A Day out in Jerez

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There was another four day weekend coming up, during which ESN was running a trip to Morocco, however none of us applied for this trip, so instead wanted to organise our own little trip out of Cádiz. After much debate we settled on having a day trip to Jerez, as most of us still hadn’t visited despite it being only 40 minutes away on the train. Kath, who had been before, told us that there wasn’t too much to do there so we would only really need a day, so we decided to meet at the train station in Cádiz at 11. 00 a. m. to catch the 11. 10 a. m. train. The trains to Jerez ran hourly for most of the day, so it would be easy to get there. We each purchased return tickets for around €7 each and passed through the barriers and onto the train. The self service machines in the station were far easier than queuing up at the ticket office, and avoided any miscommunications.

Once on board the train it was an easy forty minute journey through the countryside until we reached Jerez station. The trains were clean and seemingly well maintained unlike some of the trains that operate on the train lines at home, a security guard stalked up and down the carriages, our tickets weren’t checked but there were electronic barriers at either end of our journey, so fare-dodging wasn’t really an option. After leaving the station we headed out into the old part of Jerez, we were in search of the Christmas Markets that Kath had seen advertised. Jana and Alice had visited it before, so they knew vaguely which direction to head in, so we all headed off after them in search of some elusive Christmas cheer.

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Unfortunately for us, the Christmas Markets that we had seen advertised were in fact just a couple of huts that were occupied by stalls, most of which were selling items for nativity scenes, which was all very nice but not quite the Christmas market that we had been hoping for. We then decided that we should make the most of a bad situation and check out the other attraction that we were interested in; the shopping centre. So Kuba dropped into the tourist office and picked up some maps so that we could walk over to it, as none of us fancied trying to work out which bus to catch, and we wanted to see more of Jerez whilst we were there. So we headed off in the direction of the shopping centre, via some of the landmarks on the map, mainly churches. One of the highlights of this walk was the cathedral, which was stunning, we picked some of the oranges from the trees that lined the streets, but they weren’t really for eating I don’t think! The walk was really nice through the antiquated and charming streets of Jerez, there was an incredible number of churches and we luckily managed not to get lost. We also passed the zoo, and after deciding that it wasn’t somewhere that we needed to visit we headed on past the Hospital after which we could see the shopping centre, which was huge compared to anything in Cádiz.

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We headed down the hill towards it and decided not to head over to the Ikea side, instead focusing on the building with lots of shops (including H&M and Primark! ), the entrance was flanked by food stores so we decided to stop for some lunch at 100 montaditos. It was my first time eating there, I have always intended to, it must be good as the one in Cádiz is always busy and I wasn’t wrong, it was good food and there was a huge choice. Kuba decided as he was the only male he would head off on his own rather than follow us ladies around the shops (who can blame him! ). After lunch, our first stop was H&M, where we spent a good deal of time, as it was quite a large store, before we headed on to Primark in search of Christmas jumpers and onesies. It was nice to see that the shopping centre was appropriately decorated for Christmas which raised my spirits immeasurably. We didn’t buy too much as we would be headed home for Christmas the following weekend, so there didn’t seem much point, we would certainly be back again in the new year. The shopping centre was large and modern, with a wide range of shops for everyone and an arcade and bowling alley, not forgetting the food court. So it was an easy way to pass a couple of hours, I only wish I had known of its existence when I arrived, it would have been a great place to visit to buy some essentials such as bed linen and towels, which were all available from Primark at much lower prices that I could find them in Cádiz. The familiar clothes shops were a godsend too.

Kuba met us outside the front of the complex and we decided to get a taxi back to the train station rather than walk back, they were cheap at only €9 which split between us was as cheap as the bus. We arrived at the train station with 15 minutes to spare before the train so we bought some drinks before heading onto the platform to catch the train back to Cádiz.

I’m sure there is a lot more to see and do in Jerez, such as the wineries and the horses, however that wasn’t what the aim of the day was, so we will be back again this semester to check out some of the other things that Jerez has to offer, especially as getting there is so easy.

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