Exploring: Trial and Error

During this past summer, I started thinking about where I wanted to travel while in Spain.  Then when I arrived, I saw the list of cities to visit with the Erasmus group (they are a group that organizes trips, tours, and parties for international students).  But their trips don’t start till next weekend.  This past weekend, I was getting restless in Sevilla and wanted to go exploring in another city.  Luckily my friends thought the same, so later that night we booked some cheap train tickets to Cádiz.  I did some research to find places to visit in this ancient, ocean-side city and planned a general path we could take when we arrived on Saturday morning.

The rest of the week flew by and before we knew it, it was Saturday morning and we were waiting in the train station to begin our first trip outside Sevilla.  There were four of us going, and we were split up between 2 train cars.  Two of us got off 1 stop too early, and we had to take a taxi to try and find the other 2.  But luckily the meeting spot we picked was easy to find.  Crisis averted.  Now it was time to explore.

Our first stop was a Roman theater tucked away in the winding roads.  Unlike Sevilla, Cádiz had more of a Roman influence.  The ruins were only recently discovered so there is still archaeological work being done. They rebuilt part of the seating to resemble what it would have looked like a thousand years ago. It was very cool to see!

 

Next we stumbled upon the Cathedral of Cádiz.  We were going to go in, but there was an entrance fee, so we took a quick peak and started walking again.  We found a quiet cafe off the main tourist path and had a quick lunch. 

 

 

We went to the Market of Cádiz.  This was very cool.  I love exploring different foods, and the markets all over Spain are the best way to see the wide variety of foods Spain has to offer.  Because Cádiz is know for the seafood that is caught fresh everyday, this market had a very large section devoted to just fish and other seafood.  Some of the tuna that they were selling were over 6 feet long.  Everything was so fresh!

 

 

Our next stop was a tower in the middle of the city.  In order to get to the top, we had to climb 6 flights of narrow, glass stairs, squeezing past the people that were coming down from the tower the entire way.  But the view at the top was spectacular!  Every part of the city could be seen: the cathedral, the market, some old military forts, and the ocean.  This city was so beautiful.

After we climbed back down, we made our way to the gardens near the ocean.  We saw beautiful flowers, giant trees, lots of cats, some ducks, a waterfall, and some swings.  Everything was very picturesque.

We walked along the ocean until we came to the Castillo de Santa Catalina, an old military base on the edge of the ocean.  It was like a small city.  There was a chapel, huge walls, watch towers, and many buildings that are now filled with historic artifacts about important moments in the city’s history.  We walked all around the base, imagining what it would have been like to see it up and running.

 

 

Whenever someone says they went to Cádiz, the first question asked is which beach did they go to.  So we took our siesta on a small beach between the two military bases.  The water was so refreshing, but the sun was hot so we left to find some food.

Many small restaurants lined a street near the beach, so we decided to try one of them.  Now an important thing to remember in Spain is that no one is ever in a rush. If you sit down to eat, expect to be there for at least an hour.  The service is at times very slow in comparison to what is usually expected in the US.  But the restaurant we picked was very attentive and had amazing food.  I had some tortillitas de camarones, which is a famous shrimp dish of Cádiz.

After our very filling dinner, we walked to the second military base and watched as kids jumped off the walkway into the water.  It was closed, but we got some great pictures of the ocean and the city.  On our way back, we stopped and each bought a bracelet to remember the first trip we took in Spain.

Sitting in the train station, exhausted and a bit sun burnt, we quietly sat thinking about everything we had seen that day. Besides a few small bumps, it was a successful trip.  The bit of planning I had done before the trip to find the main sights had helped a lot and let us have more free time to relax on the beach or eating.  The only thing to remember for next time was to remember to ride the train all the way to the city and not get off 1 stop early.