El Puerto de Santa Maria

After dinner out last night we paid a quick visit to the flamenco bar to check it's still operating - which it is and it wasn't even as crowded as usual. We caught the last 10 mins of the performance and it was as thrilling as always.

Today we took our first trip out of JEREZ, to one of the other sherry towns - El Puerto de Santa Maria. Its a very easy journey just 10 mins on the local train but, as so often in Spanish towns, the station is on the edge so it's quite a walk to the centre. The main purpose of the visit was to buy a bottle of one of our favourite sherries from the bodega as its difficult to find anywhere else. Also to have lunch at the restaurant run by a daughter from the bodega. It was delicious as always.

El Puerto is on the mouth of the river Guadelete, and the bodega and restaurant are on the banks of the river, so a great place to sit in the sun for lunch. As the name suggests it was a main port, where lots of the riches from the Spanish colonies came ashore, and from which sherry came down from jerez and shipped all over the world. Today its port is mostly unused, and the town is looking very down at heal.Read more