El Puerto & Cadiz

Fri 5^th

Cold overnight so heating on for a bit in the morning, this seems to be how it is this far south over the winter months. No complaints from us when it still nice and sunny during the days J

We walked to the ferry terminal and caught the 10.45am to Cadiz.  They are constructing a new road bridge that is a real feat of engineering to look at. There is still a visible gap in the middle!

ferry leaving El Puerto

bridge not quite finished

The ferry trip was good and we were soon walking into the main square in Cadiz. First impressions were of a very elegant city with lots going on. They were finishing erecting the Christmas lights as we had hot chocolate and churros sat at a café. The old part of the city was a maze of narrow streets, the peninsula that it is built on is only 1800 x 1200m so quite a compact place. Cadiz is the oldest city in Europe and was founded by the Phoenicians in approx. 800BC. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1775 then rebuilt, so most of the buildings are renaissance or gothic style.

Cadiz - very elegant square

tiles missing some gold on Cathedral roof

The gold tiles on top of the impressive Cathedral have rather lost their lustre as many of them are missing the gold!

arty shot of old fortress

seagull sentry

We walked around the sea wall and visited the Castillo de Santa Catalina (fort) which is half a star in shape.  Very interesting and steeped in history that you can see – lots of additions over hundreds of years from when it was built in 1596 when Cadiz was ransacked and still in pretty good shape.

Cadiz theatre - lovely brick built

We then stumbled upon the central Mercado – full of local produce and rows of fish stalls. Tina was in heaven studying all the different types of fish and seafood. We had  2 tapas and sat amongst all the locals who were enjoying their lunchtime snacks and beers on the first day of a bank holiday weekend. Great atmosphere.

yum yum

We tried 2 backstreet ferreterias for a new key – same story “especial”

We returned with tired feet from all the walking about but it was well worth it to see Cadiz.

Sat 6^th

Another cloudless day so bikes out after we had walked into town to get some milk and wine! We cycled along the coast north from the campsite on a cycle path that was very good until it abruptly ended. Oh dear, yet more evidence of money drying up? It had brought us to the outskirts of Puerto Sherry, a modern yacht marina development with adjacent posh hotels. Lots of expensive cars parked up and lots of even more expensive boats moored in the harbour. However there were also quite a few incomplete apartment blocks that really did look ugly. More evidence of the recession or illegal buildings / corruption? Spain is littered with incomplete buildings, from the north to the south.

Copy of Santa Maria?

Puerto Sherry - incomplete buildings.......

In the evening went to the site bar for a drink and appetizer before diner. We ordered cuttlefish, which was delicious, a sort of meatier calamari if that makes sense? First time for us both but I have the feeling it will not be the last.

Sun 7^th

Yet another sunny, cloudless day but with a really bitter north wind, just like being at home – not really! 

Today we cycled into El Puerto to look at the centre but first we decided to go out to the end of the breakwater that is 1 mile long. As we cycled through the carpark a young local to the side of me just finished his bottle of beer, he then promptly lobbed it onto the nearby beach!  I really struggled to not shout out something but felt very saddened at what I had just witnessed. It appears that they really just do not care about their environment, as there was lots of litter (mainly bottles) lying around. However, that was nothing compared to the massive amount of glass and plastic bottles, wrappers, cans etc we could see that had been rammed into nearly every gap between the rocks that formed the breakwater wall.  Fishermen?  There were lots of them with 2 rods each, tackle boxes and seats. They seemed resigned to a day’s sport standing amidst the filth! It really was the pits. Unfortunately Spain has a significant majority who don’t give a toss about where they chuck litter, yet we have seen a huge number of bins, recycling points and lots of wheelie bins. I hope they can turn this around. Rant over. (don’t start me on the dog poo ……………….)

We then headed for the centre of town along the very pleasant estuary side path. It was busy with people walking about as it was a bank holiday weekend (feast of the immaculate conception). Eventually we found the church, which was a very low building, compared to many we have seen. The storks nesting  up top were making a right old racket as they were in courting pairs.

storks nesting on roof

bullring - 59 doors!

The bullring was huge with 59 entrance doors. It is the third biggest in Spain and can hold 15,000 spectators. Built in 1885 it still looks in very good order.

Back to the van and we put up our windbreak for the very first time. What a difference it made, we had a nice late afternoon snooze in the hot sunshine.