Spain 2009 - Horse Races on Sanlucar Beach

Yes...just a little more about Spain

One of the highlights of my vacation was getting invited to the annual horse races on the beach in Sanlucar, the launching point of both Christopher Columbus and Magellan.

Not that I'm a racing fan, I much prefer jumping, polo and dressage,
but hey, any excuse to party on a beach on a hot summer's night...

Apparently it's an important local event with a long history.

From a Sanlucar website
Sanlúcar is also noted for its horse racing which dates back to 1845 and takes place along a 2,000 stretch of beach at the mouth of the Río Guadalquivir during the month of August, daily from 6.00 pm, on the 2nd and 4th weekends of the month (Thursday to Saturday). This is a thrilling spectacle where real racehorses thunder across the sand watched by a large noisy crowd of spectators.

There is nothing amateur about this event and you can expect to see spectator stands, bookmakers, paddocks and, of course, the winners´enclosure. Now an international event with horses from other European countries taking part and many famous names amongst the spectators. This is a serious competition, the total prize money amounts to millions of Euros. Most of the prize money is awarded during the last weekend.



So this race was watched by locals on the beach, invited guests in the stands and the rest of Spain on television.

The partying began in the afternoon with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the stands and the race started at sunset. Afterwards there was a party in the group of adjacent cabanas that went on all night long...

or so they told me because I couldn't make it much past midnight.

While I loved hanging our with my brother and Nieves Ferris, I really adored watching all the children at the event.

Every single one of them was dressed as though they had walked out of a Ralph Lauren ad.

Absolutely adorable.

And...it was my lucky night in because my 4 euro bet won me a handy 175 euros!!!

Ole!

Spain 2009 - Los Arcos de la Frontera

Having tried my hardest to do absolutely nothing to improve myself while on vacation, other than deepening my tan, I ended up picking up this book and actually learning a lot about the history and geography of Spain.
This well written book, It's Not About The Tapas, by English journalist and travel writer Polly Evans, outlined her trip through Spain by bicycle. Not only did this writer perform the utterly incredible feat of travelling from San Sebastian to Barcelona which means cycling across the Pyrenees, she managed to weave an amusing story about historical and modern Spain. In each short chapter she described the villages and cities that she visited in terms of their local geography, culture, cuisine and history, and she did it with a sense of humor.

So in the spirit of learning something new about Spain I took a quick side trip to Los Arcos de la Frontera, one of the famous pueblos blancos of Andalusia.

This tiny town was set high on a hill with beautiful views of the agrarian country side.

Originally under Moorish control, like all of Andalusia, Los Arcos was Christianized in the 13th Century.

But the Moorish influence in architecture was still prevalent, especially in the small verdant atrium's within the oldest part of the village.

The village was quiet and not just because it was getting to siesta time. I saw only a handful of tourists, mostly french and South American. Of course it was obvious that we were the only two American tourists in the town...because who else would be wearing a pink Hawaiian shirt...

In fact I didn't see any American tourists anywhere in this region of Spain.

Did Americans stay home this summer because the dollar is so low against the euro or

did they only travel to the big cities in Europe?

Spain 2009 - A Beach, A Bullfight and A Bar

Since I love to swim in the ocean but am total wuss when it comes to swimming in cold water I took advantage of the fact that the Atlantic ocean temperature in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain was much warmer than the Pacific ocean temperature in Santa Monica, California.
So yes...it's true....I actually donned "the dreaded bikini" and spent pretty much every day on this beach.

Unlike the chic resorts, Marbella and Palma, teaming with elegant villas full of wealthy Europeans and Saudi royals, Puerto was a beach resort for the Spanish middle class. It was a very laid back place where typical Spanish families would rent a small villa or ocean view apartment for two weeks to a month for their annual vacation.
Obviously, my brother, aka Skipper, was enjoying the beach too.
The book in his hands is just a cover of course. Behind the sunglasses he was really scanning the beach for topless girls.

Oh and just for the record, for every nubile young topless girl with breasts like ripe melons, there was 60 something year old abuela letting is all hang out...and trust me....it wasn't pretty.

So while Skipper was checking out the chicas I was taking a break from the sun in this bar on the beach that served the best mojitos I've ever tasted.

A day of sun, sand and surf and then it was back home to get gorgeous for a night on the town.

Keeping with my "when in Spain..." attitude the night included travel by scooter, a bullfight, some pasear and tapas.

Bullfighting is a big deal in Spain...we all know that.

It's a challenge of hot pink socked, skin tight pastel suited man versus beast.

After sitting in the box seats with all the local big shots, and being introduced to the president of the local bullfighting federation, a rather elegant woman btw, I was glad that I experienced the corrida.

But, let's face it, once was enough.

And even though I was rooting for the bull, I did though kind of like the way that the matadors would turn their back on the bull and walk away with a swagger of machismo.

So very Latin.

Finally, we scooter-ed over to the old town Puerto where pasear was in full force. I love the Spanish summer tradition of families taking to the streets late at night after the weather cools off for a walk, dinner and sitting outside in a cafe and watching the passersby.

Eleven o'clock, midnight and later you will see small children and even infants out with their parents. But what's the rush to go home when it's summer vacation and you can sleep till noon the next day.

We ended up at this tapas bar, one of my brother's favorites, aptly named "little ham bar" because it was little and served jamon iberico. The tapas dishes were delicious, the best I had in Spain, particularly the calamari and the ham and cheese on toast.

and I discovered my new favorite summer drink....get ready for this...a wine cooler or tinto de verano which is cheap red wine on ice with fanta lemon.

Yeah, you know that sounds good!

Spain 2009 - Dinner in Chipiona

Whenever I travel I want to go out to dinner with the locals because they know where the cuisine is the best...especially when the locals are the owners of a major vineyard or bodega.

So obviously I was more than please to be invited out to dinner by the Ferris family who own the J. Ferris M. Winery which produces not only some of the worlds finest sherry, but some truly delicious red wine or tinto.


The bodega, which the Ferris brothers were kind enough to give me a private tour of last summer, is located in the Jerez de la Frontera region of Spain, where the world's sherry production comes from.

Of course sherry isn't just the Harvey's Bristol Cream that your grandmother or great aunt may have offered you a sip of years ago.

Sherry can range from Fino or Manzanilla, a sharp, almost metallic white wine perfect for seafood dishes to Amontillado, a rich thick nutty tasting amber colored wine, perfect for a desert.
Here's my previous BHB post on sherry.

I've always found that people in the wine industry are serious about their food, so I was only so happy to be invited to join Pepe Ferris and his wife Nieves, with their son Juan Carlos, daughter Nievecita and son-in-law Nono, who are good friends of my brother. Not only were they absolutely chic and gorgeous people, they were so much fun and we laughed throughout the entire meal.

The restaurant was a fabulous place right on the water in the town of Chipiona specializing in seafood. Steamed giant shrimp (good except that I politely declined the sucking out the head part), cockles cooked in a white wine and garlic cream sauce, grilled red peppers and grilled fresh fish were all on the menu.

We sat on the terrace and had an expansive view but there were also tables were set up right on the beach...so romantic....which reminded me so much of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.

And look how lovely the sunset was.

More to come...but now off to work.

Spain 2009 - The View of Blue

I'd love to have jet lag and loll about at home...but as usual, I've had no time for jet lag since I returned two days ago. It was back to work at the office yesterday with the baubles of Beladora.com
just like I had never left.


It's crazy hot in LA today, 100 degrees or so, just like the day that I arrived in Spain.


Here I am in my brother's back yard with my hair blowing in the hot wind up that comes up from North Africa every afternoon.

And here's my brother's house in a not very attractive photo....it's actually much bigger and better than it looks in this picture. (obviously, no one will be hiring me as a photographer for Architectural Digest any time soon)

And the huge lawn on the bluffs above the Atlantic Ocean.

The view south is of the ancient port of Cadiz, the oldest city in Europe.

And water, water everywhere

But the shore just below is unavailable for use due to security reasons....so no private beach.

Luckily, there was a lovely public beach adjacent to the compound where my brother lives, easily accessible by bike, so that's where I spent my days.

More photos to come.

Spain Summer Fun Part 2 in Hot and Happening Madrid

I finally made it to Madrid...what a different vibe after the quiet evenings on the terrace in Provence...pictures to come, bien sur.
Soon back home to blogging and the beladora biz.

At Last - En Vacance

Yeah...it's finally happening
VACATION

So after dealing with the crisis in my closet
due to the fact that I've posted some 900+ times on BHB
and now nothing I own fits
I've had to piece together some sort of vacation wardrobe
so after a year and of half of choosing blogging over jogging
I just have to deal with it

Fortunately, I'm not going to London or Paris
It will be casual all the way
and what I wear just won't matter
on the Costa de la Luz in Southern Spain

OK...it won't be this casual
and the night life isn't going to be anything like this

Instead, there will be quite days on the beach

And early evening walks through the town

And hopefully some time spent in the country

hiking, biking and enjoying Andalusia

And then off to the environs of Aix en Province

Maybe I'll even hike up Mont St. Victoire

Or wander through the town sipping pastis at sidewalk cafes

I will try to step away from the computer for the next two weeks

...let's see if I can do it....

bon, on y va

Years and Years and Years Old

Gwyneth On Spain
In a new interview which is sure to irk her best friend Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow has criticised Americans for allowing their Blackberries to interfere with family life.
Hailing her 'second home' of Spain for putting family first, Gwyneth complains her native New Yorkers are too concerned with their work to fully immerse themselves in their family.

She goes on in the interview to make brilliant observations such as this

'Spain became a second home. It is so different from the United States. It seemed to have a history, and the buildings are years and years and years old.'


Look...I like Spain too... but I'm just going to have to miss Gwyneth's upcoming documentary.

I'm not going to bother post anymore about what she said in her interview, let's just say that I find her to be boorish and minimally talented.

Staying Stationary This Summer In Southern California

For months I've been dreaming about taking some time off for a little European vacation but I just never seemed to get around to organizing it.
June is finally here and now I have something planned every week for the next month so I just can't get away.
Maybe, just maybe, if I get my act together I can get my dream vacation organized for August.

I would fly here
then visit my brother who lives in a house on the ocean near here and enjoy the warm weather, the beach and the fino

then fly here to visit a couple of friends

then revisit one of my favorite cities

and one of my favorite small towns for the pretty lake view and some hiking

then rent a car and drive through the country side to this city for a little history

which is on the way to this city to see old friends

then continue south to this beach resort for the flight back home

But the dark side of travel has been on my mind a lot lately with the Air France disaster last week. I've been reminded...again...that flying is not without risk.

On my first trip to Europe, 30 years ago, I received that dreaded phone informing me that my mother's boyfriend was on American Airlines flight 191 which crashed at O'Hare. At the time it was the worst airline disaster in US History.

Twenty two years later, my dear friend was on American Airlines flight 11, and we all know what happened to that plane on September 11, 2001.

Storms, mechanical failures, terrorism...there's always something that can go wrong.

So for right now I'm OK with staying stationary with my feet on the ground for the next month or so in Los Angeles. It may not be as sunny as Cadiz, as happening as Hamburg, as beautiful as Evian les Bain, as historical as Avignon or as charming as Provence...

but it feels safe.

The Case For Crunches

From the Telegraph

Woman survived paragliding accident 'due to washboard stomach'
A woman survived a paragliding accident because her "washboard" stomach muscles protected her other organs, experts told her.

Miss Williams, who has no children, said: "More than one doctor has said that being so fit is what saved my life. I do 15 sit-ups and 30 bicycle sit-ups, or lateral crunches, every day - it's just a one-minute regime.

OK, so there you have it...a one minute abs routine that can save your life....if you happen to be paragliding in Andalusia or not.