Cadiz

Cadiz, Spain

Cadiz is one of Europe's oldest cities and a Port we have not been to before. Cadiz is blessed with architectural delights perched on picturesque cobbled streets. The Old Town which is very close to the dock and is very easy to walk around as there are a series of walking maps which you follow from a coloured line painted on the pathways. There are 4 walking routes... green, purple, yellow and blue. We did the yellow which took around 1.5 hours and part of the purple which takes around 1 hour in entirety.

We were in no rush to get off the ship as our plan was to have a leisurely day walking the streets. The ship was tired up by 8.30 and we were off the ship by 9.30 however we discovered the very fast internet in the terminal so we sat there for an hour catching up on emails, Facebook and skyping the grandies.

First off we followed the yellow route which took us around the perimeter of the Old Town and around the beautiful sandy beaches which were well utilised as it is the summer holiday season and school holidays.

We veered from the yellow line to go to the main market but as it was after midday a lot of the stalls were closing down but the array of food in the stalls that were still open was amazing and made me think how limited our offerings are at home. We did however make use of the public conveniences which were clean and free.

Onwards to the Cathedral where we joined a short line to pay our entry. We followed the followed the audio guided tour of the interior and after we climbed to the top of the left bell tower to checkout the views over the town and beaches.

We then switched to the purple line and meandered our way through the main part of the town until we found a cafe with filled with locals. Unfortunately we bombed out with both of our preferred choices.... paella and Sangria and ended up with a refreshing shandy and a not so nice spicy sliced half cooked slimey octopus tentacles! Oh well live and learn!

After our lunch break we kept exploring the narrow cobblestone streets which were somewhat deserted as it was siesta time! We eventually made our way back to the ship for a 6pm sailaway and our usual debrief with our friends.

Another successful and enjoyable day on shore with perfect summer weather.

Next port is Lisbon tomorrow.... then two sea days to rest!!

Life is good!!