So in between visitors we have actually managed to do some exploring further afield in Andalucia. Cadiz was always on our list and what they call the 'sherry triangle' which is Jerez, Sanlucar and Puerto Santa Maria. When we discovered the annual flamenco festival in Jerez was happening in February off we went in search of sherry, foot stamping, finger clicking and who knows what else.
Cadiz is quite unique. Surrounded on three sides by water you can now approach by a stunning new bridge to reach a maze of cobbled streets opening into plazas and parks at every turn. Our hotel was in a perfect location, overlooking the Cathedral, but a bit too cold to try that pool!
From there the town of Jerez was slightly disappointing. The old quarter was much smaller and not so attractive and although we had expected to hear live guitar music spilling out from every bar and café we had to look hard to find the famous spirit of flamenco, which Jerez claims as its own.
However, we decided we might as well 'do' the whole tourist experience on offer. We went to see the white Andalusian dancing horses spectacular, which was very nicely done with cleverly choreographed routines to classical Spanish music. Then we did the sherry tour with a diminutive but rather fierce guide who talked passionately about the history and production of 'dulce, fino, amontillado' ...... and even let us taste some.
Then it was off to dinner and a flamenco show . I confess I was bracing myself for the dancing to be tourist rubbish and was more than pleasantly surprised by a really high quality performance with male & female dancers, singers and guitarist, and even underfloor amplification so you could hear every beat of their feet.
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