Jerez!

The time had finally come for us to leave Cadiz. In the past few days Jess and I had enjoyed a candy store that also sold these delicious drinks. In the time that we had been in Cadiz we had managed to fill up a punch card and were able to get one free. The morning of our departure we hustled to the store and ordered our drinks before hurrying back to the waiting taxi to rush to the train station.

Unfortunately we missed our train but the Chicos who had arrived a little earlier than us caught the first train. We waited around for the next one and played a bit of Scrabble to pass the time.

Getting on the train, the ride from Cadiz to Jerez de la Frontera was not that long. About an hour or so which went by quickly. It was still sunny and warm out.

I'm a little red in the photo above. Wearing my new shirt I got in Barcelona. Not shown is my lovely lobster red back which made carrying my backpack a small torture.

Arriving in Jerez we enjoyed the lovely train station before piling into a taxi and being taken to our accommodation La Fonda Barranco which is a very lovely B&B in the city.

Jerez is the largest city in the province of Cadiz with 215,180 inhabitants and is the transportation and communications hub of the province. Jerez is the world captial of sherry wine as well as being a center or horsemanship and flamenco dancing. It is home of the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art.

Our helpful host/receptionist led us to La Cruz Blanca where we all enjoyed a tasty lunch. I decided on a carnivore path and chose a meat dish which was pork and mushrooms with french fries. Was very tasty. Jess was adventurous and got a dish of green peppers. 

The Chicos were staying in a different location then ours so they had their own little apartment with a nice roof top deck which had a lovely view over the city and you could see the Cathedral peeking over the buildings. I was fascinated by the plants and could not stop thinking about my sister. I think we have always loved them as they grew in the front garden of at our father's house when we were growing up. She has several planters outside of her place in Vancouver and I now have a small collection of them on my window sill here in Liverpool.  These ones in Jerez were absolutely massive. They may not even be hen and chicks but they look similar and my knowledge of cacti and succulents is slim.

The distance between the Chicos apartment and La Fonda Barranco was about a five minute walk. We really got to see some gritty looking buildings with flaking plaster and bars on their windows. It was a startling contrast to our visit to Cadiz.  We had to pass along through a set of stairs in this alleyway and it was always filled with cats which I loved. Never got to touch any of them, probably for the best. You could tell people were feeding them by the tins sitting out when we passed down that way.

Jess looked amazingly stylish in her new shoes she got in Cadiz. We went to Zodo de Artesania de Jerez for a look at the artisan market that was nearby where we were staying. There were several different shops/stalls selling different craftwear. I accidentally broke a bracelet into a million pieces which I paid for. Only €2.50 but I was still embarrassed. The seller was not very pleased but hey, I paid for it and I am sure she can make another out of the beads and make double the profit. I broke it trying to get it onto my wrist but the elastic was too tight. She explained that it was meant as an anklet but if I could not get it over my hand carefully how was I supposed to get it on my foot. Her loss.

We walked over to The Cathedral of San Salvado which is a Catholic church built in the 17th century in a mix of styles.  We caught it basking in the sunshine as the sun was setting. it looked very beautiful.

After the Cathedral we walked around Jerez, making our way to more of the shopping and restaurant areas where we had dinner. Again I went for a meat dish with some sweet potatoes. It was very nice. I was seeing a trend happening. So far not disappointment in any way with any of the meat dishes that day.