Day 13 – Cádiz (Wednesday, May 11)

Today was a wonderful day. We landed in Cádiz around noon and we were signed up for a tour of Jerez de la Frontera, the town in Spain which is most famous for sherry production. The word sherry, in fact, is derived from the Spanish word Jerez. We first saw the sights in Cádiz, which is on the Atlantic coast of Spain and is the oldest existing city in Europe. Columbus made two of his voyages to America from Cádiz. We then drove about 20 miles inland to the town of Jerez where we took the tour of the González-Byass sherry plant. It was interesting to learn about the process of making sherry and afterwards we were taken to their hospitality room where we got to sample a couple of varieties of their sherry – their top brand which is called Tio Pepe and some Croft crème sherry. To be honest, neither one was a hit but I suppose it is an acquired taste.

The best part of the trip was a quick stop at the Feria de Caballos (horse fair). It was almost like going back 200 or more years in time. The feria (fair) is held for only 5 days in May and our tour took us there even though it wasn’t on the itinerary. There is a large park in the center of town where the fair is held. The townspeople all come out and make a paseo (stroll) around the middle of the park and some ride in elegant horse drawn carriages (see picture). This is definitely the place to see and be seen. All the señoritas, young and old, are dressed in elegant “feria” dresses with large ruffles, bright colors and most with a polka-dot design. We would think of the dress as a “flamenco” dress. The outside of the walking area is ringed by restaurants and private tents for parties.