Jerez de la Frontera - sherry, flamenco and horses

Jerez de la Frontera is a town of over two hundred thousand citizens, located in the south-west of Spain in the province of Cádiz. This is a city best known for the production of sherry, flamenco and dancing horses. This place is the quintessence of everything that is Spanish. And here, apart from the best wine producers, the best flamenco schools, there is one of the most famous equestrian schools - Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre. My first visit to this extremely picturesque corner of the province of Cádiz was at the end of November. This is the perfect time to visit Andalusia, beautiful sunny weather and a pleasant temperature for November, over twenty degrees is the perfect time to visit and discover new places. For many, Jerez is primarily sherry and fantastic flamenco, but for horse lovers, the Royal School of Equestrian Art is a must-visit.

Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre

The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art plays the role of a cultural and social center. A nineteenth-century palace designed by Charles Garnier himself, the creator of, among others Paris Opera, is surrounded by beautiful gardens. The Academy is also home of the Equestrian Art Museum and the Museum of Carriages. In the palace patio every day you can observe the training of riders and horses, it is an extraordinary opportunity to see how the best are training. The school was founded in 1973 by Álvaro Domecqo Romero, the author of the famous show "Como bailan los caballos Andaluces". Initially developed under the leadership of its founder, however, in 1982 the management of the school was transferred to the authorities of the province of Cádiz. Five years later, in June 1987, King Juan Carlos I took the post of honorary president of the institution and gave it the title of Royal School.

Horses and equestrians

Only the carefully selected stallions, of which we can say, horse aristocracy, go to school in Jerez. Among them are also Olympic medalists. In Real Escuela, purebred Spanish horses are trained. The characteristic features of this breed is a fairly short and concise structure, with a high neck, good movement, gentle character and willingness to cooperate with people. From trainers you can hear that they are horses with inborn hearing, can you agree with that? I do not know. One thing is certain, they move with incredible grace and react beautifully to the sounds of music that can be heard throughout the entire academy. Andalusian horses are mostly gray but you can also find horses with ointments like bay or chestnut.  A modern veterinary clinic, two riding schools and five stables have been erected for horses. There are over a hundred grooms in the academy. Horses are kept here in the best conditions. Most come from their own kennel, sometimes they are also bought from private breeders and from military breeding, which donates their mounts for training. The training starts at the age of four, and occurs only after a few years of very hard and demanding work. This school is a dream of all riding students. Each year, the examiners choose only the four most talented equestrians. For some time, not only Spaniards, but also citizens of European Union countries and women can apply for admission to the group of students. Pupils are trained by such personalities as Rafael Soto Andrade and Ignacio Rambla (silver Olympic team medalists from Athens). The students of the academy have to spend four years working hard, seven days a week, to get results that are somewhat similar to those presented by their trainers. Students also train in saddlery (including sewing saddles, bridles), together with stables care about order in the stable, clean boxes, feed horses and prepare them for training both for themselves and their teachers. They also practice in a veterinary clinic. Of course, private trainers who want to train their horses can also train in a royal riding school, but it is associated with a large financial effort.

Como Bailan Los Caballos Andaluces

"How do Andalusian horses dance" is an hour-long show during which, we move to the land of music and dance. Riders dressed in traditional Andalusian costumes (dating from the eighteenth century) represent six to eight different choreographies. During the show, they are presented; classic dressage, Doma Vaquera (country style) and carriage. The whole is accompanied by traditional Spanish music. Each of these elements makes a huge impression and observing the harmony of riders and horses, we can only imagine how much work it costs to prepare for such a show. After the passing, it is worth going to the carriages museum, where there is also a stable, and you can also take a look at the traditional costumes associated with the art of dressage.

Jerez - the city of sherry

When you are in Jerez de la Frontera, you can not forget about sherry. This is the traditional so-called production in this region, reinforced wine (contains from 16 to 20% alcohol, by adding brandy) attracts a large number of tourists who during a visit to one of the many vineyards can learn about the production process and taste the best products from the region. After an earlier re-registration, I went to Tio Pepe Bodegas, one of the most famous in this region, located right next to the famous 17th century cathedral and not far from another tourist attraction - the Alkazar in Jerez. Visits for tursits take place several times a day, at different times and in different languages. Tio Pepe is a brand of wine and brandy known not only in Spain, but also around the world, and its characteristic logo is a bottle of wine wearing a hat, jacket and holding a guitar. During a visit to bodegas, you can get acquainted with the history of this valuable drink, look into the cellars with thousands of wooden barrels and learn about the detailed process of its preparation and at the very end enjoy the tasting of this drink in an extremely pleasant atmosphere. Tourists to the area of ​​the vineyard are moved by a choo-choo train, which takes about thirty people at a time. I had the opportunity to visit this place in the company of a nice trip from the United States and several Spaniards. That's why our guide spoke both in Spanish and English, but you can also get a tour in German or French. During the guided tour, in addition to visits to the cellars and observation of the process of creating this valuable drink, a film screening is also made on which the history of the vineyard's creation is approximated.

The tradition of vineyards in Jerez is the signing of barrels by well-known personalities from both the world of culture and sport. Everyone can find a beating here with the autofragraft of their favorite player or actor. I was able to find the autograph of Jorge Lorenzo, three-time World Champion in Moto GP, because of my passion for motorcycle spots. After the tour the wine tasting takes place, depending on the type of ticket you can try from two to four types of wine and sherry. After the tasting, you can go shopping and come home with a bottle of good wine or sherry. Despite the fantastic tour of the vineyard Tio Pepe, I could not convince my palate to this kind of alcohol, so instead of shopping I decided to see flamenco.

Jerez - informal capital of Flamenco

In the tourist season, flamenco sounds resound in every corner of this beautiful town. This is where one of the most important festivals of this extraordinary music takes place. Because flamenco is not just a dance, it's also singing and an inseparable guitar. For us, Poles are primarily associated with colorful costumes of dancers, flounces and castanets. However, flamenco is above all a rhythm, knocked out by both dancing and singing, by clapping, snapping with fingers, hitting open boxes on which singers sit, which are defined by cajón and castanets. Flamenco are beautiful stories told by dancers with extraordinary passion and a huge amount of emotions that appeal to everyone. In my opinion, even someone who does not know Spanish is able to read what artists want to tell us. Singing will not appeal to everyone, especially if we are dealing with this kind of music for the first time. However, with every minute we start to sink into this world and more and more to see the beauty of traditions and stories told by dancers. Because my visit in Jerez was in November, and this is not the peak of the season, I decided to go for a typical show for tourists to one of the taverns recommended by friends, instead of one of the many bars. On weekends in full season in Jerez you can hear flamenco in every bar, on the streets practically wherever you choose. This time I decided on Tabalo Flamenco Puro Arte, which is located near the Plaza de toros. I went to an evening show (two or three days are held during the day). Punctually at 22, four artists entered the stage. In addition to dancers, the singer and guitar. The tavern is small and the stage is located in the very center, so that all guests have a very good view. The artists started very quietly, Agustin Mancheno (the singer) and Agustin de la Fuente (guitar) were the first to perform. The first sounds made me slowly move into this extraordinary world of art, with every minute artists gave us more and more intense emotions. Finally, the dancers Miguel Angel Heredía and Salome Ramirez came out on stage. They were perfect. Dance and song harmonized perfectly, and each movement of the dancers accurately reflected their emotions. I have seen many flamenco shows and most often with this type of music I met myself by looking at the bars, avoiding typical turist shows, but I must admit that what I saw that evening made a great impression on me and it was a long time after the show. And this time it's not fantastic dancers, but the extraordinary Agustin Mancheno, the singer, stole all my attention. His performance is not only a show of extraordinary talent but emotions that can be felt in every sound, every note and gesture. I realize that flamenco music is not for everyone. But really being in Spain, it's worth taking a look at places where you can listen to and see flamenco. I'm not talking about spending money on commercial shows, but about places where we can find a plaque with the inscription "local flamenco". Nothing reflects Spanish culture as well as this music.