Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/80542
crossing plazas lined with little restau- rants and bars and wondering why every- thing is closed. (We've yet to figure out the patterns of Spanish eating – but more on that later). Leaving behind the fragmented stone wall of the medieval city, we pass into Barrio Bajo (Low Neighbourhood). Here the buildings, appointed with Victorian fl ourishes such as decorative plaster trim, depart from the earlier, more severe Span- ish style. The flat stretch leading to the beach, farther along, was rebuilt with low, boxy buildings in the 1950s, when the modern concept of the Spanish beach hol- iday was born. A short distance to the north, there is a burst of antique character in the port district, the Bajo de Guía, where a former ice warehouse is now a museum and other historic buildings house seafood restaurants. We pass a 15th-century fortress, a duke's palace and several historic churches as we make our way down to La Calzada beach, where we retreat into the blessed shade of a cabana bar to soak up views of the sea and Doñana National Park. The park, on the northern shore of the Guadalquivir, where the river empties into the Atlantic, harbours flamingos and endangered Iberian lynxes. Lounging among the crowds of locals by the seaside, we feel we've taken our first step toward living like Spaniards. BESIDES SEAFOOD, SANLÚCAR'S SPECIALTY IS manzanilla, a variant of dry fino sherry made from locally grown white Palomino grapes. The looming white-plaster bodegas, or warehouses, that produce the beverage are so numerous as to be the city's most dis- tinctive architectural feature – with the largest taking up an entire city block. The buildings are situated on rises or along windy corridors to catch the salty sea breezes that give manzanilla its distinctive tang as it ages. About halfway through our stay, in a lit- tle bar on Don Román street, we notice the bartender pouring manzanilla between two oak barrels. He tells us that one always mixes a little from the previous vintage to keep the fl avour consistent from year to year. I ask for a glass of La Cigarrera brand. They have it, says the bartender, but there is none in the fridge. "That's okay, I'll drink it as it is," I say. "Very good," says the bartender, nod- ding, pouring me a glass straight from the 40 WESTWORLD >> SEPTEMBER 2012