our last stop was cadiz, which we had heard was just a typical beach town. to get there we had to take a bus to sevilla, walk across town to the other bus station, and catch the bus there to continue on to cadiz. thanks to an accent (`) and the spanish lisp the name of the city is pronounced rather strangely. it took me several minutes to realize our british couchsurfer was not talking about cardiff.
we arrived in cadiz's new town, which doesn't mean too much considering that cadiz is the self-proclaimed oldest city in europe. they've dated it to at least 1000 BC (though hercules was said to have founded it 2000 years earlier) and their claims seem to hold up to scrutiny (perhaps not the hercules one). the city is actually an island so you're never far from the water. shortly after we arrived our host matthew took us up to a nearby tapas place on the beach for lunch. we sampled some local specialties, including a tasty swordfish, chicharrones (little fried squids), bull's cheek (delicious!), and salmorejo (like gazpacho). we were lucky to have such a knowledgeable host/menu guide.
we continued walking along the water towards the old town. as we approached we could see the cathedral with its dome of the rock-like (e.g. gold) dome. we stopped in a very pleasant square in front of the cathedral for a coffee before matthew left us to fend for ourselves. we set out but didn't get very far as we found a cute little store next door with all kinds of fun stuff we didn't need. apparently we did need earrings though so we bought those (never a bad decision). we continued on, wandering through the streets marveling at how many shops were closed - the joys of siesta.
we gave up on shopping and had an ice cream which we enjoyed at another nice square - cadiz is full of these. we walked on until we hit the water again and decided to follow the shoreline around the island. the french guide book we found compared this city to st-malo, a small beach town in brittany, and i could see the resemblance. we continued walking along the city walls, stopping whenever we found a nice looking garden or park, which was quite often. we found various benches, fountains, gardens, and even a waterfall. kelly was particularly excited about that one. we continued on to the marina where the sun was starting to go down over the boats in the harbor.
we hurried to meet matthew since we were running behind (what with all the waterfall-finding and picture-taking). after beer and a bit of a philosophical conversation we walked on to find dinner. he took us to a great little tapas place he knows where we had even more of the local delicacies.
this time we enjoyed a montadito (a bocadilla - sandwich - but hot, we think) de lomo (like virtually every meat in spain a kind of ham), abondigas (delicious meatballs in a tomatoey sauce), and gambas (shrimp), which the southern coast is especially known for. afterwards we went with matthew to the weekly intercambio (language exchange), where we met mostly spaniards, but also a dutch girl, an american, and a very peppy norwegian. luckily we were there for the english hour, so we had no trouble. when we went back to the apartment we may have thought the night was over but not so. one of matthew's roommates had just returned from a massive beatboxing convention (very professional, i know). he calls himself ram-z. as you can imagine, he was quite a character and very excitable after the big weekend. he gave us a sample of his work and showed us some of the videos he took there. if you want to see more, you can find him on myspace (he gave us his card). and if that wasn't enough our host did some card tricks for us too. we were thoroughly entertained.
the next day was our last in spain. we decided to head up to jerez de la frontera, from where our bus would leave that evening. the town is known for sherry, horses, and flamenco. when we arrived we were disappointed to find that it was rainy and cold but even more disappointed to find that there were no lockers in either the train or bus stations (luckily located next to one another). it seemed there were once but they had been taken out. as kelly pointed out, why take out lockers? once they're there they don't cost any money to keep up. and the space was certainly not being used - the whole terminal was very empty. we left, rather annoyed, with all our luggage.
we decided to try to see the town anyway. we spent a very long lunch (and several games of phase 10) in one bar before venturing out again. the city itself was fairly unremarkable though it did have a nice cathedral and some pretty streets. we didn't see any horses or (being daytime) flamenco but we did entertain ourselves by shopping. we found a grocery store to stock up on cheap supplies before going back to french prices. and across from the bus station we found a nice place to enjoy some tea and hot chocolate. next door we had our last spanish dinner, appropriately paella and tapas with tio pepe, the brand of sherry that jerez is best known for.
then at 11.30 we boarded the night bus (it was full!), dozed off, and woke up the next morning in madrid. we were dropped off at the airport and spent our last few hours snacking and playing cards. overall a really nice vacation. and made even nicer by the fact that kelly joined me in returning to lyon.
we arrived in cadiz's new town, which doesn't mean too much considering that cadiz is the self-proclaimed oldest city in europe. they've dated it to at least 1000 BC (though hercules was said to have founded it 2000 years earlier) and their claims seem to hold up to scrutiny (perhaps not the hercules one). the city is actually an island so you're never far from the water. shortly after we arrived our host matthew took us up to a nearby tapas place on the beach for lunch. we sampled some local specialties, including a tasty swordfish, chicharrones (little fried squids), bull's cheek (delicious!), and salmorejo (like gazpacho). we were lucky to have such a knowledgeable host/menu guide.
we continued walking along the water towards the old town. as we approached we could see the cathedral with its dome of the rock-like (e.g. gold) dome. we stopped in a very pleasant square in front of the cathedral for a coffee before matthew left us to fend for ourselves. we set out but didn't get very far as we found a cute little store next door with all kinds of fun stuff we didn't need. apparently we did need earrings though so we bought those (never a bad decision). we continued on, wandering through the streets marveling at how many shops were closed - the joys of siesta.
we gave up on shopping and had an ice cream which we enjoyed at another nice square - cadiz is full of these. we walked on until we hit the water again and decided to follow the shoreline around the island. the french guide book we found compared this city to st-malo, a small beach town in brittany, and i could see the resemblance. we continued walking along the city walls, stopping whenever we found a nice looking garden or park, which was quite often. we found various benches, fountains, gardens, and even a waterfall. kelly was particularly excited about that one. we continued on to the marina where the sun was starting to go down over the boats in the harbor.we hurried to meet matthew since we were running behind (what with all the waterfall-finding and picture-taking). after beer and a bit of a philosophical conversation we walked on to find dinner. he took us to a great little tapas place he knows where we had even more of the local delicacies.
this time we enjoyed a montadito (a bocadilla - sandwich - but hot, we think) de lomo (like virtually every meat in spain a kind of ham), abondigas (delicious meatballs in a tomatoey sauce), and gambas (shrimp), which the southern coast is especially known for. afterwards we went with matthew to the weekly intercambio (language exchange), where we met mostly spaniards, but also a dutch girl, an american, and a very peppy norwegian. luckily we were there for the english hour, so we had no trouble. when we went back to the apartment we may have thought the night was over but not so. one of matthew's roommates had just returned from a massive beatboxing convention (very professional, i know). he calls himself ram-z. as you can imagine, he was quite a character and very excitable after the big weekend. he gave us a sample of his work and showed us some of the videos he took there. if you want to see more, you can find him on myspace (he gave us his card). and if that wasn't enough our host did some card tricks for us too. we were thoroughly entertained.the next day was our last in spain. we decided to head up to jerez de la frontera, from where our bus would leave that evening. the town is known for sherry, horses, and flamenco. when we arrived we were disappointed to find that it was rainy and cold but even more disappointed to find that there were no lockers in either the train or bus stations (luckily located next to one another). it seemed there were once but they had been taken out. as kelly pointed out, why take out lockers? once they're there they don't cost any money to keep up. and the space was certainly not being used - the whole terminal was very empty. we left, rather annoyed, with all our luggage.
we decided to try to see the town anyway. we spent a very long lunch (and several games of phase 10) in one bar before venturing out again. the city itself was fairly unremarkable though it did have a nice cathedral and some pretty streets. we didn't see any horses or (being daytime) flamenco but we did entertain ourselves by shopping. we found a grocery store to stock up on cheap supplies before going back to french prices. and across from the bus station we found a nice place to enjoy some tea and hot chocolate. next door we had our last spanish dinner, appropriately paella and tapas with tio pepe, the brand of sherry that jerez is best known for.then at 11.30 we boarded the night bus (it was full!), dozed off, and woke up the next morning in madrid. we were dropped off at the airport and spent our last few hours snacking and playing cards. overall a really nice vacation. and made even nicer by the fact that kelly joined me in returning to lyon.
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