A Last Walk About Town, Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain

Our time in Jerez (and in Spain) is nearly over so I made a last walk about on a beautiful sunny day. This bandstand is in the park next door to the Alcazar in central Jerez.  The Cathedral is peeking through the trees at the center of the image.



A sun-dappled plaza getting ready for the lunch crowd to arrive.



Wandering a quiet pedestrian-only street in the old town section of Jerez, I came upon an Italian restaurant.



I was ready for some different culture food. It has been difficult as a vegan finding restaurants that offer many options for someone who doesn't eat ham, cheese, or seafood - seemingly the mainstays of local cuisine.



This is a color combination I wouldn't think of but, they manage to make it look like it belongs here - it does.



A jacaranda jungle with a zoom-burst effect. Goodbye, Jerez!

The Cloisters of Santa Domingo, Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain

Dating from the 1400's, the Cloisters of Santa Domingo were a photographer's delight to visit in the long slanting rays of a late afternoon sun.



A dapple here and there, a long line of shadow,,,,,,



....a hatted head shadowed through a blurred Moorish arch......



.....light dancing in unexpected places and unexpected patterns - it just takes an eye to notice it, a camera to record it, and a blog to share it.

Random Sights in Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain

A new town reveals itself slowly - good parts, bad parts, scenic parts, curious parts. This building is, for example, in great disrepair but was a powerful eye-catcher for me as I wandered around town - it has character. Its progressive layers of deterioration create a fascinating story of a life that I can only imagine.



Most folks walk by without even noticing it.



Layer upon layer of rock, brick, stucco, paint - lifetimes of use and stories of lives within.



Did the owner fall on hard times, or, pass away, or, is waiting for the market to turn?



Elsewhere, a downtown fountain and statuary in central Jerez.



Not every place can successfully paint their exterior in such bold blues and golds but this restaurant managed it quite well.



A cobblestone street, a red dedicated bike lane, and some doorway graffiti caught my eye.



This archway of jacaranda trees on Calle Porvera will turn a blazing purple later in the year.  What a sight that must be! It takes foresight and vision to plant trees for how they might look 50 years in the future.

Home in Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain

After our stay in Seville, we headed south and stayed in this house in Jerez de la Frontera for three weeks during which Amy hosted her photographer friends to share in the wonder and joy of Andalusia. This is the main entry looking towards the back courtyard....... Although it was too cold to use in April, I bet the splash pool feels great on a blistering hot summer's day in August.



This is the opposite view toward the front door. It was difficult to find a large enough house suitable for a group that would be centrally located in Andalusia but, as always, Amy, the master of research, found a winner in this Moorish inspired design. Jerez made a great central location from which to visit surrounding locations such as Seville, Arcos de la Frontera, Medina Sidonia, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Morocco, and many other wonders of the area.



Each and every day began for me with a taste explosion of a Spanish orange. A sweetness and ripeness and freshness that defies description. That juice we buy in a cardboard carton in America - not a very strong contender for second place.



Jerez is known for Sherry, Horses, and Flemenco.  These old bottles of sherry are on the wall of a local bar. The barman, a third generation owner, showcases these 1810 bottles in a case crusted with dust and leakage - hundreds of years of life and work spent in this very spot - generation to generation - it is hard for me from a more transient society to comprehend working in the same bar that my father did that my grandfather did that his grandfather did and that my son will - their entire lives spent walking back and forth along the marble bar serving customers for a lifetime.

Seeing and hearing about different traditions across the world is a sweet treat of travel - as sweet as a fresh Spanish orange still slightly warm from the sun.

Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain

Like almost every city and town we've visited here in Andalusia, the lunch crowd seems to be heaviest between 2-3pm. At home, I'm almost ready for dinner by then! The red platforms in the background are viewing stands for the upcoming Semana Santa observance. The trees - orange, of course!

The town has this beautiful art display in the plaza showing flamenco performances.  Jerez claims to be the birthplace of flamenco. Of course, other cities, Seville for example, make the same claim. Most seem to agree that the artform/music has roots in the gypsy culture as influenced by the special mix of other Andalusian attributes.



La Cartuja de Jerez, a monastery, was built in the late 1400's, and looks like a beautiful place to visit again when we have more time.  We just stopped by briefly on the way out of town seeing the spire peeking up beside the road. We'll be back.

Jerez de la Frontera and Home, Cádiz, Seville, Andalusia, Spain

We made a day trip to Jerez de la Frontera, a town considered a sherry, flamenco, and horse capital of the Andalusian region. We will be staying here for a few weeks soon and met with the owner of the property.

Jerez de la Frontera, usually called just Jerez, is about an hour south of Seville. Some of the sights and sounds we will enjoy include roaming the narrow streets of its old quarter, the Alcázar (a Moorish fortress founded in the 11th century), the horse training school, flamenco music, and sherry bodegas.



Whitewashed buildings with color accents line this clean, quiet, narrow street in the central district.



After meeting the owner and visiting the property, he escorted us to a favorite nearby restaurant, Bar Juanito, which was hopping with locals. He helped us get a great table in the center of the action after chatting with his friend the bar/restaurant owner.



It was a perfect ringside seat to Andalusian culture: a long, loud, and leisurely Saturday lunch with family and friends as their kids and/or grandkids played nearby. Family is very important in the Spanish culture and they seem to be more willing to let the kids play among themselves without such close monitoring and control as I observe in American culture. If they fall and cry, kiss them, hug them, and send them back out.  I like that.



As we were preparing to leave, the bar owner pulled us inside to experience a flamenco session just beginning. No dancer this time, just the intensely passionate singer/clapper, and the guitarist. There really isn't a parallel in American music that comes to mind that would equate to the role of flamenco in this culture.



After lunch, we wandered in the fresh air and sunshine past this statue and the Cathedral. Tio Pepe (on the cask) is a world famous brand of sherry produced here in Jerez.



This group of men stopped to pose while moving some of the religious artifacts back into the church. Jerez, like many cities in Spain, is preparing for the annual Semana Santa observance.



It was a dramatic sky day. I think Jerez will make a fine home for a few weeks. A perfect location for quiet local wandering and photography, dramatic flamenco, and a central base for trips to other towns. It is less crowded and frenetic than Seville. That's both good and bad. I generally prefer peace and quiet but may miss the non-stop action we are enjoying in Seville.



Heading home, this gigantic bull on the hillside brought us to a screeching stop to get out the cameras.



For scale, the tiny bump to the right of the antenna mast is an automobile. That is one BIG bull. In fact, it is a 46 feet tall black bull (14 meters). Here's the Wikipedia version about it: "The Osborne sherry company (founded by Thomas Osborne Mann in 1772) erected large images of bulls starting in 1956 to advertise their Brandy de Jerez. The images were black advertising boards located near major roads throughout Spain. The original image was smaller and slightly different in design. The current larger image was created to comply with a law that prohibited advertising within 150 metres of a road. In 1994 the EU passed a law that prohibited all roadside advertising of alcoholic beverages, and the bulls were therefore to be removed. By this time the signs were nationally renowned, so although some campaigners wished them completely removed to fully comply with the intent of the law, public response resulted in the signs being retained, but completely blacked out to remove all reference to the original advertisers. The Court eventually allowed these signs to remain on the grounds that they have become a part of the landscape and have "aesthetic or cultural significance", thus turning the bulls into public domain images." Source: Wikipedia.



Later the same day, back home in Seville in the evening, I decided to head back outside to boost my step count for the day. I didn't get very far. As I passed the church next door, Iglesia del Santo Ángel, like a moth to a flame, I was drawn in to the sounds of a full orchestra.



This is a vertical panorama to show the ceiling during the performance in our neighborhood church, Iglesia del Santo Ángel. In addition to the famous Cathedral of Seville, there are more than 100 other smaller churches in the city, perhaps like this one.



The orchestra was La Banda Municipal de Villalba del Alcor and was formed more than 135 years ago in the neighboring province of Huelva which is to the west between Seville and the nation of Portugal. It was a really special and beautiful experience for me to see and hear them in this setting.

Music is everywhere here in Seville.  Formal, informal, inside, outside, impromptu, scheduled, soloists, groups. It is a great attribute of a great city.