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.

Olé

We recently had the pleasure of attending one of Spain's oldest and most revered cultural events, the bullfight!

Bull fighting is very closely associated with Spain and can trace its origins back to 711 A.D. This is when the first bullfight took place in celebration for the crowning of King Alfonso VIII. It is very popular in Spain with several thousand Spaniards flocking to their local bull-ring each week. It is said that the total number of people watching bullfights in Spain reaches one million every year.

Bullfighting was originally a sport for the aristocracy and took place on horseback. King Felipe V took exception to the sport however and banned the aristocracy from taking part, believing it to be a bad example to the public. After the ban commoners accepted the sport as their own and, since they could not afford horses, developed the practice of dodging the bulls on foot, unarmed. This transformation occurred around 1724.

So what happens during a bullfight?:
Firstly the bull is let into the ring. Then, the top bullfighter called the Matador, watches his chief assistant wave a bright yellow and magenta cape in front of the bull to make it charge. He watches this in order to determine the bull's qualities and mood, before taking over himself.

Then a trumpet is sounded and several fighters called Picadores weaken the bull by placing spears into it. This takes around 10 minutes.

Another trumpet is sounded and the Matador now removes his black winged hat and dedicates the death of the bull to the president or the crowd before beginning his faena.

The faena which is the most beautiful and skillful section of the fight and where the matador must prove his courage and artistry. The faena consists of a running at the Matador carrying a muleta. This is a piece of thick crimson cloth draped over a short stick, which can be held in either the left hand or draped over the espada, the killing sword, which is always held in the right hand. Usually the muleta, in left or right hand, is first held in front of the matador to make the bull charge and is then swung across and away from the matador's body hopefully taking the bull with it.

This is a show, basically a dance with death - one wrong move and the Matador could become impaled on the horns of the bull. It is the Matador's job to make this dance dramatic and enjoyable for the audience.

The faena continues until the Matador has demonstrated his superiority over the bull. Once this is achieved the bull is ready to be killed.

The matador stands some ten feet from the bull, keeping the bull fixated on the muleta and aims the espada between the shoulder blades. The matador attacks pushing the espada over the horns and deep between the shoulder blades. If the sword goes in to the hilt it is an estocada but if it hits bone it is a pinchazo or media-estocada. An estocada usually results in the bull dropping immediately to its knees and dying, but if the bull fails to die the matador may take the descabello (a sword with a short cross piece at the end) which he stabs into the bull's neck severing the spinal cord. The fight is over.

The matador may be awarded trophies by the president, according to his skill in working with the bull, which can be one or two ears from the bull, the tail and the hoof. The crowd will often encourage the president to award the trophies by waving white hankerchiefs, and this waving continues after the trophies have been awarded in an attempt to get the matador to throw his trophies into the crowd. The crowd in return hurls flowers which are collected by the matador's assistants. (08/14/2010, http://www.spain-info.com/Culture/bullfighting.htm.)

I borrowed the info but the pictures were all me!