A Short Visit to Jerez de la Frontera

This November, Ciee takes students on an excursion trip to Jerez de la Frontera, locates at the north of Cádiz province, one hour drive from Seville. Following Professor Ángel and Professor Olga, students take a walk in the centre and visit the town hall and local markets.

After having coffee and churros, the group enter Alcázar of Jerez, a former Moorish palace built in 11th century by Almohad (muslim from northern Africa ). It was used as both fortress and residence for the rulers and consists with the mosque, watchtowers, palacio, arab bath house, mill house, etc. After the “ Reconquista”, Alcázar was occupied by the Christians.  Since a large amount of muslim architectures were damaged during the period of “Reconquista”, the Alcazar of Jerez is “ one of a few structures that best exemplify Almohad architecture in the Iberian Peninsula.”

Soon it’s lunch time, students enter a typical and compact Spanish bar and take seats around the reserved tables adjacent to the stage. As tapas and beverages are served, a flamenco show begins. More and more spaniards and tourists join in while flamenco dancers are singing and dancing from the stage, off the stage, into the audience.  The bar does not have big windows for abundant sunlight to visit, neither does the stage have advanced setups. However, the dancers themselves carry their own spotlight. No one is able to move their eyes away from her face, fingers, dress and toes.

In Spain, a satisfying meal always ends with wines.  The group leave the bar and walk to a wine-tasting museum nearby,  which belongs to one of the oldest jerez producer- Tio Pepe. The tour guide explains the history and procedures of making and shipping this special type of wine, jerez, all around the world. Passing through the extensive storage rooms, students encounter signatures from famous people on the barrels, such as Pablo Picasso.