reach Jerez de la Frontera. Not much to see on the journey except very flat land with lots of sunflowers! A quick taxi ride took us to the other side of town where we met the owner, José, who quickly explained the “rules & regulations” of our new home for the next 10 days.
This time we’re in a large 2 bedroom apartment - on the the 3rd floor of two small apartment buildings that are joined together by a common open-air courtyard. We have one of the penthouse suites which is reached either by stairs or an elevator that stops at our own private lobby.....really! We also have our own huge roof top terrace....but to be fair, there’s very little furniture on it, and no shade, so our use of it is limited to only certain times of the day. (There is an old patio table with chairs, so when we can, sitting and eating out there is do-able). Although it’s not as hot here as Seville (daytime highs are in the low 30s), without a cloud in the sky, it’s still too hot to sit in anything but shade until around 8 pm.
We quickly unpacked and went out, found the local grocery store and were back in time for an evening drink and a bite to eat on our “luxury penthouse terrace.” Afterwards a short stroll took us to the main town square where I tasted my first sherry from the region.....not a bad first day!
Our first full day we spent doing what we usually do upon arriving anywhere.....we walked around and familiarized ourselves with our new surroundings. Our apartment is ideally situated, tucked away on a small side street in the old town - it’s the only apartment building on the street - which it shares with some old sherry warehouses. Nowadays all sherry is made in the urban areas close by - El Puerto de Santa Marta, Sanlucar de Barrameda on the coast - as well as Jerez, but nowhere else.....this is the world capital of sherry! With many cobbled alleys, plazas, Baroque churches, bars & restaurants, Jerez is also famous for flamenco, tapas and horses.....it is a quintessential Spanish town in the region of Andalucia. At night we again walked the town and found a bar just off the main square that’s a perfect spot to sit outside, enjoy a drink and/or a meal or tapas......it’s also a good spot for people-watching as there’s a constant flow coming and going past the outside tables. We walked home in what was the coolest night-time temperatures we’ve experienced since being in Spain - around 22C. We were certainly feeling ready for the next day’s free walking tour of Jerez.
We were at the meeting point - La Plaza del Arenal - the next morning a good 10 minutes before the advertised time for the start of the walking tour.....but unfortunately no “tour-leader” appeared....disappointing to us and to a small group of disgruntled Spaniards. We’ve taken these city tours on other occasions, so decided that we’d try again the next day but this time register for it in advance, on-line. While waiting we took some extra time to take a closer look at this very attractive main square of Jerez. Created back in the reign of Alfonso X, who ruled in the mid-1300s, it’s been used as a place for public meetings, festivities and games for centuries....one of the roads leading off it is named Carredera (race-track) because it was the starting point for numerous horse-races that were held there. These days this attractive large square, along with other streets in its area, is pedestrianized and filled with shops, bars, cafés and restaurants.....there’s even a small carousel there - which sounds awful, but isn’t - the whole atmosphere works. Place of honour in the centre is given to an equestrian statue of Miguel Primo de Rivera - Prime Minister of Spain from 1923-1930 who was born in Jerez.....he’s surrounded by a lovely fountain!
Quickly forgetting about the walking tour we decided to see the “local castle” which is just around the corner from the Plaza del Arenal. Although a lot smaller than the Royal Alcázar in Seville, it’s certainly worth visiting. Built in the 12th century, the Alcázar of Jerez is also one of the few examples of Islamic architecture in the Iberian Peninsula and, with its surrounding walls, it was used as a both a fortress and a palace. The importance of Jerez, in this area of Andalusia, was shown by the length of the city walls, which were 4kms long.....some of the remains of the wall can still be seen here and throughout the town.
In the Palace there are only a few rooms open for viewing, mostly on the second floor. The most attractive area in the Palace are 3 connecting rooms, with large windows that stretch across the back wall - all are painted yellow with white trim and are a lovely contrast to the dark wooden floors and window shutters. The rooms are unfurnished - 2 of the rooms have framed, colourful wall posters and the 3rd has delicate pastel-coloured paintings of flowers. The hallways and stairwells display some dramatic art-work, including one painting - The Martyrdom of Saint Justa and Saint Rufina that won the artist (Rodriguez de Losada) a national prize for capturing the essence of dramatic Baroque art. The second floor also contains what was the Municipal Pharmacy from the 19th century. It contains beautifully carved, original wooden shelving, containing some of the instruments, flasks & jars that were used during that period.
We spent most of our time following a well documented route through the remains of the castle. Highlights included some of old City Gates, a Mosque, Arab Baths, an Oil Mill and an archaeological sight. The Mosque is the only one that still remains from the 18 city mosques that existed in Jerez - it dates back to the 12th century. In addition to a small niche in its wall that faces Mecca, there’s a Christian shrine that was added towards the end of the same century.
The Oil Mill was a more recent addition (18th century) and shows the equipment used in what was a very important industry in this area until the middle of the 19th century. The Arab Baths present what was also the classic Roman Baths format - with a cold, a warm and a hot room. The Archaeological site shows remains from the 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th century - it can be viewed by means of a footbridge. Between the Palace and the other buildings a small garden has been recreated to create the atmosphere of the early to mid-10th century.
Later this week, we did eventually take the free walking tour - but not before our pre-booked tour was cancelled by another no-show! Fortunately the local Tourist Information Office was good enough to provide us with a substitute guide - a very pleasant woman, who took us and two others on an informative walk through some of the old parts of the city. We saw the outside of the cathedral and heard its history, learned the background story of the Tio Pepe winery and also learned how to distinguish between an orange tree that has oranges that are sweet, and a tree that gives a more bitter fruit - the tree bearing the bitter fruit has a very small leaf that connects the larger leaf to the stem of the tree branch....good to know!
An area of houses in the oldest residential part of the city held some memories for our guide - her grandmother had lived in the area. Some of the streets have large, beautiful houses that were private family homes, but as they’re now too big to be maintained, some are used as municipal buildings and one, that has 4 separate courtyards, is home to over 50 separate apartments - they were indeed huge homes! Other buildings In the same area have not been so fortunate.....now they are mere broken-down, empty shells - some of which, according to our guide, have been that way as long as she can remember - she is 43.
The days and nights here in Jerez are starting to blend into each other, as we begin to follow the typical Spanish rhythms of later mornings plus staying indoors, where it’s cooler, for a few hours in the afternoon.....I have to admit that I’ve even taken a couple of hour-long siestas.....they do make it easier to stay up and enjoy later evenings!
No late morning tomorrow, though, we’ll be up early to catch a train for a day-long visit to Cádiz!