Cadiz, Dancing Horses & Halloween

Along the road to Cadiz — two interesting sights.   The first being huge, untidy piles of twigs on the roof the of an

abandoned building.  These of course were stork nests.  There were several of them standing or sitting on them … peering down at us.  Some parts of the world consider it lucky to have a stork nest on the roof, and will install an old wagon wheel or other structure to encourage them to build.

The other, were the salt flats at Salinas de Chiclana … shallow flat ‘pans’ where seawater is let in and evaporated in the sun.  When the crystals form a crust on the surface they’re raked into great white mounds, cleaned and sold.  There were flocks of flamingos striding happily through the saline water when we drove by.

Cadiz has become a GINORMOUS seaport.  Huge cranes towering over the loading terminals, and quite the biggest, highest suspension bridge we’ve ever seen, spanning the bay into the old city. An underground parking lot near the cruise ship terminal had spots available and was fairly central to much of the old town. . . . but boy, were the parking slots tight.  I hopped out, and Glen backed in … it’s like sardines in a tin.  The iconic buildings along the waterfront look the same — pastel shades of pink and faded blue in amongst the sandstone … the domes of the cathedral … a wide boulevard lined with palm trees  … marble steps down to the

sandy beach.  The atmosphere felt quite different from other places we’ve visited … more exotic, somehow.

Lunch in a tree-filled plaza.  Time to try a paella, perhaps? I know it’s not Valencia (original home of the dish) but surely other places do a good job.  The seafood was fresh, but there was a decided lack of it …. I wouldn’t call two large prawns, a couple of rings of octopus and a scattering of unidentified bits in an almost soupy tomato rice base, a seafood paella.  Oh well … visitor beware!  We’ll find a good one yet.

The Royal Andalucian Equestrian School of Art is based here in Jerez.  It not only preserves the ancient line of Andalucian horses but is a world class riding school with performances at dressage competitions … and of course there are the ‘Dancing Horses’.  These are not the Lipizzaner horses (although

Lipizzaners were originally bred from Andalucian mares sent to Austria) — they range in colour from light grey or white to chestnut.  Many of the moves and choreography in the show are derived from their original use of rounding up cattle — cowboys needed one hand free for the long poles used in moving the animals.  These were the original cowboys – the ones in America and on the South American Pampas merely adopted the techniques because they worked so well.

The behind-the-scenes tour was really informative, but this is a working stable and visiting tours have to step out of the way pretty sharply if the horses are being moved in and out.  The show itself was a delight  –

intelligent, graceful horses  … the muffled thud of hooves on raked sand … the rapport between rider and horse … absolute precision and coordination.   The years and years of training shines through.  It’s too bad that the couple next to us  couldn’t appreciate all that.  They spent the entire show using cell phones … videotaping and endless photos which they uploaded in real time to goodness knows who. Neither actually ‘watched’ the performance.  Sad. They could have saved themselves the cost of admission, and just downloaded from the internet! This is a nicely done 6 minute video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bLY32mi018  

We’d heard that Spain was just beginning to celebrate Halloween, but hadn’t thought too much about it.  After dinner on the 31st Glen said “you know … there seems to be some activity over towards the square” … so we went to find out.  The whole main street and plaza were filled with people … tiny tots  … teenagers … Mums and Dads … all in costume and face paint.  Old folks on benches or chairs pilfered from sidewalk cafes, watching the crowds of families parade up and down the street.  We asked a couple if we could take their photo . . . as you can see we were immediately embraced into the picture!  This celebration was not going to end anytime soon!  Thinking we could slip down a side street back to the apartment — suddenly motorcycle cops appeared with blue lights flashing …  people started lining the streets … little kids sat cross-legged on the ground in anticipation … there’s going to be a parade! We stepped up into a convenient doorway – a good vantage point, and out of the way.

You could hear and feel the music long before  anything appeared … it pounded up through the soles right into your chest.  Then 15- foot lit skeletons wandered by … flashing heads … hands reaching for squealing kids.  There were people riding dragons  . . .  a truly massive ogre-type monster hauling a cage on wheels . . . dancing kids performing intricate routines they’d obviously been practicing for weeks.  So … do they celebrate Halloween here?  Oh Yes!  They’ve embraced and run with it.  Any time there’s something to celebrate … Spaniards will turn it into a 3-day  Fiesta … and this one was not about candy or sweets, it was a family affair.  We loved it … even if we lost a few hearing cells!  Three days, you ask? … Oct. 31st – El Dia de las Brujas (day of the witches) … Nov. 1 – All Saints Day (National holiday) … and Nov. 2 – El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Before we knew it, our time in Jerez  had melted away.  With both a Sunday AND a National holiday, we didn’t manage a visit to one of the Bodegas … but you could certainly smell the sherry as you walked past the substantial properties … drifting over the walls of the likes of Harveys, Sandemans, Gonzalez-Byass (Tio Pepe) and Fundador   https://everydayfoodblog.com/spain/sherry-bodegas-jerez/