The Amarillo bus, that cost 1.5 euros from the bus station in Jerez, dropped me off at the base of the city set upon a cliff and overlooking a fruitful valley.
I walked up the city streets to the Plaza de Calbido and ate my lunch on the steps of an ancient castle, now a private residential area, with a wonderful view of the vally, the church of Santa Maria, the old castle, and the parador.
After I finished my lunch I was anxious to look inside the Parador as I had read about them before I even came to Spain. They are old private, expensive, and exclusive rich houses turned by the Spanish government into hotels of sorts where the Spanish love to retreat to for a relaxing and lavish weekend away.
This was one such Parador and as I wandered the halls surrounding a tranquil courtyard with beautifully designed walls filled with classic Spanish paintings.
I ended upon a balcony with a tinto (red wine) made here in Arcos, chilled perfectly to counteract the untimely heat from the unobstructed sunlight as I looked over a view that quite literally took my breath away.
To the left was the ruins of St. Peter's Church and far below at the base of the cliff wound the River Guadalete out of the mountains to the East and South East. Even way off in the distance to the South West I could see the windmills that mark the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
The wine was subtle, yet lingered on my tongue in a pleasant kind of way that gave me the sense that the wine had been crafted over multiple centuries here in an ancient city on a cliff where many of the old buildings span back to the 1600's or so. The taste was not fruity, but also not bitter enough to pucker my lips from.
Of course I am no expert in the tastes of wine, but to describe it best I would call it a relaxing pleasant wine for 3 O'clock in the afternoon on the patio of the parador with the cooling breeze blowing playfully around my face as I soaked up, maybe, the last of the autumn heat here in Arcos de la Frontera.
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