Angela and Roland's European Adventure: Wednesday 25th January

For us there were three must visit places when we arrived at Camping Roche just outside Conil de la Frontera in Andalucía: Cadiz, Cordoba and Jerez. We normally eschew the car when we reach a campsite, but unfortunately there is precious little public transport for the afore mentioned trips, so the car it had to be. As it happened, Angela needed to give blood for some blood tests this morning, so we were already up early to visit the clinic in Conil. Blood taken and €54 lighter in the pocket (but parking was free and we were given a voucher for a gratis breakfast, so hey ho!) we headed off to Jerez. We hadn't done much research and Jerez didn’t even appear in the Lonely Planet Guide, so we half expected that our visit would be a short one and that maybe we’d be able to fit in a visit to Cadiz on the same day. In the event, we both thought that Jerez was a lovely town with some very pretty areas. One attraction that Angela was keen to visit was the González Byass bodega.

We have been struck by how friendly people have been to us as foreigners pretty much wherever we have been in Europe, and Spain has been no exception. We had only just arrived in Jerez and had shown interest in the hop on hop off bus when a young woman passer by unsolicited showed us where we could catch the bus. After overhearing us talking about the Tourist Information Centre, she then preceded to lead us to the TI Centre, which was some way across town. It was only after we got there that we realised she needed to go in the opposite direction and just wanted to make sure we found our way there.

The guy at the TI Centre was also very helpful and showed us some of the must see things if on a short visit. He explained that the cost of the visit to the González Byass bodega was €14 pp (in fact, this was the old price as it was €15 at the door). We then realised that we could get a hop on hop off tour bus ticket for €15 pp which included entrance to the bodega, so that was a deal too good to miss. Jerez is really too small a town to warrant a hop on hop off bus tour but as it was free if you took into account the bodega tickets, it was a no brainer. It was a brisk but sunny day so we enjoyed the bus tour and it gave us a good appreciation of Jerez. It’s a very nice town with cobble streets liberally adorned with flowers, shrubs and palms and plenty of orange trees bursting with fruit. We wondered what happened to the fruit, but then saw men knocking the fruit out of the trees for collection.
Jerez is not only known for its sherry production, but also as the birthplace of Flamenco. It is also proud of its equestrian traditions and has several monuments to horses around the town. It is also the home of the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art founded in 1973, which is devoted to conserving the ancestral abilities of the Andalusian horse and maintaining the classical traditions.
After lunch of huge filled rolls at a €2 a piece we headed off for a tour in Spanish and English around the González Byass bodega. It was an really interesting and informative tour taken by an excellent young guide. We commended him on his very good idiomatic English, and he then owned up and said that he wasn’t Spanish but Portuguese, as if that explained it.

After learning about the wine, sherry and brandy production, and the transition between the drinks, it was our turn to sample the products. It was all a good experience. The exit, as is always the case, was through the shop, this was obviously going to be a trial for Angela, but she maintained her good humour.

We had spent so much time on the bus tour and in the bodega that we hardly had time to do the cathedral justice, but it was well worth the visit. The other place that was worth the visit was Alcazar, the old Moorish palace and fort. As it was near the cathedral and bodega we had pretty much walked around the outside most of the day.

Well we didn’t make Cadiz, but hopefully another day. Jerez was certainly worth the extra time we spent there and we both enjoyed the day thoroughly.