Wednesday, September 28, 2011

My daughter has recently started 'big school' at the Marbella Montessori and I am so delighted at the way it has all gone so smoothly.  She can be quite shy so I was certain there was going to be the usual separation anxiety scene but it never happened.  She was obviously so ready to move on and learn that actually she sometimes forgets to kiss me goodbye before she runs to sit on the mat!  So the only anxiety is coming from me!  It is only a tiny school where she receives so much attention and care that I couldn't ask for more.  After her second week she was given Barney the Bear to take home and look after for the weekend and write and photograph his adventures in a diary, as she had been the star student of the week!  Very proud we were and here is a pictorial record of our weekend with Barney...























Thursday, September 15, 2011

Jerez de la Frontera

Before our daughter was born, 4 years ago, we used to go on lots of little trips, visiting new places and experiencing the Spanish vida!  Understandably it came to a halt but we are now feeling the need to get travelling again, just locally.  So last weekend we headed of to Jerez, famous for its sherry and sherry vinegar.  It's under 3 hours from our house, between us and Portugal so not a difficult drive.  On the way we stopped at Arcos de la Frontera which is a gorgeous hilltop town with 2 huge churches on the top.  The town gained its name by being the frontier of Spain's 13th century battle with the Moors. (Wikipedia)

Blick vom Hotel auf Altstadt












Jerez was a lovely, slow paced, very genteel and civilised place.  Unfortunately, in typical Spanish style, none of the bodegas were open on a Sunday or during the summer (too hot) so we weren't able to do a tasting but we tried several sherries on our tapas bar crawl on the Saturday night and we believe dry sherry deserves some attention.  Unlike its sweet partner, the drink of housewives and old ladies by reputation, dry sherry is a perfect accompaniment to cured meats and pickled foods like boquerones and anchovies.  Give it a try!