Some of you might have seen the recent footage of Spanish rally driver Carlos Sainz' spectacular car-roll as he crashed out of the Paris-Dakar rally. After the crash, Sainz blamed the race organisers for badly signposting the course. The irony of this was not lost on me and I will think of Carlos the next time I am driving around Andalucia aimlessly thinking “oh lord give me a sign!”

The lack of signs, the constantly changing road numbers and having a 10 year-old Mazda pick-up (now including a tail-gate held up by wire – classy) means being a passenger with me driving can be a fraught experience. So me and my wife were surprised that on a recent trip to Jerez de la Frontera we did not argue. We had decided to take the inland route, towards Malaga, then up to Antequera, and then take a left turn. It looked easy on the map. That'll be the 7 year old map, covered in creases and with the wrong road numbers. About 20 kilometres past Antequera we suspected we had gone too far. We turned the car around and headed back the way we had come. I stopped at a garage and asked for directions. I was so pleased that I had asked for and received directions all in Spanish that I did not even tell the man in the garage he had overcharged by 1 euro for the new map he had sold me. This map could not be more general; it is a map of the whole of Spain and Portugal. The up-side was that Jerez now looked only 3 inches away. easy on the map. That'll be the 7 year old map, covered in creases and with the wrong road numbers. About 20 kilometres past Antequera we suspected we had gone too far. We turned the car around and headed back the way we had come. I stopped at a garage and asked for directions. I was so pleased that I had asked for and received directions all in Spanish that I did not even tell the man in the garage he had overcharged by 1 euro for the new map he had sold me. This map could not be more general; it is a map of the whole of Spain and Portugal. The up-side was that Jerez now looked only 3 inches away.

The trip to Jerez was my Christmas present from my wife. I opened the envelope on Christmas morning hoping it would be a small wad of cash to spend on myself. It was not of course, but a trip to Jerez was gratefully received.

Having only two days to explore Jerez, we decided to have a look at the two things that Jerez is most famous for; its Sherry and the world famous (it says here) Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. Although it is possible to go to the school to see the horses being trained and put through their paces, the actual show is only on once a week on Thursdays. Considering that Jerez is so quiet in January the show was probably two thirds full, mainly swelled by the coach-loads of Spaniards that were queuing as we approached the school. I would guess that if the show was that busy in January, booking in advance would be strongly recommended during other months of the year.

Not being a horse fan, I have only ridden twice; once on a huge horse and the other time on a mule (hardly the Lone Ranger is it?) I must say the show was very entertaining. The horsemen - I am not sure if that the right term. I am thinking of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse! – are able to make the horses do incredible things such as walking sideways and riding with perfect control to make the horses cross each others paths whilst making patterns. Think the Red Arrows, but in a hall and on saw dust – OK and without the coloured smoke and flying through the air – right, let's pretend I never mentioned the Red Arrows. The horses are also made to rear-up on their back-legs (making think of that Ferrari I will never own) and jump in the air as the rider cracked his whip underneath them. Spectacular stuff indeed. I also wondered if whilst I was
thinking of Ferrari's the French people in front were thinking about eating their dinner. Anyway moving on…

At the end of the day we had a disappointing meal in a restaurant and were the only people there. Not only because it was January but also surely a sign of the times.

On the second night however, we struck lucky and had found a nice looking restaurant whilst exploring the town. The restaurant, Sabores – Restaurante Andaluz is quite small, intimate and is attached to the Hotel Chancilleria. We chose a tapas-style started called Pica Pica that comprised of four different items including oxtail with apple puree, and roast scallop with Butiffara (a spicy black sausage) with garlic mayonnaise. My mouth is watering as I type this!

On our final day we attended a tour of the Sandeman Sherry bodega. Our tour guide was a very friendly Dutch girl who greeted us and the other couple on the tour wearing the famous Sandeman cape and hat. This is apparently supposed to look like a Spanish caballero wearing a Portuguese cape, to represent the Sandeman businesses in Port and Sherry.

The tour guide was very knowledgeable and the visitors centre is professionally presented. A short video told the story of the Sandeman Company since its beginnings in 1790. Until the tour the only thing I knew about Sherry is that you often get it at weddings in the UK. After the tour you are invited to try some different Sherries. Sadly I had to drive after we left so I could only sip the. Not being a Sherry fan I was surprised to find that some of the older, dry Sherries were very nice indeed. By coincidence, the other couple on the tour, we discovered were visiting Jerez from la Herradura, merely 45 minutes or so from our house in Cómpeta. The gentleman was her brother and was over from Holland so they could tour round Andalucia by motorbike. I thought of them as we drove back home in the pouring rain!

Jerez is a nice friendly town; ideal for exploring on foot. To be honest I think filling a whole week would be tricky, making it ideal for a 2 or 3-day break.

Andy Wilkes