A day at the races!

Our thirst for adventure this weekend was quite strong, so we decided to head out on another adventure with MWR. Our destination today would be the annual horse races, held on the beaches of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain. Only about a 30 minute bus ride from Rota, we headed out for Sanlúcar in the early afternoon to enjoy the sun and take in some of the city sight's.
Before long, we found ourselves stretched out under a palm tree on a little patch of grass just off the board walk. We spent most of the afternoon here just reading, napping, people watching and enjoying each others company. The races were schedule to start around 6pm when the tide went out, exposing the beach front track.

It was quite a site to see, with all the beach goers wading and enjoying the surf one moment, and then the mass exodus from the water when the guardia civil (Spanish Civil Guard or police) drove down the beach front waving all the people back up onto the beach. The spectators sitting on the beach are only separted from the thundering race horses by an orange mesh construction fence. Talk about being close to the action!

How exactly the races started is unclear. One story is that fish buyers raced the horses along the beach as they waited for trawlers to bring in their haul to the port. One story is that people raced donkeys along the banks for fun and eventually upgraded to horses. What is known is that a horse racing society was established in Sanlucar in 1845, creating a tradition that would become a part of the city’s cultural fabric. Miguel Sanchez Delage, an insurance businessman who has directed the race for the last 17 years, said that the races have grown and are "1,000 times better." The race once was considered for rich people only. But there is little that separates the elite from the common folk at the races today.
Each of the races were pretty short but it was well worth seeing. One peculiarly unique aspect of these races, is that the bets here are taken right on the beach, at little home made booths run by the young children of Sanlúcar! All the bets have pretty low maximums like 1 or 2 euros per horse, but it adds a little fun to have a chance of your horse winning will get you a little prize as well!

Sherry leads to dancing!

The base MWR(Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) offers many cool trips to get out and experience Spain and its rich culture. Brad and I signed up for a Friday night out on the town. The First part of the evening was spent touring one the Andalucia's oldest bodegas Marqués del Real Tesoro.

We started in the stables. Andalucia has very old traditions of breeding and raising horses. Most old families in the area maintain horse teams, and show them when ever they can. The months of May and September are both full of Horse shows and fiestas where large amounts of sherry are consumed, so being a sherry vintner and keeping a team of show horses kind of goes hand in hand here in Andalucia.

They have some antique carriages, all maintained in perfect condition. Some of these carriages are still used when they show their horsed today. They also have s special breed of dogs that look sort of like Jack Russel terriers that are bred and kept in most Spanish stables and sherry cellars, to keep down the rat population.



The cellars were very impressive. Towering row after row of oak casks stored in a what appears to be a very average wearhouse, but in fact this space is both temperature and humidity controlled to ensure that the sherry is produced with the exact same taste that people have come to know and love.

Besides the stables and the cellars, Real Tesoro of Jerez also has quite the art collection to boast about. We took a turn through their lovely gallery before the tasting, it really completed the experience. Art has a very central place in even the smallest of cities all over Europe, something that we will greatly miss upon our return to the states.

After our tour of the stables, the Cellars, and the art gallery, we got to sit down and taste the entire range of sherries that they produce, from the driest of dry to their sweet de resistance, a dark rich syrupy raisin flavored cream sherry. It was the most liberal tasting I have ever been to, they just set 6 unopened bottles of sherry on your tables of 5 or 6 people, and tell you to have at it! Needless to say everyone was feeling quite fine by the time we left the Real Tesoro tasting room.

Our final stop on this Spanish evening out was a quaint little restaurant owned by a gypsy family, who fed us a hardy meal complete with tapas, sangria, and a flamenco show. Every member of this group really let their emotions run through into their performance. Flamenco is a very powerful and emotional medium. The dancers, singers and musicians all meld together to tell a story and in the end it leaves you as breathless as they are.

It was a great night out, and a great look at some of the strong and colorful roots of our host country.