Cadiz
To those that haven’t been there it is almost impossible to
describe the geography and the beauty of this ancient and historically
important city. There are actually three
cities that surround the Bahia de Cadiz or Bay of Cadiz. These cities are San Fernando, Puerto Real
and Cadiz which together have a population of around 400,000 with Cadiz
accounting for about 160,000 of this.
Cadiz itself is a hexagonal shaped end of a peninsula which
forms part of the natural harbor of the Bay of Cadiz. Cadiz consists of two parts, the old city
which is called Cadiz and a peninsula formed from reclaimed land known as
Puerta Tierra which is the isthmus which joins Cadiz to the mainland. Because Cadiz is open to the Atlantic on two
sides and the African desert breezes from the other two sides it is normally
very windy in this city yet the two winds tend to mitigate each other so the
climate tends to be very moderate.
It was very windy when we arrived, of course and we checked
into the Hotel Monte Puertatierra just a
few blocks from the old city gate. The
hotel was relatively inexpensive but with surprisingly spacious rooms, clean, comfortable
and quiet even though the hotel was located on Avenida Andalucia, the main
street through Puerta Tierra. A basement
breakfast room featured the best breakfasts we have experienced in Spain (worth
the extra 9 euros or so). WIFI was free
and there is a computer and printer in the lobby for guests that need to print anything,
which we did. Plenty of English was
spoken at the front desk so checking in and asking questions were a breeze.
Our first afternoon in Cadiz started with, a drink and tapas
at the nearest café along the Atlantic coast, what else? The wind nearly blew us out of the café after
about an hour so we strolled up to the city gates (about a mile) for a peak but
returned to our hotel for an early dinner, showers and bed after the several
hour bus trip from Malaga. We enjoyed
dinner in the restaurant attached to the hotel that evening, enough to return
several times during our visit, and plotted our explorations to begin in the
morning.
We awoke to a beautiful sunny, breezy spring day and after
discovering the incredible breakfast bar in the basement we set off for what we
were already starting to call our “epic walk” (first walk in a new city which
consists of walking around the entire circumference or old city walls). This is easier said than done in Cadiz
because the walk around the outside of the city contains many distractions like
fortresses, batteries, cathedrals and parks in addition to being several miles
long (7 to 9 as best we could figure).
Starting at the old city gates we angled to the left, toward
the Atlantic Ocean and after stopping briefly at the cathedral (closed at this
time of day) we reached the boardwalk, Campo del Sur, after a few minutes. We walked the boardwalk until we came to an
additional, tiny isthmus that led to the Castillo San Sebastian which is a
fortress that sits far out into the entrance of the Bay of Cadiz. We walked this isthmus in the hopes that we
would be able to explore the Castle but, unfortunately, it was closed to the
public for reasons our poor Spanish did not allow us to understand.
Just before noon, time for a frosty beverage and a pit stop
so we turned inland until we found a charming little sidewalk café where we had
a beer and a glass of wine with a tapa.
Tapa may be the wrong word for the small plate of olives and pickled
onions that were given to us but they hit the spot anyway.
Onward we walked along the impressive old city walls facing
the entrance to the bay until we reached the Castillo de la Santa Catalina
which is located on another point of this hexagonal shaped old city. After climbing all over this small fortress
we were thirsty again and stopped this time in the Parque Genoves for
additional refreshments and where we met and chatted with a lovely couple from
the US whose cruise ship was in port for the day. The park was in full bloom on this warm spring
day and children were playing while the locals sat in the shade with their
refrescos (drinks of any kind, normally cold).
We continued our walk and turned the next corner upon which
is located the gun battery at Punta Candelaria.
Just past these vertical walls dropping into the ocean we found a
beautiful, tree lined pedestrian avenue called Alameda de Marquis de Comillas. This is one of the most beautiful roads we
have seen up to now (second only to the Carrera del Darro in Granada). We were really enjoying this!
By now it was approaching 3 pm and we were once again in
need of refreshment, perhaps more in need of a “servicio” (bathroom) and after
admiring the Monumento a las Cortes and the Plaza de Espana (just about every
city in Spain has one of these) and passing the port we turned inland and found
the lovely Plaza San Juan de Dios where we had our choice of sidewalk
cafes. Have to admit that we stayed for
more than one refresco at this friendly place while we rested and people
watched.
A couple of miles later we were back at our hotel for a
quick siesta before dinner. We were
finding that we were enjoying lingering over coffee, a refresco or dinner and
we went to bed after our first full day in Cadiz exhausted physically yet
surprisingly refreshed mentally.
