22/06/18 – 23/06/18 Cadiz
Do we, dont we was pretty much how the conversation went for a couple of days before we eventually said we do. (Visit Cadiz that is) and we are so glad we did.
Having read about it, it was often compared as a smaller, more tame Seville or Granada, and having been to Granada recently and being en-route to Seville we very nearly gave it a miss.
The drive into the old town was pretty uninspiring, and I remember saying to Lorraine, if this is anything to go by, then we wont be here for very long. We knew we could park in the port for a few euros, so we headed there half expecting to be back within the hour.
The old town itself is relatively small and easy to navigate. Tall old buildings with narrow cobbled streets (just about wide enough to get a car down but certainly not big enough for a Moho) are arranged in grid patterns to the west end of the peninsula. It felt very different to other parts of Spain we had visited and you could certainly feel the influence of north Africa as we occasionally caught a glimpse through one of the townhouse entrances through to what looked like riad-style courtyards behind.
Cadiz is famous for its watchtowers (Or so we discovered when we arrived) and at one time there were nearly 140 of them, perched on top of rich merchants grand houses to keep tabs on the traffic in and our of the port. The tallest, the Tavira Tower stand 43m above the town.
There were loads of small cafes, bars and restaurants and I’m sure you could spend a week or so getting to know the best of them – we even saw an imaginative gelateria from a VW Camper in an open garage space.
Heading towards the centre of the town, the old market was just packing away for the day as we arrived but there was a nice atmosphere with people drinking in the bars either side of the square. We then followed the narrow streets, eventually arriving at the town cathedral.
We spent the evening sitting enjoying a beer overlooking the Plaza de San Juan de Dios before taking a slow walk back to the Moho, not before stopping at the trendy looking FritYes to grab some Belgian style fries with curry ketchup.
The only downer on the visit was that the port carpark was quite close to a nightclub that pumped out load music until daylight. I’m a pretty heavy sleeper, so it didn’t bother me too much, but Lorraine had to reach for the earplugs at one point.
Another thing that drove us crazy was the local brass band practising “hear comes the bride” between other out of tune songs on rotation for at least 2 hours – at least that was at a civilised hour!
I would say, if you’ve already done Seville, or looking for a more intimate, laid back 24 hour break, Cadiz has it own unique vibe and is definitely worth a visit.
