… to Cadiz, Spain …

… a really lovely old city, reputed to be the oldest in western Europe, originally settled by the Phoenicians about 1100 BC. Columbus sailed from Cadiz on his second voyage in 1495. We spent a wonderful sunny day in Cadiz, touring the old city and walking the beach. We walked for miles…

Our tour began with a bus ride south to the “white city” of Vejer de la Frontera, a small city with cobblestone streets and hidden patios. Andalusia has many of these towns and cities, so-called because most of the buildings are painted white, and they stand out from quite a distance away, gleaming on the hillsides. We got permission to enter a typical courtyard which opened to a second courtyard, both filled with beautiful flowers. Steep stone steps at the end of this courtyard led to the ancient Roman city wall, and a beautiful panoramic view of the city below.

   

We explored Vejer and its many monuments and churches, walking on the cobblestone streets, hand-made of river rocks. The patterns used were fantastic.

 

We then went by bus along the scenic Atlantic route, passing through parts of the La Brena Nature Park. We saw nesting storks and flamingos in the salt water marshes along the road. There are 32,000 pairs of storks near Cadiz, the most storks anywhere except for Poland. The Park is primarily forested with umbrella pines, the trees from which pine nuts are collected. In the photo on the right, below, there is actually a stork gliding high up in the sky near a nest on top of a tall pole. We saw several storks, which don’t fly but only ride thermals, near these nests. They are a protected species.

 

We stopped for photos at the Trafalgar Cape lighthouse near where the famous Battle of Trafalgar took place in 1805. The Franco-Spanish troops fought the British under Lord Nelson; the British ultimately won. There’s a lighthouse in this photo if you look very closely…

Our next stop was the town of Conil de la Frontera – a city between pine forests and the sea. The influence of the Arabs who ruled the city at one time are everywhere in the design of the buildings. Conil has lovely plazas and beaches, which attract wind-surfers – like Coronado! After a short stop for exploring, we drove through the town of Barbate and stopped for a quick look across the ocean toward Africa. We could make out the dim outline of the faraway shore; on a really clear day, Gibralter is visible from Barbate.

We went back to Cadiz and walked around the town, exploring the shops and admiring the narrow winding streets and many towers. Cadiz is known for three things: its watch and fire towers, the abandoned cannons of Napoleon which have been put to use to protect the corners of buildings at intersections, and its bulidings made from oysterstone. Looking closely, you can see the clear outlines of the oyster shells in the building blocks. Cadiz also has beautiful beaches, and we walked the beach, looking for shells and beach glass with some success. We finished the afternoon with a snack at a café overlooking the beach.

 

Definitely a wonderful place to spend much more time, with so many things to explore in the area, including a cave with ancient paintings, Andalusian horse farms, bulls which are bred for the ring, and even Roman ruins. Cadiz has the ruins of a very large Roman theater right in the heart of the city. There is also a wonderful museum which includes Phoenician artifacts. Cadiz made it onto our list of places we definitely want to revisit.