Visits to Bodegas and the Fino Festival

Early yesterday morning found us setting out on another coach trip from the village - this time to visit the bodegas of Moriles where the local wine - fino - is made - 'hill wine' as some folks call it. It's the 'white wine' of this area.

The town of Moriles is set in the midst of acres of vines, though the area is still very much one of olive groves. These vines don't grow in the traditional way trained vertically along wires as I had expected but as bushes which are cut right down to the ground at the end of the season leaving fields of rather ugly black stumps until the new growth starts again at the first hint of warm weather after the winter weeks.

We were very grateful for a breakfast of fresh crusty white bread served with cheese and jamon before we hit our first of many tastings of various finos throughout the day at 3 different bodegas.















As fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable as it was, I felt the frustration of not being fluent in Spanish yet again. One has to bear in mind that these village trips aren't quite the 'holiday tours' one is used to with the benefit of the guide speaking in one's native tongue! But our friend and neighbour, Abbey, has an excellent command of Spanish so was able to share the gist of it with us - thank you Abbey!
Ruth sampling the fino and holding one for the photographer (honestly!)




As if we hadn't had sufficient fill of many very generous fino tastings, it was then on to the annual Fino Festival of Moriles where we spent 3 hours sharing bottles of various finos between us and sampling some delicious tapas. The first thing you have to do on arrival at such an event is buy your glass which you keep for the duration then take home as a souvenir! Then off you go buying bottles of finos of your choice from the casetas of the various bodegas represented.

The event took place in a huge marquee so full folks I had wondered as we first stepped inside if we would be able to move at all! There was no room for seating - only oak barrels if you could find a free one on which to stand bottle, glasses and plates of tapas! The noise of excited chatter and laughter was such that it reminded me of the last time we went to a night club in Birmingham when we emerged to find our hearing so affected everything we heard was muffled! It was enormous fun (once we adjusted to the noise level and learnt to shout just as loudly as everyone else!). The Spanish do seem to throw themselves into any sort of social event with such gusto and enthusiasm - they make everything such fun. Thankfully as we'd arrived quite late in the afternoon it did




seem to empty out to give us a little more breathing space! It was certainly a unique experience and the time simply flew - we were introduced to other folks through the people we had gone with and our glasses were generously re-filled from their bottles - we needed those tapas!!

On return to the village we decided to 'have one for the road' in the bar before turning in - I resorted to coffee at that point. When we left the bar I thought I was finally heading for my much desired bed - wrong!!

A few of the local guys were enjoying a few finos and tapas in the little plaza outside Abbey and Narindar's home - and absolutely insisted we joined them - I've no idea how long we stayed there but we had a hilarious time especially when one of the guys who'd been on the trip and in a very merry state by then, had waited for his wife to go to bed before creeping indoors to get the 5L flagon of fino dulce (more like a syrup than a sweet sherry!!) that his wife had guarded all the way home from the bodega trip - boy what trouble may lay in store for him now - there's rather a large air pocket now where fino dulce once had been!!

Back home enjoying the fino dulce!




It was a really fun day - we've discovered even more of the beautiful countryside around here, the trips to the bodegas and the fino festival were fascinating and tasty! The folks here have embraced us from the very start, we've felt so very welcome here and events like yesterday cement that friendship further - and this place really does feel more like home every day!

Village Feria

That was certainly one brilliant 3 day party!

We were warned we should pace ourselves and not try to see/participate in everything as there's so much going on during the day then dancing starting around midnight every night, going on through to somewhere near breakfast time - we did try but I have to confess to failing rather dismally, too concerned we were not to miss out on anything with the result that Monday was pretty much a write off - it was worth it!

There was a lively festive atmosphere over the entire village with the main street taken up with various stalls, inflatable slide, ball pool etc for the kiddies. It was all very colourful with lots of illuminations hung across the street and bunting in abundance. The 2 bars had set up awnings to the opposite side of the street providing full cover against rain/sun (and sadly we did have a little rain after all the many weeks of unbroken sunshine) with plenty of chairs and tables set up. Only during these 3 days do the bars both offer hot food - day and night (well almost all night!). A local company took over an empty garage where we could order spit roasted chickens - no time for cooking meals for anyone during those 3 days!

The main events were held in the huge village hall at the far end of the street where there was more hot food available and a bar running from lunch time to whenever the last partying stragglers decided to leave in the morning - didn't like to ask what the folks managing this were 'on' in order to keep going for 3 days and nights with virtually no break!

There was always something going on with domino and football tournaments going on in the background; bicycle and motorbike tape races - right under our balconies which was one reason for a missed siesta!












The 'Poets' evening when various individuals and groups staged readings, sketches and singing. Then there was the 'platos tipicos' on the Sunday lunchtime when folks brought along typical local dishes which were laid out along trestle tables set full length down the centre of the hall - I assumed, rather like at summer fetes back home, these were to be judged. I was rather puzzled as little plastic forks were given out to everyone in the hall - I should have guessed by the huge number of people sitting expectantly around all the tables and chairs - when the word was given, one huge sea of bodies descended on the table dipping in to all those dishes - I've never seen the like!

Now this is VERY serious business ........../


It didn't take me long to join in the friendly melee and indulge in some wonderfully delicious food! An amazing assortment of savoury and sweet, hot and cold dishes. All accompanied by the wonderful singing of the El Higueralian choir. In no time the food was completely demolished leaving behind only a few crumbs and many empty plates.

The highlight of the entire 3 days of course was the Friday evening procession which really signalled the start of and was the reason for the feria. Like all other Spanish villages and towns, El Higueral has its own patron saint:
La Virgen del Carmen


The proceedings were very typical of those we've already enjoyed in other towns - the misa (Mass) is held first before the statue of the Virgen del Carmen on the large float is brought out of the church and then carried aloft on a few strong shoulders through and around the village accompanied by the solemn music of the band, single fireworks exploding every now and then to mark the progression of the procession, followed by a many of the villagers carrying the 3' long candles - a humbling experience sharing in the candlelit procession with these devout folks. It was a long walk down and up steeps streets on a rather chilly evening taking a good hour and a half before we were back at the church whereupon the dozen or so men who had carried this weighty float without a break upped their speed and literally ran around in circles on the spot, turning the float 28 times to the huge cheers and applause of us all. Then it was off to start the partying ................

The Performance!

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be dancing the sevillana (a flamenco style dance) in an outdoor theatre set against the magical backdrop of the floodlit castle of the hilltop town of Iznajar! What a simply amazing opportunity, experience and privilege. All the hard work, frustration and despondent moments (and nerves!) completely forgotten in the sheer pleasure, enjoyment and adrenalin rush of the performance in front of a huge crowd of spectators!

When we first arrived at the venue there were only a few rows of chairs set out and a handful of folks milling around so we drew the conclusion that this was a very low key affair - how wrong we were! Long before our performance slot the place was absolutely heaving with people - it was standing room only with further huge crowds gathered along the railings above the stage. It was a full evening programme of dance and song which heralded the start of the largest annual fiesta of Iznajar - in honour of the village patron saint 'Virgen de la Piedad' - a week long fiesta!

I'm so glad I didn't give up!
I signed up for lessons back in June under the illusion I was in for fun dance classes - only to learn a few weeks later that these classes were leading towards a performance! It seemed highly unlikely considering, particularly for us 3 Brits, the difficulties we were having not just learning the steps but co-ordinating the arms and learning the turns without tumbling over ourselves and each other. The Spanish lasses from the village appeared to have such a natural aptitude - reference footnotes below! As the performance date loomed the fun turned to despondency and frustration for me as I battled not only with this foreign dance but having little understanding of all the instructions delivered in Spanish!! I was so close to giving up a couple of weeks prior to the performance when one of the Spanish lasses in the class and from this village, seeing me struggle, offered to give me some extra coaching in her house any time I'd like to go round. I grabbed the chance and miracle of miracles, with Maria's patient coaching plus my determination and lots of extra practise, I was just about ready in time for the performance!

I will never, ever forget that memorable night - Val, Julia and I sat downing our glasses of 'dutch courage' with our respective other halves, nerves mounting by the minute (nope - the G&Ts didn't help one bit!!) -

- the sun going down and the moon, a huge orange ball that evening, rising into the darkening sky beside the floodlit castle. What a totally magical and enchanting setting.



Various dancing groups from little tiny tots learning their first sevillana steps through to older children up to the 2 adult classes performed throughout the evening - our group being the very last performance of the evening. Finally it was time - we took our places on stage, the music started. As we moved into the first few steps of the sevillana my spirits soared - the fun and excitement of the dance plus relief at the realisation that I seemed to be remembering all the steps and turns and without falling over myself! It was all over so very very quickly - all the worry, anxiety and frustrations, all those butterflies - all dissolved and in their place an overwhelming sense of achievement. I enjoyed every moment and left the stage with a pang of sadness that it was all over in the blink of an eye.

Quite unexpectedly, all dancers were summoned to gather around the stage where each of us was called up individually by name and presented with a red carnation and a certificate for a diploma in the sevillana!! Yay!!!!

Ruth with dance tutor, Paqui, Julia and Val















A little background information on the the sevillana dance courtesy of Wikipedia and andalucia.org :
This dance is characterised by its gracefulness, liveliness, nimble dynamism and flexibility. It is danced in pairs (either 2 women or a man and a woman). The dance is executed in a series of 4 coplas (poetic compositions, in verse, used as lyrics) each of which has a different choreography.
We only danced the first 2 parts - maybe 3 and 4 at a later date ...... ?
The sevillana is danced at fiestas, weddings, family parties where everyone joins in. It's something they have grown up with and learnt simply because they're surrounded by it. It seems everybody knows how to dance the sevillana and children are encouraged from a very young age - they are passionate about the Sevillana - a clue perhaps as to why us Brits found it the challenge we did ??