The City of Cadiz

11th January 2018 – 18th January 2018

We again were recommended to the Spanish town of Conil by Ray and Marge who we met in Lagos and friends of Steve and Margaret. We decided to settle down for a week, hire a car and visit Cadiz which has been on my bucket list since Rick Stein went there on his BBC series Long Weekends. We hired a car from the site where we were staying, a huge old Mercedes with over 325,000 km on the clock. When we signed the paperwork it stipulated no pets allowed in the car, David and I looked at each other as he signed the paperwork and walked out. As a result, as we drove in and out of the site in the Merc I sat in the back, felt like ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ hiding Chloe under a blanket. That was the whole point of the car, so we could get around with our dog, the car was about 25 years old ! Every time we got back into the beast I couldn’t stop laughing, cruising along in this massive chunk of metal.

We had the car for 2 days and travelled around the area to Vejer de la Frontera a beautiful Spanish town with winding cobbled streets and a fantastic square with the most beautiful fountain taking centre stage. Barbate, with a beach as far as the eye could see and the best Paella so far. Cape Trafalgar, where Nelson was killed in the great battle between the English, Spanish & French and it’s stunning surf beaches and to the City of Cadiz. Trying to park the huge monster in the tight underground car park was not easy and poor David was shunting it backwards and forwards for ages. Luckily he is a patient man. When we finally parked it, we realised we couldn’t get the dog out !

We loved Cadiz, it had a great vibe to it. Now, you all know we love a fish market and as we had Chloe with us, we had to visit the daily market separately. It is by far the best fish market we have ever been to and we have been to afew. I would have so loved for my Dad to be walking around with me as he would have loved it more than us. I wonder if the Spanish take it for granted the amazing market they have on their doorstep. There was also a fruit and veg stall that you had to get a ticket for and wait to be served. Where, if ever, have you had to do this in the UK ? It is such a shame that most fruit and vegetables we buy in the UK are wrapped in plastic. We spent the whole day in Cadiz, leisurely taking in the whole city. Exploring the narrow winding streets connecting to the wide plazas. We also walked through the parks and were in awe of the giant trees supposedly brought to Spain by Columbus from the New World. We stopped for lunch overlooking the beach with a glass of wine and thought, how very, very lucky we are.