The moment I arrived in El Puerto de Santa Maria on the ferry from Cadiz, I wanted to leave.
It seemed unloved and faded; a number of roads seem to have been dug up and left barricaded (no-one was working on them), many restaurants had shut up shop, boats were sinking slowly... it just felt a bit like a ghost town.
It was too late to change plans and go elsewhere on my first evening so I stayed the night in my sad, neglected hotel and then had an idea.
Maybe "sherry goggles" would work their magic? El Puerto (as I shall henceforth call it) was part of the "sherry triangle" (along with neighbouring Jerez and Sanlúcar), the one and only area of sherry production in the world, and was the port through which all sherry was exported.
Maybe I would feel more positive after a few glasses?
There are several bodegas in the town, including Osborne's which I visited the following morning.
Osborne's was a five star experience in a one star town.
They have clearly invested a great deal of time and money in their bodega, shop and excellent restaurant (which I later dined at). Oh, and sherry making which they have been doing since 1772. One of the oldest bottles is shown below in their library.
It was an Englishman (Thomas Osborne Mann) who founded the bodega and the firm has remained in the hands of the same family for over seven generations - clearly very good hands.
I am grateful to them for cheering me up on that first morning with a good experience and excellent sherry. I began to see the place in a more positive light.
This also seemed to rub off on some local fisherman who looked really miserable until they saw me with my camera.
Everything began to look a bit better.
One side of the estuary was quite industrial, but a walk over the bridge afforded much better views back across to the town.
It is incredible to think that this port town was where Christopher Columbus first set sail for the Americas, and where the first world map to include the coast of the Americas was created.
And I think the town would have been much nicer in those days , with its attractive medieval castle/fortified church at its centre.
The priory church would have been under construction at that time, as it was for about 200 years, so there are different styles as various parts have been added.
But there would have been no sherry, and no bullring (below), which was not constructed until about 200 years later. Capable of seating just over 12.000 spectators, it is one of Spain's largest.
The centre of the old town has many attractive buildings, many with central courtyards as shown in the third photo below.
I concluded my first full day in El Puerto with a somewhat tortuous walk to one of the beaches in order to admire the sunset.
I had already planned to visit Jerez the following day, which I will cover in my next post, but my curiosity was piqued by the lighthouse and marina in the distance.
I made a mental note to find out how to get to it, and started the long walk back to my hotel.
It had been an unexpectedly good day.
