The best part of this city has to be the Old Town that was contained by ancient walls, most that still remain today. The streets wind in a maze in an effort to throw off invaders in the old days. It still throws off the tourists too. You would not think it easy to get lost inside this city, but you sure can. The main attraction in town has to be the baroque Cadiz Cathedral, housing jewels and treasures from the New World. We would see some of these treasures later this afternoon, displayed in a most unusual way.
This has to be one of the best cities to tour on foot, although, there are taxis you can take for 45 euro for an hour. Or the Ho-Ho bus that circles the peninsula for much cheaper. No need for a taxi when the center of town is a mere 300 meters from the ship.
Shopping can be fun here if you are in the market for leather goods, lace, fans, soccer outfits, and guitar music. Lladro, olive oil, sherry wine, and cork items are numerous, as well as shawls and pottery.
The only warning we got was to watch for pick-pockets, or ladies handing you roses. This has happened in several of our previous ports, and we said no thanks…we are allergic. If you accept the rose, they will demand money. Also, today was Holy Saturday in the Catholic religion, so some places such as churches might be closed.
Then there were ship tours, many that we have taken on past visits. One of the best tours was to the Andalusian Horse facility, out of town. However, it was not offered. Actually there were 8 excursions from 2 ½ to 8 hours for $75 to $220. Four of them were in and around Cadiz, while the others took you out of town. Two of these out-of-towners went to Seville, 81 miles from the ship. Some took the folks to Jerez de la Frontera, a 28 mile drive one way. That was a fun tour, since it stopped at Tio Pepe and the sherry factory.
By the way, there were two other cruise ships docked here…..the Silver Spirit, built in 2009 at 36,009 gross tons. She holds up to 608 very spoiled passengers. We know, because we sailed on one of their lovely ships several years ago. Then there was Mein Schiff 2, actually the former Celebrity's Mercury, which we also sailed on several times. It was turned over to Tui Cruises, a European based company in 2011. The ship is 77,713 gross tons, and holds up to 2681 mostly German-speaking families. Then there was a river boat named Labelle de Cadix from Croisi Europe Cruises. Also in the drydock area of the port, we saw what resembled an older Royal Caribbean ship, with the Tui symbol being put on their funnels, we assume.
Our plan for the day was to leave the ship for a long walk through the Old Town. Being that the ship was delayed 1 ½ hours in docking, Captain Jonathon announced that were staying in port one hour later, with all aboard at 6:30pm and a sail away about 7pm. That was good news. So we took off well after all the tour buses were loaded and gone on their merry ways.
We made our way to the Cadiz Cathedral through the Main Square and past Town Hall. Many folks were sipping hot coffees and sampling pastries at one of the many sidewalk cafes in this square. In front of the church and surrounding streets, we spotted grand stands and areas with folding chairs used for the Procession that takes place this time of year….Easter Week. We had heard during Barbara H's talk that this parade would take place around 3pm today, so we gauged our walk and lunch in hopes of seeing it.
Continuing past the cathedral, we made our way to the Atlantic Ocean and the Old Town wall where views of the beaches and boats were spectacular. The fun part about walking this wall is seeing the feral cat population on the lower rocks below near the water. Sort of remember being told that these cats are neutered before being released. They are the perfect control for rodents, however there is evidence with the bowls and scraps, the locals keep them well-fed and watered.
Seemed like we walked a mile or more before we reached Playa La Caleta, the old Phoenician Port, and the seaside spa called La Palma Spa. In its heyday, it must have been THE place to go in Cadiz. A bit further up the road, we came upon the Castillo de Santa Catalina, built in the 13th century, which houses historical exhibits about Cadiz. Last year, there was a display of photos of the refugees that had come here from Syria. We were surprised to see all of that collection was completely removed from the museum. One nice thing about this complex, is that there are public restrooms that are clean and free.
One of the nicest parts of the town has to be the Parque Genoves, the largest park in Cadiz. In the 18th century, it was called the Parsley Garden, with no vegetation. Eventually trees were planted, and in 1892, it became the French-style garden we see today. There are fountains, and a pond with ducks, gazebos where people dance, and even a pigeon coup where a local Cadiz man keeps his racing birds. A few years ago, we happened to meet him, while he tended his flock of racers. Since we have done this in the past, we had a nice conversation with him. Seems he has won many prizes with his birds, and was terribly proud of it. Being that this weekend is a holiday, he was not there today.
We continued past the Candelaria Bastion, another fort from the old days. Next to the fort was Alameda Apadaca, a strip of green gardens with busts and statues of the famous people of Cadiz's past. There were two mighty huge ficus trees planted there that must have been 200 years old. Once again, there were rows of benches to sit near the decorative fountains where you can watch locals walking their many dogs and kids.
We took a short cut to the Plaza de Espana, an impressive monument dedicated to the 1812 signing of the first constitution of Spain. The statue we see today was built in 1912, and its nickname is "La Pepa", because it was dedicated on March 19th on Saint Joseph's Day.
Following a map we had purchased at the info stand for one euro, we went up streets that we knew would lead us to Rosario Street and the Osare Pizzeria, a small café where we have enjoyed great pizza for the last couple of years. Having kept the directions from last year helped, and we were quite pleased that we found it. Even more important, it was opened for business after 1pm. We were afraid they may be closed for the holiday weekend. Since they also do delivery, their wood-fired oven was already being used. We were in "pizza heaven" after having one margarita and one mushroom and ham pizza. With two pint beers, and one shared dessert of vanilla and chocolate biscuit slices drizzled with chocolate sauce, we were very happy campers. Only the locals came in here, so it was great to be off of the beaten track. It was a nice thing that we discovered this small pizzeria by accident a few years ago (with the help of the local info gal), and even nicer that it was still here.
It was 2pm by now, so we needed to keep exploring. Going uphill on Rubio Y Diaz, we found the busy Plaza de Candaleria, where many people were dining at outside café tables. There were a bunch of street vendors in and around the Tavira Tower, a watchtower of the port in the 18th century. On the top, you have a 360 degree view of the peninsula and surrounding seas.
Right near this is the Mercado Central, the oldest covered market in Spain. We always like to take photos of the fish and veggie stands, although by this time of the day, the bulk of it had been sold. Lining this market, was a row of cafes, full to the brim with lunch customers. Thinking a treat of gelato ice cream cones might be a good idea, we failed to find any cafes with it. So we settled for going into a bakery that sold fresh almond butter cookies….large ones. We used up some of our loose euro change, and got 9 of them. The vendor wrapped them with fancy bakery paper and tied the package with blue ribbon. At least we would not get hungry on the way back to the ship, ha-ha……we only ate three of them.
Thinking that the special procession was not happening today, we made our way back to the Cadiz Cathedral. Running into George Geary and some friends, they told us it was going to start at 3:30pm. Local workers were setting up the chairs and blocking the main street with barricades. So we hung around by going back up to the sea wall behind the church to take some photos up the coast to the new part of the city and a string of hotels and beaches on the Atlantic Ocean.
As we wound our back through the crowd, we thought if the parade did not start soon, we would go back to the ship. Hours of photo down-loading awaited one of us. That's when we heard the ominous beating of the drums, and spotted the group of uniformed musicians marching slowly down the narrow street. We were right in the middle of the parade route. Aart, Ellen, and Barb were there on the corner, and pulled us to their side. So we stayed for an hour, filming the whole parade that included the hooded and robed brotherhoods, all donned in different colors. Following the musicians, silver banner holders came with a heavily silver-clad "coffin" of sorts with the reclining figure of Christ. Only this time, the coffin was not on the shoulders of many men, but on wheels. This procession had to be the strangest experience to witness, even though we did see it many years back. Somewhere in the center of the marchers, were city officials, which we figured were the mayor, and the heads of their armed services and police department. When we have the time, we will do some research on this practice of the procession, since it is nothing we have ever seen at home being raised Catholic. Even though the parade was continuing, we had seen enough and had enough of the crowds that squeezed in around us. Some of them were from our ship, which was good, but others were not, and they got pushy and rude, as they jockeyed for a spot to take photos.
Getting back to the comfort of the ship, we worked until it was time for the sail away. Now that it was 6:30pm, we had time to make progress with reports and photos. Guess all of the sail aways are in the Crow's Nest from now on. We heard that it had not been crowded there, as it has been the start of the dinner times for most. The skies were beginning to cloud up, so it was getting cooler, although we did not see the fog forming yet. Certainly, it will be back by the early morning. We enjoyed the sail out of the harbor from the aft pool deck, visiting with Mike, who we have barely seen since the beginning of this trip. He and his wife Pauline eat early, so our paths rarely cross. He sure did have some hair-raising stories about their previous visits to Morocco. Giving us good advice, he warned us of typical scams that happen there. We shall stay vigilant like he suggested.
Dinner had prime rib on the menu, which was really tender and tasty. Visiting with our tablemates was always good, since all of us did different things today.
Good news….we got one hour back on the clock tonight, and a little extra rest to enjoy Casablanca tomorrow, as well as Easter Sunday.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS Many thanks to other Tom & benny bear for your research on the kid goat meat we saw in Barcelona. Also what to see there will be good for next time. Not sure what the raffa train is???
Docked in Cadiz, Spain
Deliveries – the last major supplies of the cruise
Terminal building in Cadiz
Buses for shore excursions
The narrow gangway
Congress Building on the left - 1741
A powerful fountain
Town Hall and San Juan de Dios Church
Silver Seas Spirit – 608 passengers
Mein Schiff 2 – a German-speaking ship – 2681 passengers
Labelle de Cadix – a riverboat from Cruisi Europe
San Juan de Dios Square
Town Hall down at the end of the square
Dancing fountains along the way
19th century Town Hall
Neoclassical architecture
The square
Heading towards the cathedral
Tinoco – a good shop for men's dress shirts
Narrow maze of streets in the Old Town
Cadiz Cathedral and Museum
Blocks of seating for the Procession
Tall towers
Balconies
Back entrance to the cathedral
View of the Atlantic Ocean
Kitty city
He doesn't look feral
Thinks he is hiding
Cement blocks protect the old wall
Avenue Campo del Sur
Low tide
Nicely-paved avenue on the wall
A local fisherman
San Sebastion Castle
Long walk to the fort
La Caleta Beach
A famous Cadiz man
Oldest beach in the city
Castillo de Santa Catalina entrance
View of a palm's shadow
Sunbathers
View of the Castle and fort
Old hospital
La Palma Spa – an iconic site
Now closed
Only a memory from the past
An access to the beach
Clean, white sands
Two huge trees
Nice walk to the next Castle
Many fishing boats stranded in low tide
Easy to access the boats now
Wide plaza up here
Santa Catalina Castle
People going to the boats
Castle entrance
The story
Santa Catalina Castle
A five-pointed star shaped castle
The chapel inside the castle courtyard
A museum in the castle
Old walls of the castle
Protection from invaders
View of San Sebastion Castle and fort
There might be a restaurant there now
View of the La Palma Spa
Walk around the castle walls
Watchtower on each point
Boats in the mud
People were fishing here
A watch tower
A lonely spot in the surf
Walking in the rocks
Art in the museum
Good use of color
Modern concepts
Lighthouse sign in tile
Condos on the water front
Street trees
Views of Cadiz Bay
Olive trees
Patio of a nice condo building
Restaurant in the condo complex
A gazebo in Parque Genoves
Teaching hip-hop dance
Redbud blossoms
