Jerez y Senderismo

Another successful weekend in Spain!  On Friday I took my grammar final to finish up the intensive grammar course...it's a great feeling to already have 3 credits done!  To celebrate I went with a couple friends on Saturday to visit the González Byass - Tio Pepe Bodega (bodega = vineyard) for a wine tasting and tour.  The bodega is located in Jerez, which is about an hour and a half south of Sevilla.  We opted for the tour in English.  First we walked around the grounds.  One of the building was designed by the same architect that thought of the Eiffel Tower and past kings and queens of Spain have visited there!  We also saw where they store the wine and brandy in huge stacks of barrels...there is a complicated process ensuring that it is properly cared for to make the best products that I can't even begin to describe.  Next we got to ride on a little train (SO fun) around to another part of the grounds.  The González Byass company makes many different types of wines, but specializes in sherry and a brandy that is made specifically from the sherry wine...they export their products to over 100 different countries.  Jerez is famous for these bodegas because they have the perfect combination of climate and soil to grow the grapes.  One funny thing we saw was a wine glass with a tiny ladder leaned against eat...apparently they encourage the mice to drink the wine as well, although we didn't see any.  After learning about the process of harvesting the grapes and processing/storing the wine, we got to try the world famous Tio Pepe sherry.  First impression = strong!  You could only sip a little bit at a time...it was a fun experience, but I don't think I would order it otherwise.  We also got tapas of jamón serrano (the iberian ham that they love) on bread, cheese, and chips.  Our guide then let us try a different wine that was definitely more of a desert wine because it was extremely sweet.  After visiting the bodega we walked around the town of Jerez and decided to soak up some sun in the central plaza of the city....the weather was amazing!  You could really feel the difference of being further south, but Sevilla is supposed to be that warm pretty soon : )

On to Sunday: in addition to mentally preparing for the Superbowl - GO Packers - I spent the day hiking in the Sierra Norte.  The hiking excursion was a trip planned by my program, so there were about 40 other kids and a couple guides.  Again, the weather was amazing and I was overdressed.  It was an all day excursion, 9am - 7pm, and was surprisingly intense.  The views were incredible and it hardly felt like we were in Spain...the landscape was a lot of green rolling hills, sheep grazing, and small farming houses scattered throughout.

There was also a river that we hiked along.  When we needed to cross the river to get to the second half of our hike, we literally crossed through river!!  The bridge that we were supposed to use was broken (hopefully not just a joke played on us by the guides) so we rolled up our jeans, took off our shoes and got in the water.  It was SO icy cold that when my feet were in the water I could feel my heart pounding.  The "shallow" part we were crossing was also up to my knees so my jeans were soaked.  like I said, intense, but a great story.  After our moment of extreme hiking, we stopped to take a break and eat our bocadillos (sandwiches).  We spent a good amount of time relaxing in the sun and one of the guides told us that we should take advantage of Spain's best invention, the siesta, haha.  After resting up and drying out, we began the climb back.  It was a circular route so the path was entirely different, and entirely up hill.  On the bus ride home I took a much needed nap because I am about to eat dinner soon and then go to the bar Tex Mex to watch the Packers.  It was 15 euro to reserve a seat there!  pretty pricey, but worth it considering there's no way I would be able to see the game otherwise...it also starts at 12:30 our time, so luckily I don't start classes until 11 tomorrow.

Chao,
Elizabeth