ALLAN ROGERS VISITS
JEREZ ... FOR SHERRY AND FLAMENCO DANCERS.She clicked her heels with the rapidity of machine gun fire, her angular poses and fast movement in perfect harmony with the music.
We found three ships anchored on the banks of the River Tinto at Huelva in Andalucia, where Spain borders with the Algarve. They were replicas of the Pinta the Nina and the Santa Maria, the little fleet that Columbus took on search of the new world.
It seemed apt that our next stop should be Puerto Santa Maria..
I thought the place would be a cosy little port, but it was quite a busy town and we were beginning to feel the same kind of apprehension that this crew must have felt about ever sighting land again, except in our case the concern was about finding our hotel.
We had driven past the bull ring four times and seemed to be propelled in a flow of traffic that would never stop. It herded us into ever narrowing streets. Just after the third clanging of wing mirrors, we found the Monastario del Santa Maria, not that we had turned to religion for refuge, it was more a case of the Monastery coming into the hotel business.
We were booked in there as part of our fly drive holiday. Presumably it had gone ‘up market’ since the monks inhabited their simple cells If not judging by the swimming pool and the suite of rooms that we were shown to, they were on to a good thing.
We had arrived just after lunch when everything was beginning to close up, the town has the civilised habit of shutting up for a few hours siesta and opening again in the cool of the early evening.
The bars and cafes opened and crowds surged from the church square to walk single file along the narrow pavements to bars that soon echoed with the chatter of friends. I settled down to enjoy a brandy large plus coffee, at bargain price.
Women gathered round tables and the noise rivalled of a bunch of starlings as everyone talks at once and few seem to listen.A proud Mum a willowy brown eyed Spanish lass with her new baby was at first the centre of attention, but she was soon ‘up staged’ by the arrival of ‘Lolla,’ a five weeks old Springer Spaniel puppy.
In my search for the real Spain, it was the quiet country roads that I enjoyed and on the way to Jerez. giant silhouettes of advertising hoardings of bulls and matadors crowned the hill tops. In that land ‘the golden nectar’ was Sherry rather than Whisky. We saw reminders of it every where.
We stayed in Jerez at the Hotel Sherry Park, which had a sparkling blue swimming pool, palm trees and a pyramid of sherry casks.
We soaked up the atmosphere as we wandered through the market. Amid the roses and the asparagus there were several stalls selling snails, they were lively little creatures and the stall holder was kept busy, his stock in danger of escaping in all directions at the same time.
I overtook a runaway snail and a friendly Spaniard directed us to the magnificent Moorish Castel San Mieguel. It was an imposing affair decked in ivy and in a street lined with orange trees.
We wandered around the castle then stopped for a coffee in a little cobbled court yard, then ambled on through narrow white lanes that always seemed to lead to a church more ancient than the last.
In the evening we were directed to the gypsy quarter where we were told that at Bar El Laga in the Plaza Del Mecado (means grape press) at 11pm each night there was Flamenco music and dancing.
We went there expecting to merge with the locals but a coach load of Londoners from the Guildhall School of Economics found the place as well. They were visiting factories by day and bars by night.
A Spaniard sang “Yhaaa ieeee Yhaaaa ieeee....” guitars strummed and there was lots of hand clapping as a girl with a ramrod straight back in a polka dot frock of many tiers, fixed me with a haughty stare.
She clicked her heels with the rapidity of machine gun fire, her angular poses and fast movement in perfect harmony with the music.
She was followed by an even haughtier and straighter lady that could have been her mum.
All this for the price of a brandy, it was a good night.
FACT FILE
Jerez is fairly compact so that you can tour the main attractions in a very short time.
My recommendations are:
a) The Andalusian Centre for Flamenco School, it’s a public high school where they prepare training young dancers, this is best seen early say at 10 am, and your visit includes a video on Flamenco art
b) The clock collection which is claimed to be the best accumulation of chiming clocks in Europe, it’s inside a beautiful wine cellar, if you are there at say at 11 or 12 o’clock when they are all chiming you will get the full effect.
c) The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. The main show is on Thursday, usually from 11am til 1pm. It is necessary to book in advance and it is very popular in high season.
And
d) One of the nearby wine cellars for a sherry tasting.
Volume 4 Edition 5
