Cadiz and cycling

Monday 5th October

After checking out the lay of the land (ie. are there any hills?) I agreed to spend the day pedaling a bright orange pushbike around Cadiz.

Cadiz is a sort of pseudo island with all of the ancient buildings and interesting features at various points within a few minutes riding.

We were all set to go, but when we headed for the front door of the hotel and peered out we realised that it was raining!  Well drizzling really.  Not to be daunted we decided that we would go ahead as it was still quite warm,  but a bit damp.

We pedaled off to do the perimeter of the 'island' and explore in the sea mist and drizzle. The great advantage of the damp was that there was no tourists for me to manoeuvre around whilst I was finding my'cycling legs'.

We found old fortresses and castles, one on a long sea wall out into the ocean.

The Cathedral was the place to go so,  being excellent tourists, we followed the tourist map. As in many of the southern towns it had originally been built by the Moors over Roman ruins and then refurbished to become a Catholic Basilica.  Some of the ruins have been kept so you could see some of the items found,  including two beautiful Phoenician sarcophagi.

The Basilica was plain and large and in a state of disrepair: in the photos you may just be able to see the nets that have been erected to prevent pieces of the ceiling hitting unsuspecting tourists.

As I was standing in front of one of the chapels with 3 other tourists,  all of us  attentively listening to our audio guides (rated 5 out of 10 - far too much detailed information and too much music! ) there was a loud noise as a marble sized piece of the roof hit the floor and broke into small pieces.  We all jumped but were relieved that it hadn't hit any of us! The perils of sight seeing!

Other interesting sights included a surf beach,  Some very nice gardens,  an array of old town walls, a very pink art nouveau theatre and lots of white buildings and domes. All very pretty as you can see from the photos.

Ewan was content as he found the Tower Tavira to climb. I had a wander and found an espadrilles shop: very colourful and tempting!

Negotiating the narrow streets,  the one way lanes and the tiny Squares was certainly easier on a bike than in a car.

Lunch was tapas: yet again some new ones - chickpeas and chorizo , broad beans and mushrooms, but with potatoes in oil of course! 

The rain soon disappeared and the sun shone through the mist as we pedaled happily along the flat paths. 

I managed to avoid hitting any of the tourists once they emerged from the cruise ship in the harbour and the hotels. Although I did have to use my bell a couple of times and say "Gracias! " loudly when people jumped out of the way!  And why do pedestrians insist on walking in the bike paths, and often whilst talking animatedly on their mobile phones?!?!

I'm sure that being a cyclist once in a while will make me a better pedestrian!

After some grilled fish and salad for dinner we were happy to drop into bed.

Your still pedaling correspondent

Dianne