Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/80542
THE SEASIDE CITY OF SANLÚCAR DE Barrameda (pop. 67,000), at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Cádiz prov- ince, is popular with ocean-seeking Span- iards, but off the tourist map other wise – which is exactly why we chose it for our cultural immersion. And the culture is ancient: the Moors had a fort in Sanlúcar in 1000 AD. In the age of Spanish exploration, the city was an important port. Columbus set sail from Sanlúcar on his third voyage to the New World, in 1498. Through a Spanish real estate website, we've arranged a rental: a one-bedroom suite on Calle Descalzas, "Barefoot Street," in the city's oldest quarter, Barrio Alto (for around 1,000 euros). It's at the top of a hill, fi ve minutes' walk from downtown and 15 minutes from the beach. The kindly apartment owner, a dentist named Carlos from nearby Seville, meets us at our new digs around noon. (Fresh off a 12-hour flight and an hour-long bus ride, we're good and ready to settle in.) The build- ing is one of those classic white-plaster Spanish structures with a windowless wall, flush to the sidewalk, that conceals an interior courtyard. Carlos pushes open the wood-plank double doors – large enough that a horse and carriage could pass through – to reveal a hallway with a mahogany-beam ceiling and a blue-and-white tile staircase. Built in the early 1800s, this was once the summer home of a president's wife, Carlos tells us. It has since been divided into 38 WESTWORLD >> SEPTEMBER 2012 apartments, mostly occupied by locals. Though our suite has a modern sleeping loft and kitchen, it retains plenty of character, with thick stone walls, high ceilings and Moorish-style lattice window screens. In the airy courtyard outside our door, there is a massive palm tree and, we soon learn, a resi- dent chameleon. Over the weeks, we take to sipping manzanilla, the local wine, here of an evening as the cicadas hum. (clockwise from top) Plaza del Cabildo, the central square in Sanlúcar's Barrio Bajo; the city's famous horse races on the beach, which occur each August; Hidalgo bodega, which produces the popular La Gitana brand of manzanilla wine; a street market in Sanlúcar. (plaza, horse race) Alamy/All Canada Photos, (bodega) Alisa Smith, Tourism Spain