This weekend we went to Jerez de la Frontera, and I had a fabulous time. Jerez is in Andalucia, and the English word "sherry"is a mispronunciation of the name "Jerez." The error is fine with the sherry producers since England is the biggest importer of sherry.
We went to Jerez for the weekend because the Georgetown Club in Spain was having a trip. We heard that someone somehow connected to the group owned a bodega. Little did we know it was the Gonzalez-Byass bodega, where Tio Pepe, of giant sign in la Puerta del Sol in Madrid fame, is produced. It was kind of a big deal.
I got lost in the train station trying to find the group. The program director made it sound like there was only one way to exit the Metro and enter the Atocha-Renfe station, but of course I managed to find a new route. Luckily enough time was built into our timetable that I was able to wander around lost for 20 minutes and still find the group with a comfortable amout of time to spare.
The group from the Georgetown Club was pretty varied in age, from relatively young alums to a group of four senior citizens. In total, there were less than 30 of us on the trip.
From Madrid, we took the AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) train to Sevilla, which was pretty sweet. We barreled through the Spanish countryside in the time it takes to watch a feature film. The train was comfortable, and I definitely prefer it to flying for short distances.
From Sevilla, we caught a charter bus to Jerez, where we were late for the beginning of the dressage show (Jerez is also known for its horses). The show definitely exceeded my expectations.
From there we went to our hotel, which was amazing (I heard it has four stars). The shower had five nozzles, and I felt the cleanest I have since coming to Spain since I didn't have to feel guilty about racking up my family's water bill. Also Georgetown is obviously ripping us off big time for tuition if we can afford to stay there during out pre-paid excursion.
We walked through Jerez, which is pretty small, and sat down for a while at a cafe. After a while, the heat and sun got to be pretty oppressive (the south is A LOT hotter than here in central Spain). I made a big fuss about how I was going to get a sunburn only to realize the next day I had my packets of emergency sunscreen in my purse the whole time.
We had a very rushed visit to the Alcazar, a Muslim fortress-palace. It seemed nice, but we were literally running through it because we hadn't realized how early it closed. Its main tourist trap is the Camara Obscura, which affords a picturesque view of all of Jerez.
On the way back we peeked into the cathedral and ended up walking through a wedding. We also passed another wedding on the way back to the hotel. I think my hobby should be walking around on Saturday evenings to take pictures of all of the weddings I see.
That night, we had a very fancy dinner in the bodega. I discovered that sweet sherry is barely drinkable, at least to my palate (dry is much better). The dinner was very nice.
Afterwards, there was a private flamenco show, which I thought was incredible. The singing and the guitar was good, but the dancers were amazing. I'm not sure how choreographed it was, but the emotion was beautiful. The male dancer's shoes looked a lot like Irish dancing hard shoes, which made me wistful about Irish dance. I kind of want to take beginner flamenco classes.
The next morning we woke up for breakfast in the hotel and then went over to tour the bodega. I felt very Spanish. From there, we literally ran back to the hotel to catch the bus back to Sevilla for our train to Madrid.
Today we had more orientation class. It doesn't seem very serious, and I don't feel stressed out, but I feel like there is a lot I need to do this week. This weekend we are going to Galicia (region in the North, highlights: seafood and Santiago de Compostela). Classes "start" October 2, but the process is such that we don't actually register until three weeks into the semester. As I am not planning on having any classes on Thursdays and Fridays, that means next week I am pretty much idle. The following weekend (Oct 9-13) is Columbus Day (definitely a holiday here in Spain) and I am trying to throw together a last minute weekend to see Kayleigh in Paris. I am also probably going to fly to see her in Prague in November.
The Estanque en el Parque del Buen Retiro:
I am such a horse whisperer.
View from the Mezquita en el Alcazar:
The incredible flamenco show:
A gorgeous patio in the Gonzalez-Byass Bodega
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