One of the great pleasures of not having a car, aside from the fact that I have not been frustrated with traffic for months, is the joy of taking a train to a city that we have never visited. Such a visit in a car almost always begins with some level of stress in trying to negotiate a new town, hoping not to be the guy who finds himself driving the wrong way on a one-way street with locals looking at you like you are the biggest idiot on the planet. When arriving by train, you get to step comfortably and with an open mind into a new town, starting with what is often a beautiful, old train station. This is particularly true when you are only visiting for the day and are therefore not carrying luggage or searching for accommodations. Our experience visiting Jerez this past Sunday began in just such a fashion. After a peaceful hour of reading on the train, we stepped into a really beautiful train station, one in which it was easy to imagine Brits arriving into fifty years ago to sample and export sherry. The first block or two surrounding the train station is often a little seedy or unspectacular, but a short walk often offers the gentle unfolding of the town. Our goal was to make it to the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Arts, which holds a Saturday show once a month. We tend to split these trips up into equal parts horses, museums/cathedrals, and food; it is a balance that seems to keep everyone happy and engaged. Our walk into Jerez ended up being the perfect discovery of a town.
The first few blocks were interesting but underwhelming. We passed a pretty intriguing sherry Bodega, but it was closed -- A quick note here about Spanish priorities: Jerez is the home of sherry production in the world, and yet the majority of the sherry producers do not offer tours or tastings on the weekends. Quite simply, they don’t work on the weekends, whether tourists are in town or not. Can you imagine all of the wineries in Napa closing their tasting rooms on the weekends? While I would have liked to stop into the Bodega, I appreciate the adherence to a way of life. It also ensures that if you do visit a small bodega, you are almost certainly meeting the producers themselves. Anyway, after a couple of turns on narrow pedestrian alleys, we emerged onto a bustling market square in which vendors were selling wild asparagus and snails...lots of snails...and lots of churros. Let’s be clear - no vendor was selling churros AND snails...that is not a thing. In the middle of the square was a permanent structure, round in shape, with four outward facing stalls, each of which only made and sold churros, and only churros...but only for a few hours in the morning. So, what do you do in this case...that’s right: You take a picture of the huge crate of live snails, and you get in line to purchase churros 9If you are Randal, you also buy some snails). Since the churros are made fresh, we had to wait for a few minutes, during which time, we had to decide on our churro order...1Kg, 1/2kg, 1/4Kg, or the minimum order. Now, I really don’t like the idea, ever, of ordering the minimum order, which in this case was 1 Euro’s worth of churros, but at the same time, I had a hard time imagining what a kilo of churros looks like. I was forced to check my bravado at the churro store and order the minimum, only to find out that I would have needed a minivan to take away a kilo of churros. We got a massive cone full of hot churros for 1 Euro - no chocolate, no sugar...nothing added. What we quickly noticed was that everyone bought churros and then went to a cafe and ordered coffee for drinking and chocolate for dipping. Beautiful! We were in...and as is often the case, fried treats and coffee made us fall quickly in love with Jerez. Fortified with fried dough and caffeine, we continued our walk down the main pedestrian shopping street in Jerez - a delightful mix of new shops situated in the center of the old town.
Much like the horse show in Cordoba, the horses, riders and tradition was beautiful and spectacular...even for the non-Maya visitor. Beth and I were both intrigued by the fact that the riders are all men in their 40’s-60’s, all of whom have clearly been doing this forever, but they are clearly working hard throughout. We were pretty impressed. Just a block from the show we fortuitously found a sign declaring “Free Sherry!” with an arrow. It seems like it had been put there just for us...both because we were the only ones on the road and because we wanted free sherry. The result was a perfect visit to a small sherry store. Though not a bodega, the owner took a half an hour to explain the different types of sherry and the production process. As he did so, he opened bottles off of the shelf to have us taste. Maya was happy because the shop was full of horse artwork. I had been a bit mystified by sherry...ie I didn’t like most of what I had tasted before...and he tasted up right into a delightful range of sherries. Sort of perfect to get the time in a quiet shop with someone willing to share their knowledge. Beth had the appropriate notion to ask him where we should eat, and he led us to another perfect Saturday lunch...Tuna tartare, a traditional rice dish with mushrooms and asparagus, slow roasted lamb, and a plate of fries...and beer and wine, of course.
SHORT UPDATE: As I write, I can hear the chanting of the Leicester City soccer fans here for tomorrow night’s Champions League match against Sevilla. Unlike the Spaniards, they drink big beers at lunch, but I think their soccer team is going to get demolished. I am looking forward to going to the game.
Back to Jerez: Sometimes the big lunch with wine and beer can be tough if you don’t have an apartment to retreat to for siesta, but we happened upon what appeared to be the only horse carriage in Jerez. They are all over Sevilla, but this seemed to be a unique find in Jerez.
SECOND SHORT UPDATE: Also as I write, Maya is out working on her personal project. She is photographing carriage horses in Sevilla, asking the drivers for the horse’s name, and creating a catalog. I think it is a great opportunity for her to speak a little Spanish.
Back in Jerez again: So, we hired the carriage for an hour. Maya sat up with the driver and beth and I rode in the carriage, and the effect was perfect. We got a short rest while getting to see the entirety of the city, fully relaxing...except for the part where we almost veered into a car driving next to us. Beth and I were annoyed with the car’s driver until Maya told us that the carriage driver had let her drive the carriage for that part of the ride, and she had accidentally veered over toward the car...oops! Our short trip ended with a tour of the Cathedral and a little more exploring of the city...and we were back in Sevilla by 8:00pm, which is amazing because that meant that I got to go to the Sevilla FC soccer match. Maya and Beth headed home on the tram from the train station, and I hopped on the metro to go to the game. It was a great game on a beautiful night. Sevilla won 2-0, and I walked home in the moonlight, watching the city come to life...A pretty good day.
