Sanlucar part 2

25,000 year old Venus

One of the more out of the way spots we discovered in Sanlύcar was the Casa Mitologico in an old church converted into La Victoria Cultural Center.  It is actually on a square fairly close to the downtown area but not prominently marked.  We were the only visitors the day we went, and they had to turn on the lights and the projectors for us, but it was a really interesting exhibit.  In the 3 rooms, there was one devoted to the myth of the Tartessians, whom stories recount as having lived beyond the Pillars of Hercules.  It is still not clear whether there ever was a real Tartessian civilization.  There is some archeological record, but no actual cities have been found.  It is certainly clear that the Phoenicians were trading out to this distant area.

Ishtar

The second room was devoted to myths of the mother goddess, going back to 20,000 year old figures and pictograms in Spain, through Ishtar, Isis, Hera and Juno, and even, very carefully, linking it to the Virgin Mary.  There are sculptures of Isis with a child that look remarkably like sculptures of Mary and Jesus.  The third room was about Hercules because of the Pillars of Hercules, and one of his labors had him stealing cattle from the King of Tartessos.

As I said before, the main industry that we could see in Sanlύcar is sherry.  Vast stretches of white buildings dominate the upper town where they catch the sea breeze.  One morning we took a tour of the Barbadillo sherry bodega.  Barbadillo is the biggest distillery in town, and the process of turning wine into sherry was very interesting, especially as we have a little experience with California wineries.  They start with a white grape, Palomino, which is often grown in the area, but can be grown as far away as La Mancha.  They do bottle a white wine, but at least half the harvest goes towards sherry.  Some of the wine is distilled to a brandy that is remixed with the original to bring it up to 15% alcohol content and started with a new fermentation process with a different yeast in oak barrels.  However, the main secret, at least with Barbadillo sherry, is that the new wine is constantly mixed with older wine.  A sherry when it is bottled may be six or more years old.

Sherry tour

One third of the barrel is drawn off to be bottled, and the barrel is refilled from a barrel one stage younger, which is turn is refilled from a younger barrel.  Each barrel has its community of yeast which is used to the alcohol content therein, and the final sherry approaches 18%.  This process, and the local environment of cooling sea breezes, is what makes this wine a Manzanilla rather than a Jerez sherry.  Manzanilla apparently translates as chamomile.  There is both some of the chamomile flavor and color to the drink.  One of the most interesting rooms our tour guide took us to (we were again the only tourists) was what was called the Cathedral – a huge tall room with rows of stacked barrels, windows opening to the sea breeze and a sand floor to soak during the summer to keep the process cool.  We also got to taste some of the products.  Besides the wine and the manzanilla, there is also amontillado, which is aged even further, and sweet sherries, which are mixed with sweet grape wine.

Muddy waters

Sanlύcar’s other claim to fame is as the gateway to the Donaña National Park, which encompasses the marshes of the estuary of the Guadalquivir River.  I was struck with how many rivers in Spain start with Guadal, so I looked it up in Wikipedia.  The root word is from the Arabic Wadi al …, in this case a word that means big, so Guadalquivir is the Big River.  The first time we walked down to the river, I was wondering where the channel was, because all I could see was sand.  It wasn’t until we got quite close that I realized that I was looking at water and not sand.  It is the brownest river I have ever seen.  I guess this is because it runs through a lot of dry, sandy countryside.  It is because the river carries so much silt that the marshes exist that have been made into the Donaña National Park.  Thousands of years ago, the river emptied into a big delta estuary, but eventually it created a sand bar (or ocean currents created it) and the marsh formed behind the sand bar.  The interaction between the river, ocean, and sand is constantly changing. 

Donana boat cruise

Our tour of Donaña started with a short boat trip across the river, and then we got into small 4-wheel drive buses which took us down the river shore and around to the Atlantic.  There were enough people on this tour to fill up 3 buses of about 30 each.  The talk was all in Spanish, so we missed a lot.  Anyway, it was very interesting when we got out to the bar at the current river mouth, because the difference between the sandy river water and the blue ocean water was quite obvious.  And of course, the Atlantic was much rougher.  There were lots of seabirds.  Then the buses went inland to one of the pine forests. 

Dunes versus forest

The sand dunes were dramatically encroaching on the forest.  Then we drove back around and into a more inland area of pine trees, which they still allow to be harvested for pine nuts.  We saw some deer and wild pigs.  Then we drove out to an overlook of the marshes, but they are too wet to go into.  Finally, we went to an area that had had ranches and still has some of the interesting rush-work houses that people lived in.  There we boarded a boat to go down river back to Sanlύcar, passing by a mountain of salt processed from the delta.  It was a very interesting morning.

Beach and Promenade

On a different day we rented bicycles and rode up and down the beach road for an hour and a half.  Going towards the river mouth (mostly west but also south) we got further than we had walking, down to an area where there are small fishing boats, and then the road went over a hill and into a new town which looked like it had experienced a big boom in sea side housing starts, but is pretty empty looking now.  We could still overlook the river for a while at view points, but eventually turned around when it seemed like we were staying more inland.  Traffic was thankfully light on the roads, and eventually we got back to the riverside promenade. 

Sanlucar street

Speaking of the economic crisis, which is not very apparent to our tourist eyes, we feel like we are seeing a lot of babies around town.  Maybe it is no more than usual, but we have been wondering if, with 50% unemployment among young people, they are viewing this as a good opportunity to have a child.

There have not been a lot of cultural activities to go to.  I think we have missed most of the flamenco.  There are 2 places and they have always been closed when we have gone by.  They may be open way past our bed time.  The very first weekend we were here, there was a woman playing the guitar and singing in one place, but when we went back later, it was closed.  So when we saw a poster for a concert commemorating the Constitution of 1812, we figured we should go.  This Constitution was created in Cadiz during the Napoleonic occupation of Spain.  It was very liberal and democratic and never actually implemented by any government, but they are still proud of it in Andalucía. 

Church of Nuestra Senora de la O

The concert was performed by a totally wind and percussion orchestra, who looked like a mix of youth and mature players.  First there was a lecture on the constitution by a professor from the University of Cadiz, then the orchestra played Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.  Hearing it played entirely by wind instruments along with percussion was a very unique experience!  The orchestra was actually quite good for amateurs, and there were very few false notes.  Then there was another lecture by another professor about the battle of Matagorda during the defense of Cadiz, and the heroism of a Scottish nurse named Agnes Reston.  The British were helping Spain free itself from French tyranny.  This was followed by two short pieces for the orchestra by Spanish composers.  Then there was a talk about the music by the president of the youth orchestra followed by the Polka of Matagorda by an English composer.  There was a reasonably good sized audience to listen to all this in the town auditorium, which used to be a chapel owned by the local nobility. 

Virgin del Rocio

Finally, we have a few pictures from the churches around town.  Many of them have striking ceramic tile pictures on their outer walls of the Virgin or Christ or other Saints.  Other buildings have them too, mostly religious, but sometimes commemorating historical figures.  Even some of the businesses and summer villas have a little plaque to Nuestra Senora de la Esperanza.  We have been able to go into some of the local churches, particularly the three that are on our daily walk, but they are open for religious reasons, not for tourism.  Like most of the Spanish churches we have seen, there are almost no windows, but the altars and side altars are very ornate and have particularly life like statues.

Now we are off to Granada for a few days and then Madrid and then home!

Magellan and Elcano, who sailed from Sanlucar