Cadiz

We arrived in the Spanish port of Cadiz overnight – waking up to sunshine, and the sounds of the busy port around us. After a quick breakfast we set off on foot across the old part of the city – exploring endless narrow streets and squares along the way.

The cathedral was spectacular – but also much newer than you might think – commissioned in the 1720s, and finished just over a hundred years later. It’s mostly built of rough sandstone blocks, finished with a skin of mouldings (many of which seem to be disintegrating inside – hence why the roof is covered in netting everywhere – to catch the falling plaster.

The climb up the bell tower wasn’t too difficult at all – although a German tourist ahead of us seemed to be making very heavy weather of it. The views from the top were definitely worth it though.

We stopped in the square in front of the cathedral for a drink before heading off across the city. Along the way we wrote postcards, posted them, and I stopped at just about every sculpture, statue, or art installation to take photos. Kind of my thing.

At lunchtime we stopped at an eclectic little cafe where nobody spoke any English, and somehow muddled through – sprinkling our awful pronunciation of menu items with “por favour” and “gracias”.

Later we discovered the market in the middle of the city, where all of the tapas bars were hiding. The market was a chaotic mixture of fruit, vegetables, olives, meat, and every type of fish you could imagine – including an enormous blue shark on one of the stalls.

Later in the afternoon we set off across the city towards the Parque Genoves – a wonderful network of footpaths through olive and fruit trees bordering the ocean. We found a small bar within the gardens and stopped for “dos cerevesas” (two beers) before making our way back to the ship.

Among the trees we spotted a butterfly sharing the sap from a tree with a number of beetles…

So. You find us back at the ship right now – dressed up with nowhere to go. We were supposed to be doing a photo-shoot on the decks at 6pm – organised with the ship’s photographer – but the blazing sun has caused a reshedule for an hour or so – to avoid too many squinting frowns.

Here’s one last picture – spotted while wandering along one of the back-streets – a quite wonderful collection of 1950s commercial advertisements for Cadiz:

Oh – I nearly forgot – while exploring the streets, we also (after several tries) found the old roman amphitheater – hidden between the buildings, and part of a major restoration project:

Much of the original theatre is now buried beneath the city, but perhaps two thirds of the seating area remains. Unfortunately you’re not allowed near it at the moment due to the restoration project.

Anyway. Time is marching on.

I suspect we may cave in a minute and go for a drink ahead of the photos.