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Tim Lynette WilkinsTim Lynette Wilkins
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  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 27

    Andalucia Day

    February 28 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Andalucia (spelled with a "s" in english and "c" in spanish) is Spain's largest autonomous province. Created as such on February 28th 1980, it marks the date with a public holiday, so all the schools, public buildings and shops are closed although a few of the pavement bars and cafes are open.

    It's still the middle of the Flamenco festival so the streets are crowded with people; spanish tourists of course but also plenty of British, German, French and Japanese ones as well. There are always lots of Japanese here for the flamenco. With the streets mostly empty of traffic, the churches take the opportunity to practice carrying their floats.

    The prawns we bought in the market yesterday are big deep red ones called "carabineros", supposedly because they are the colour of Spanish customs police uniforms!

    Packing tomorrow to go home, we've been coming now since 2015, with just a few years out - one when finlay was born and only came here for a week with him and Natalie, one when we went to almeria instead, and one in the pandemic when we couldn't travel. That first time we came for three months from New year to Easter, just coming home for a week in the middle. So being here so long , it really felt like a second home!    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 26

    Getting ready to come home

    February 27 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We are cutting our trip short - not going on from here to Merida as planned but returning straight home this Friday. Lynette's cousin has died and the funeral is next week.

    So today we went to the Market for the last time and bought some large red prawns to cook for dinner tomorrow. We have booked to go to two of our favourite restaurants and started thinking about packing - even booked a Waitrose delivery for Saturday!

    Natalie and Emily have a favourite jewellery shop here - just fashion pieces not valuable. But it's closing down so we had to take photos of the racks so Natalie and Emily could place their orders! Luckily we have managed to get most of them - and at half price.

    I'm very conflicted about going home. I am really looking forward our house, and wendover, and of course to seeing all the family again, but also walking around the streets today in the sunshine reminds how much I love living here too!

    Once again the time seems to have gone quickly and we are already saying 'we must do that when we come back next year'.    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 25

    Orange blossom time

    February 26 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    The last time we walked to the market we noticed that the orange trees that line all the streets are starting to have blossom out - next years marmalade! And the streets should soon be full of the scent of orange blossom.

    However we had torrential rain and gales overnight so i dont know whether the blossom will have survived.    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 24

    Great things about Jerez

    February 25 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We had a quiet day yesterday after the indulgence of the night before but no-one else did. Jerez is now in full swing practicing for the Semana Santa processions. Several churches had their troops out carring the floats burdened with concrete blocks instead of the statues they will carry. There were also a couple of brass bands marching through the streets and playing in the plazas.

    There are also many tourists here now that come for the flamenco festival that started this week. This evening we went to a couple of our favourite tabancos - El Pasaje to see the flamenco show ( which was really good) and San Pedro, just round the corner from us, which specialises in hard to find sherries and simple tasty tapas. It is run by two old ladies who speak no English but we manage to get by.

    Football here is usually played on a Sunday, so today I took the bus down to the southern edge of the city to see my second team here play, Jerez industrial. A 2-1 win puts them firmly in the play-off places.    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 23

    La Carbona

    February 24 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Last night we treated ourselves to what we think is the best restaurant in the city, at least the best we know of. It has a sherry pairing menu of 7 courses, each one with a glass of sherry designed to match with the food. It was as good as we remember, so pretty wonderful!

    On the way home afterwards we came across a group of men practising carrying one of the floats for Easter . Each church has a huge statue of its Saint, or the virgin mary, normally in solid silver and incredibly heavy. These are paraded around the streets at Easter, but they need 40 or 50 people to carry them, so they need lots of practice getting them through the narrows streets and around the tight corners. They practice mostly at night when there's less traffic.    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 19

    Bodega Barbadillo

    February 20 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    For breakfast we went to the small cafe next door to our hotel. Its a place I really enjoy. Its full of locals at breakfast time, they serve a basic anducian breakfast of toast with olive oil and pureed chopped tomatoes , and an orange juice or coffee. We cheat and have butter and jam on our toast.

    We booked a visit and tasting at Bodega barbardillo, probably the biggest and most commercial bodega in Sanlucar. It was the worst visit we've had - it didn't really feel like the guide was interested and explained every thing badly. Then they gave us just three wines -a glass of white wine, which was pleasant enough, but hardly unusual, then a fine manzanilla aged in the solera for 9 years which was very good , but at 28 euros a bottle. Then finally a cream, and we don't go for sweet sherries so much. All very disappointing .

    Lunch was at different bodega that we've been to before, la cigarrera, small and very friendly with a restaurant in an interior courtyard in the sun, and with great food, and great manzanilla.

    Then back on the bus to jerez,
    .    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 18

    Sanlucar de barrameda

    February 19 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Sanlucar de barrameda is one of the points of the "sherry triangle", along with jerez, and el puerto de santa Maria. Its on the mouth of the quadalquivir river and is famous for its manzanilla sherry, which is said to taste of a tang of the sea from the ocean winds. It is also famous for it's seafood, especially prawns. We have a booked a tasting tomorrow at bodega barbardillo, which we haven't been to before, and spent lunchtime today in the sun in one of the restaurants in the town square. All very yum!

    Then for dinner to a restaurant renowned for its seafood, and had phenomenal lagustines - just wow!

    The 45 minute bus journey from jerez to sanlucar, like all the public transport here, was on time and efficient, and is remarkable value at just 2 euros each!    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 16

    Fundador

    February 17 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    For lunch today we booked a table at the Taperia de Fundador, the bodega that includes Harvey, Garvey, and Terry. Its restaurant is somewhere we've been before and is very good. We were not disappointed, its still really good, and strangely cheap. The wines of course were excellent, and for a special treat they had pimientos padron, which are normally everywhere but which we haven't seen anywhere this trip. Andy in the tapas restaurant in wendover (tres corazones) says that the harvest this year for these peppers has been really bad, and the prices have gone through the roof.

    We discovered that a fino dry sherry that we really like is garvey san patricio sherry, and to buy from the bodega it's just, only, really (!) 5 euros a bottle! We bought one. (Suprised?)    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 15

    Cadiz

    February 16 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    There is a new archaeological site in Cadiz that we wanted to go to so we got up early (!) And got the train into Cadiz. The site is the phoenician port dating from the 3rd century BC, that was discovered when they were extending the basement of a flamenco bar, and with later roman and visigoth additions. The port was a dry dock for military ships, and the design was copied by the Romans all over the empire. It was interesting, but very small. Afterwards we took Pete to see the roman theatre, the causeway walk out to the Fort, and around the wonderful market.

    It's carnival week in cadiz , and the streets were full of people in fancy dress or outrageous clothes, and there was something on at the cathedral for all the kids.

    We had lunch in a restaurant we've been to before where the food is excellent, then walked back to the train station to go home.    Read more

  • TravelerJerez 2024
    Day 13

    Hake for dinner

    February 14 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Down to the market square this morning for churros and chocolate in the sunshine, followed by a cruise through the fish market to pick up something for dinner. We chose a nice big hake, that i can bake (new oven!) With garlic, parsley and fino.

    Excellent ! I don't know why hake isn't popular at home- the Spanish, like me, love it, and mostly it seems to come from cornish waters.    Read more

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