![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3u6-oh2uYxEvMih7DIW-fg9x1Ilh7b4Rrtn4TqyRdciM3LjpssLMpXCIUQ3a-LTZkpxK1QIQbApO8PxLas4ocZ_1lyLtWORYxWgwydKPPql-qwniJJO_1R_0wmH5RwYlIQuhnbSG8C1V/s640/DSC01514_edited-1.jpg)
Medina Sidonia is an impossibly beautiful white hill town a short trip from Jerez de la Frontera. Their main plaza is ringed with orange trees and bar/restaurants and it was a great place to sit a while, eat, and watch the world go by.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkMEk5I2oFAruw4FIhq6BIsW87BsNOxH53XcBzrrHOUaxNqMCqb2tc800koN6GRecEZFi7ZnaAAuXrF2YdZUNZPbC1atIUh00iOnoZAZLdh-5U00n-MGsBVKvQkFH0lILaFWtGcZamdPO/s640/DSC01432_edited-1.jpg)
Few tourists were evident but, there were many local men of a certain age hanging out enjoying the warm sunshine and each other's company.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhsuTh-WVSsaGspf9GPMZiAPQyOrSIcG0fDMNOr3PEkxxXrCaOWHC7Y8_mSXC7KsZepvhemT6cPerm1vTdX4xCbZQn2tsQs_ktflqNvVm4xsJJXKaK-6ZTKN6Y1KljYN0WxEVyUojIdmc/s640/DSC01476_edited-1.jpg)
I love these towns and walking up and down the steep streets - my calf muscles straining and stretching from the unusual angles. (I like going up better than down - going down my toes slide into the front of my shoes).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiioy1WfPSIus7yltqWLYquqyn_W4Do3cJRL7S5GJo2KJvGTaCp9rcYU7qxfZ7UYg_Ip6rSUM93KGA43jwVoG_Q_GWQyjb-X3X8u3n06Pq0as59keqMxRCfFceSgq_bBRFbmzuthM5b4Flb/s640/DSC01465_edited-1.jpg)
It's the kind of place where if you are a kid and your ball gets away from you and mommy isn't there to catch it, it will roll downhill for a long....long....long....long....time.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jIoFI4R1H3PahWZXYXjWE5djDp9mdQFHqj99hABylKxzioWHJq5vOPJUmzwN4_tS4TcOK8bmnh-KTMUtmg2Wz-LJgEx7ZDVhTkDJat2Gly6I44gUAqtwKu7URRAZ0qefd08q7KSGlOHc/s640/DSC01489_edited-1.jpg)
If you keep walking upward though, legs stretching and straining, you are rewarded with a view that reaches westward to the distant sea shore area of Cádiz on the one side or.........
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HdsOlAndpFe-IEjdoOfr-cM80t4bShqhN8g0_fVoowVgszFhGQgEraNSmkVEIbC5oUw4K82ywmybSHY_TmwtepXcc6RrBqYuJmxojA-ds4vVxlUW6Cdjs6QoOzK2uI3tuOzBnDgmGQeM/s640/DSC01500_edited-1.jpg)
....... eastward to the rolling pastoral countryside. Pastoral except for the hundreds of modern windmills for electricity generation.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsizqnNN0p3O-y2LgXcivQOmpJfoFAq2bQ_nY8Mczz9oMWCZeAC4PA8ZbMRHKMvaOFzjK5_XtI2T1Q6uCMuLgXEYOGGFXBtKqectJ_yzUU_gbY5jX2RzjHP0f3bxHMkHOP1MUXTz9iPY6/s640/DSC01530_edited-1.jpg)
Walking these steep streets is a life-long conditioning sport for locals.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PL6dtUqR7a0ImY0UYuK_bKJeav1a6kaZj4dPEA3nKZ5mOvH1vgyW4vVv9miofqEiR7YVqRpQovk1THtXZqQxBBqtSllodkhUVG6R5qsUoz-7nwcArVN-AHIR-UA4usgKkjgggPHB7DOG/s640/DSC01537_edited-1.jpg)
You can live on a street named "Consolation." I'd like that.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZESK8GjCNTCVK49uOr8-ewNmoA9of54BZzOQXL5Jr2AoeWSsBpJNm5o5qiQ8QomXModW9Qda6GU6TVWyUGmoDrcQ7wUOLUbKnjWxNGM3pzuE-M3l8wowhOV_aKwk2cREeNrJZSF5dDYZU/s640/DSC01551_edited-1.jpg)
Your kids can walk to school or play through an arch that dates from around the tenth century and is supported on columns which belonged to the temple of Hercules.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEC4a30jS3WoWoA8N8oeIvKcWGMMrhIsncYKED1_XLJsPC_3NHcCpszMe7NrsHMVIkIEYePsmDgRnbAioiIvfiFg0GTixOJxpUTAwhLjl14L3SxIMBSvKvsdgqmyuciYNAKaJtXOxhe_vP/s640/DSC01569_edited-1.jpg)
Or, a kid can walk home with his/her thoughts through the quiet midday streets.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yYnaY_J5kpMbFGcwiaDVPrd9tZU8doqBQO8PrA489FxlQTFTMDjga5uF6gxWOJHC6ofxU85QYQJMMXPUbTWKd02BZzqG1voGDw2jDokDANXzPYqfVUh-FncnEm_Q9HJRPxv1Z8hN6ORN/s640/DSC01562_edited-1.jpg)
It is the kind of town where, standing in the street to make a panorama of the impossible brightness of the buildings, I was beckoned inside a local hole-in-the-wall bar by the man in the doorway at right.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqva5dji4HxerwIRQ5jHPHkD3WQVr3yf9cOR3Jcwh65ipnZi0ZYUkZ_YpGQXjFnYWy_1zi_dWpjpVfnUvDvmP09N3wfgrPwkhqk_owbo7jbIMprj7RCXxeNR_-c_2YADG4f25kRYifuxz/s640/DSC01565_edited-1.jpg)
A doorway where a handful of gathered locals insisted I have a beer with them. At least I think they did. They didn't speak any English and I didn't speak adequate Spanish. I said no beer so they tried wine. I said no wine and they looked worried. I think I had offended them. I launched into a butchered Spanish explanation that because of my corazon, my doctor said no cervesa, no vino. I think I was successful in communicating because they agreed to pose for a photo. Either that, or, I said. "beer, heart, dog, wine, town, doctor, no, apple, hot, table, spring, beautiful," and they decided I was nuts and wanted me gone quickly.
I like Medina Sidonia - cervesa or not!
No comments:
Post a Comment