Arcos de la Frontera and Jerez de la Frontera

Next day: on to Arcos de la Frontera. In the Netherlands a very popular show is about some couples who renovate a hotel at a spectacular foreign location. The show is called The Spanish Dream and the spectacular location is Arcos de la Frontera. The beautiful shots from the view and the surroundings really made me curious about the real deal.

And I must see, I'm not disappointed. Located near the larger city Jerez de la Frontera, Arcos is located in the western part of Andalucia. The old town is located on a high ridge and the view over the valley is great! Best place to enjoy it is from the square in front of the Ayuntamiento. The village is a typical Pueblo Blanco; small steep streets filled with white houses. It is much fun to just wander about the old town, discovering all kinds of small alleys and eating some great tapas in between.

I had dinner here at the restaurant of Boabdil. He did not have a menu and also did not tell me the price. Strange, but it was a great experience. You get to try a lot of different tapas of the day, the housewine is really from that house and the view over the valley is great. The interior is decorated with all kind of Morish thingies.

Jerez de la Frontera was the next city that I visited after Arcos. It is a large city in comparison and not as spectacularly located as Arcos. The old town too is less interesting. The city is mostly known for the presence of several of the most famous sherry bodegas of the world (the name Jerez comes from sherry), so of course I had to visit one of them. I chose Sandeman, located in the centre of the city, because this was the one (especially because of the world famous man dressed as Zorro logo) that said the most to me (not a sherry expert).

The tour of the bodega was short and mostly concerned with the history (you get to view a small video) and the process of making a good sherry. I had some problems of understanding the English of our guide (dressed as the logo), but I think I now get it. Though I'm probably not going to try to duplicate it at home. Most important part of the tour was the end: the tasting! You get to try a minimum (more is possible) of three different sherrys. I'm still not a fan (sherry is considered to be a drink of middle aged women in the Netherlands), but can appreciate the drink a lot more now.

After the tour I went to the Royal Andalucian School of Equestrian Art. A large name for a school where they train horses and riders in all sorts of equastrian disciplines. Fun to see if you like horses. They have public trainings daily and a couple of times per week an official demonstration. Also, the buildings are very beautiful. As I think the old town of Arcos has more character than the centre of Jerez I went back to enjoy some more of the scenery in Arcos (it is possible to do some horseback riding in this area).