Sanlucar to Costa Ballena

Tuesday 1st December.
Sanlucar to Costa Ballena
Having failed to get a tour of Senor Hidalgo’s sherry house (due to our mate Nyge failing to come out here with a party to ensure there were 6 of us – the minimum for a guided tour) we took ourselves up to the ‘old castle’ and to Senor Barbadillo’s sherry house where for 6 euros we had a personal guided tour (in English) which lasted one and a half hours and after which we drank our weight in Manzanilla, Cream and even shared a glass of VORS – which means that it is more than 30 years old. It was absolutely fascinating and there was so much information given that we need to go again to really take it all in.
After that we needed to walk about a bit as we were both feeling a little light headed and didn’t fancy the ride out of town and on to Ballena with Spanish drivers being what they are – not fair, they are actually very cycle friendly. Half way along we stopped at a roadside bar for refreshment, it was the sort of place you would not enter in England, the noise for a start would make you think that the Spanish Inquisition was extracting teeth from some unfortunate soul. But in fact they were all just having lunch and soon returned to work, they seem to drink red wine mixed with either lemonade or sparkling water – presumably it keeps them sober!
Costa Ballena is the most extraordinary place in the winter. There are very smart houses and flats surrounding a rather good golf course. A great many are for sale and every shop is closed including the supermarket. We cannot find anything as basic as a launderette. Our hotel only has a few Spaniards staying and a lot of very bored staff. However, it is right on the beach with some marvelous reed beds full of little un-identifiable birds and an excellent bike route all around it so it is a good base for this area.