What a fabulous day!
I haven’t been to the Feria de Jerez since May 2005. It is absolutely my most favourite feria, much better than the very famous Feria de Abril in Sevilla. And so yesterday myself, Nog, Jay, Pipocas & Chucky & Kidlet, “R” (another of the ladies) and her visiting friend all converged on Jerez to spend an afternoon at the fair…
The reasons I prefer the Feria de Jerez are because, unlike the massive and very cliquey one in Sevilla, this one really feels like a fair should. Most of the casetas are public and very charming, it’s located in a lovely park with palm trees and flowers … and then there are the horses. Jerez is famous for its horses and is the horse capital of Andalucía.
For starters, here is an example of extreme adorableness (at least I thought so)
Getting down to business we decided to opt for an earlyish lunch (1pm) so as to beat the crowds for a table and then have more time to ogle the horses. As you can see, “J” was clearly getting into the spirit of things. No food pics this time around but we feasted on such things as grilled Italian peppers, marinated shark, stewed pig’s cheeks, pork loin in ‘castellano’ sauce, breaded prawns, croquettes, fried squid and ‘mero a la roteña’, all washed down with mucho fino, beer and rioja.
It wasn’t until we had finished eating that we realised we’d been sitting at the corner of Flagellation and Bitterness streets … rather festive sounding, doncha think?
After a stroll around the fairground Pipocas & family had to get going, so the rest of us carried on seriously drinking being festive and stumbled into this caseta owned by the famous Domecq family. That’s “J”, Nog, “R” and R’s camera-shy friend enjoying getting fried in the very hot sun.
An example of the most idiotic shoes to wear to feria. By the end of the day all of us were so tired and footsore that we adopted a rather cutthroat every man for himself attitude when it came to getting a seat on the train home. I wonder how this one (who was mutton dressed as lamb, btw) felt when she got home.
My favourite horse of the day … there’s always one. I loved the mane on this tawny beast and took several photos of him.
You can see the rest of the photos here (starting at number 59)…
casa azahar 
A pity we don’t have stuff like this in the Wilds of Ohio…well, unless you count the State Fair…which, I guess, you really shouldn’t…Looks like great fun. And is that second pic you? Very feisty! I’ll get my flamenco shoes…
LikeLike
No, that’s my lovely friend Jay, who is quite feisty indeed. I don’t tend to do public photos anymore.
LikeLike
Wow. I love PRE’s. They’re becoming increasingly popular over here too because of their good temperaments and versatility. I want to go :stampsfeet: . Maybe next year….
LikeLike
PRE’s? Hey Sara, what a lovely surprise! Does this mean you do actually lurk here? *hug*
I think a trip to the Feria de Jerez next year, including overnight, is something that has to happen. Did you see the lights in the day shots? At night they turn the place into an Alladin’s cave of jewel-coloured light. We must do this! Oh, and you can bring that Steve guy with you too. 😉
LikeLike
Gosh, that looks like fun! I agree with you on the idiotic shoes, by the way! It is possible that she wears shoes like that all the time, however, and all the nerves in her feet are burned out. I love that tawny horse, how beautiful. When we were leaving Sevilla on our way to Portugal on Sunday morning, there were horse and carriages coming into town for Feria de Abril. We saw a beautiful cabriolet being drawn by a matched four of black horses with their manes properly clipped and their tails brushed, they had been curried and burnished until they looked like they were horses made of satin. We whipped by them on the opposite side of the freeway before I could snap a picture, but the image remains. I love Spain. Did I say that? You have my undying envy for being so fortunate as to live there.
LikeLike
I think you may have mentioned loving Spain once or twice, hmh… 😉
Next year I really want to go for an overnight trip to the feria in Jerez and see the lights. Did it once several years ago but didn’t have a proper camera then.
LikeLike
Pura Raza Espanol, so I’m reliably informed. I *think* (but don’t quote me on it) that only a few stud farms breed what would be allowed to be called an ‘Andalucian’ horse. All other spanish breds are called PRE’s.
LikeLike