Espana 6 - Jerez

We went to, and are staying in, Seville, but took a side trip the 2nd day to Jerez. More on Seville later.

This morning we got up at the ungodly hour of 7:30 and took the train to Jerez. We didn’t really have a plan, and just our little green guidebook (thanks Sylvia) for reference, so we just picked a point and started walking. Happily, our meandering led us into one of the smaller but more upscale (boutique?) bodegas just as a tour was beginning. Jenn asked if we could get a tour in English and - voila - there appeared before us a charming young woman from Germany who had come to Spain to perfect her Spanish but who coincidentally spoke very good English. She gave us a private tour of the bodega. We learned more than we’ll probably ever need to know about the making of sherry. It must be a pretty lucrative business, because the owner, who is also an art collector, installed one of the acclimatized rooms to display “some” of his paintings. Holy crap! (no, literally), if you’re into medieval religious works - especially ones of the Annunciation (you know, where a dove whispers in Mary’s ear & the poor girl gets pregnant), you’d be impressed with this man’s private collection.
The tour ended with a sherry tasting, of course. Did I mention that we had gotten up early and dashed to the train station? Yeah, well, nothing makes the morning brighter than a breakfast of fortified wine. (See Nora's breakfast photo above)
The rest of the day was Christian cathedrals & Moorish fortresses, Jerez being one of the important cities of the Al-Andalus portion of Spain’s history. The weather down here has been gorgeous. We pass street vendors roasting chestnuts on open fires occasionally, and Jennifer slugs me every time I break into that song. I suppose it is a little incongruous when its 70 degrees and you’re getting a sunburn. Anyway, on that note, ladies and germs, I wish you all a good night as its time for Jennifer’s 8:00 feeding. Blogging off . . . nll

Nora tried to sneak HoneyCrisp into the satchel to our trip to Jerez de la Fronterra. At the last minute, she decided to have a quick pre trip bathroom break. I pulled stinky apple out of the satchel and hid her behind the art/bookcase area in out room. Nora did not notice until we were in Jerez. I am now a kidnapper.
Jerez, the city of sherry and horses. It is a cliché, but true. The other thing is you have to watch where you step or it dog poop for you. Seville is actually worse in the dog poo department, but Nora hit the big time in Jerez…
Jerez has a big tower on the Alcazar (Moorish fortress) with a “camera obscura”, a device perfected by Leonardo de Vinci, which has a mirror that rotates 360 degrees and projects the reflection onto a lens that focuses on a surface in the room. So if you were in a tower, you could look into the distance, real time, and see what was going on as far away as beyond the city walls. Totally great for military applications, but was mostly used for artists to "copy" landscapes. We toured the tower and watched cars, birds, and the comings and goings of the residents. At the alcazar they also have horse parade grounds that they use for festivals and parades. All these palaces/churches/fortresses here in Andalusia have a fascinating mix of Moorish/Christian architectural styles.
PS: there are some horses in the main square of Seville that take touristas around. They look sort of hungry, wouldn’t that be a fitting end to HoneyCrisp???…jah