The most anticipated week of the year had finally arrived--it wasn't only because it was Semana Santa, or holy week, in Spain, but also because my family was finally making the trek across the pond to visit. They were met with some flight troubles, but finally on Friday they made it to the Sevilla Santa Justa train station from the airport and we had our cheesy Hallmark reunion.
We made our way to Jerez, where we rented an Airbnb close to the center--a great move with all the holy week foot traffic. I took them to the place I first experienced in Jerez: Plaza Arenal. We had our first cheers and tapas (the best patatas bravas) of the trip and ended the night with a trip to Mesón del Asador, one of my favorite tapa restaurant. Bonus points for the flaming chorizo that was, to put it plainly, out of control (but delicious).
Day 2 we began with coffee on the roof and made our way to our winery tour at Fundador, one of Jerez's oldest wineries and producer of sherry, wine and bristol cream. Despite Abi almost getting lost trying to find a bathroom, the tour was interesting and ended with some clinks of each specific house-made drink; we were big fans of Harveys Bristol Cream (I mean, I even got a hat from there). Oh, and Jonah loved the non-alcoholic wine aka grape juice!
We toured the city, ate at El Juanito, a quaint restaurant in the middle of town, and walked the streets (Calle Pulvera was our favorite, a tree-heavy street with beautiful cobblestone. We finished the night with a trip to my favorite: La Cruz Blanca. Lucky for us, the holy week procession was passing right by and we got to see it first-hand, accompanied with my favorite tapas (and cheap too!).
My favorite memory of the trip was getting to introduce my family to all my friends, along with too much wine. We played rummi, as is customary in my piso, and ended the night with karaoke.
Our final day began with churros at El Anden, complete with nutella and white chocolate dips, which were definitely enjoyed by the Moores (not shockingly). Though we had planned to go to Arcos, where I work, to see the bull for holy week, we missed a bus and decided to go (perhaps the safer route) to Cadiz, just a short train ride south of Jerez.
We walked the beautiful ocean-side streets and even had pumpkin-flavored croquetas, which my dad said were his favorite food on the trip. Then, we walked the long ocean walkway to the Castle of San Sebastian and ended the night (after Dad's nap on the train pictured below) at Rigodón, an international eatery in the heart of Jerez, where we once again were met with a holy week procession. Shane joined us for dinner and we, naturally, had ice cream to cap off a beautiful weekend before we ventured further into Europe... stay tuned.
Comments