Andalucia Day 21 Cadiz
We get up at a respectable time which here in the southwest of Spain in October means well before dawn.
A brisk walk through a still sleepy El Puerto with the sun rising takes us to the catamaran to Cadiz. What a delightful means of public transport, it costs just €2.75 for the trip which takes 30 minutes. We sit outside and the air is fresh but not cold.
Once in Cadiz we get a map at the tourist office. Cadiz has had the ingenious idea of creating four routes for tourists and then tracing them in different colours on the pavements. In practice some are a little faded in places but it saves keep checking the map and the routes take you not only to the main sights of interest but also along the most attractive streets.
We start with the orange route which takes us all around the sea front and walls of the old part of Cadiz. There are little parks and squares along the way and also Parque Genovés, the botanical garden, which is very pleasant, with explanations of some of the most interesting plants, a water feature with a cave to walk through and see the waterfall from inside (nice for elderly kids like us!) and welcome benches for a rest.
Walking, walking we get to Castillo Santalina which is free and perfectly restored with the various rooms used for art exhibitions.
By now it's nearly one o'clock so we seek refuge in the cool interior of 100 montaditos for lunch.
After a mini-siesta in a shady place along the walls, more wandering. Cadiz is a lot better than we expected: tall three and four storey buildings with wrought iron balconies in narrow streets shady due to the height of the buildings but full of light due to the clear colours in which they are painted and of course to the sheer intensity of the light in Costa de la Luz.
There are lots of tourists but not so many that you can't stroll easily even on the centre streets and off the beaten track hardly anyone. We originally intend to take the five o'clock ferry but one street leads to another and interesting little shops are opening so in the end we make the 7 o'clock. The sun is preparing to set behind us on the catamaran back to El Puerto, a fantastic day.
Kilometres by car: 0
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