Cadiz, Spain

We are now in Cadiz (pronounced Cadeeth, sometimes even Ca dee) and we are breathing a sigh of relief.  Cadiz is a port city, a popular docking place for cruise liners.  It is very, very old and we are excited to explore.  But, being persons of a certain age and starting to feel it in our endurance, feet and muscles, we've decided to stay here in Cadiz by the beaches and just relax, put our feet up and contemplate where we've been and where we want to go next.

The ancient city of Cadiz, established around 1104 BC as Gadir by the Phoenicians.  There is an archaeological site open to the public under a new theatre that dates back approx. 2800 years.  It just opened to the public a couple years ago and we hope to see it soon.

The weather is great - 82-90F during the day, down to mid to upper 60s at night.

The entrance to Playa de Caleta and the causeway to  the 18th century Castillo de  San Sebastian, which is situated on an islet that is said to have been the location of the Temple of Kronos.

La Playa de Caleta (Caleta Beach) is on the Ataantic.  Cadiz is northeast of Gibraltar and the water is  cooler than the water I waded in at Alicante on the Mediterranean a couple weeks ago.

There are many of these very old trees in Cadiz.  Local lore says that they were brought over from the new world by Columbus.

There are many more shops and eateries than we expected right here in the Old City.  We discovered why when we watched large groups of tourists come in from this docked cruise vessel.  It's HUGE.

Our first evening and we saw the local procession for the Fiesta of the Virgin of  Rosario Coranada that always happens on October 7th.  That was a full marching band in uniform followed by what looked like representatives of every prominent families of Cadiz, with their banners and sceptres.

The door to our AirBnb apartment, which opens to a typical marble floored hall and a central marble courtyard that is open to the sky.  Our apts in Madrid and Seville were the same way - very old and beautifully done.

Steve on a bench with a paseo gathering behind him all over the  park near our apartment.  There is a boy practicing soccer passes with his father behind and to the left.  This is about 10pm on a Saturday night.  There are large groups of people walking on this sidewalk and sitting in the local cafes.  We could hear the festival fireworks in the background.

We have 3 reservations for AirBnbs for our rest break in the Cadiz area: current one for two nights in one part of Cadiz (near the Cruise ship docks and it's lovely), another reservation for 3 nights in Cadiz near Plaza San Antonio (our first choice which had a mechanical problem that is now fixed) near the beach with great views of the Plaza San Antonio and the Cadiz Cathedral and finally a week in Rota, the beach city on the other side of the U.S. Naval Base from Cadiz.  The Rota apartment (we are renting whole apartments to ourselves now and it's working pretty well) has a roof patio with sea view and several windows with sea views and I'm really, really hoping it will be as great as it looks.

More Cadiz coming.  We haven't seen the Cadiz Cathedral, the San Sebastian Castle, the Roman theatre, the archeological site, or any of the museums yet, not to mention that we haven't been swimming since we arrived in Spain!