Our traditional and delicious Christmas sweets, polvorones and mantecados, are originally from Estepa or Antequera, the most important Andalusian towns in production of these sweets. It is said that in the 16th century there was an excess of wheat and lard at the beginning of the winter season and so the nuns started to sell them in their convents. Nowadays these goodies are famous all … Continue reading Christmas sweets: mantecados and polvorones
Last week I was invited to the Fam Trip “Siente Lebrija. Descubrir un Destino” (Feel Lebrija. Discovering a destination). The city hall is making every effort to promote this small town, completely off the beaten path, as a tourist destination because Lebrija has many charms to offer to visitors, specially its gastronomy. Let’s start with the two elements mentioned in the title of this post. … Continue reading Lebrija, more than bread and wine
“En un lugar de La Mancha…” (Somewhere in La Mancha) are the first words of the worldwide famous novel “Don Quijote” by Miguel de Cervantes. It took me almost a year to read it and I thought it was the best novel I’ve ever read and probably the best book. Here I bring a synopsis of its content: “The story follows the adventures of a … Continue reading En un lugar de La Mancha…
I have the memory of my mother doing laundry in the rooftop of our building while she was singing. Sometimes I was taking care of my neighbor’s kid from upstairs while she was hanging the clothes on the lines. Another neighbor would appear to put her clothes to dry as well and my mother and she would start long conversations about their daily lives. When … Continue reading Laundry
These days we are celebrating the Seville April Fair or Feria de Sevilla, which is one of the most important celebrations in the city. A big area in the neighborhood of Los Remedios is covered by hundreds of casetas, temporal decorated tents, where people dance sevillanas, drink wine and have fun with family and friends. Most of the women wear their flamenco dress and flowers … Continue reading Say yes to the flamenca dress!
When talking about Montilla-Moriles wines from the province of Cordoba, people usually compare them with sherry wines, because they have some things in common, but I think it is a mistake. I am not a wine expert or sommelier, I am just talking from the point of view of a simple wine drinker. The Sherry D.O. is more popular than Montilla-Moriles D.O. and much more … Continue reading Montilla-Moriles wines are unique wines
Aracena is one of my most visited places in Andalusia. It is the name of the mountainous northern region in the province of Huelva and also the name of the largest town in the area. I have been visiting the town of Aracena since I was very young. In primary school my first excursion was to La Gruta de las Maravillas (The Cave of Wonders) … Continue reading The region of Aracena: magic and mysticism over acorns
Today, 4th of December, is the non official Day of Andalusia (I already explained why this date is so important in our history here), so this year I want to celebrate it with a little bit of fun… with Andalusian flags! In Sheldon Cooper style: The Andalusian flag is green, white and green. Colors that appear in a lot of Mediterranean countries, specially those with … Continue reading Fun with Andalusian Flags!
Yesterday I uploaded the next video on my facebook page and I thought it could be a good idea to upload it also here on my blog just in case not all of you follow me on facebook. The thing is that my aunt Carmelita goes to the cemetery quite often to clean the grave of my grandfather. For her, it is obligatory to go … Continue reading 1st of November, All Saints Day
Vejer de la Frontera is a hilltop town in the province of Cadiz, close to the Strait of Gibraltar, around 200 metres above sea level. The old part is very well conserved and it contains a lot of ancient churches and convents within a labyrinth of white-washed houses, narrow winding streets and stone pavement. Vejer was used as a defensive town for centuries and its … Continue reading Vejer de la Frontera, a town frozen in time
