Sunday 4th October
Today we were on the move again from Seville to the peninsula of Cadiz, one of the oldest settlements known.
A trip that started out as a quiet day of touring along highways and country roads ended with an adventurous tour of the back streets of Cadiz whilst we were trying to find our hotel. But I get ahead of myself!
After collecting the hire car from the Airport (so we didn't have to negotiate the busy streets of Seville) we set off for some coast time.
Somehow we had managed to book a very cute diesel 208 Peugeot . It's always a bit of a surprise when you book a car as to the actual car you will be allocated. 'Small economy' can mean just about anything, and one car we hired was called a Cactus which was a bit worrying, and another we saw was a 'Limon' (lemon) which is exactly what I call my Renault as it has given me nothing but trouble!!
The countryside looked brown and dry - not unlike Australia after summer. To our surprise we saw lots of cotton either being harvested or ready to harvest. We were mystified as to the source of water that supported such a water-hungry crop.
First stop, as advised by LP, was a small river/coastal town called, rather grandly, El Puerto de Santa Maria. Huge white factories, covering many blocks of the town, produce vast quantities of famous Spanish sherries. Apparently they are full of sherry barrels slowly ageing the sherry in the sea air.
We were in search of an ancient Castle where the tour includes a glass of sherry, as it is owned by one of the largest sherry producers in the region . But alas no sherry, as the castle isn't open in October!
Devastated we set off to console ourselves with some tapas for lunch as this town is also famous for the range available. After wandering along very straight streets filled with old white apartment buildings we finally found the centre of town and a Boulevard that follows the banks of the River. Clearly this had once been an important port, but there was an air of desolation and many of the buildings were in disrepair. Even the main church was slowly falling down: not something you see often in Spain.
After perusing the many tapas bars we made our choice and ordered. I ordered gazpacho as it is the best lunch on a hot day. It was delicious, as was the grilled peppers and anchovies.
After returning to the car we realised that it was parked outside the local bullring. Most large towns seem to have one of their own, with Madrid having the highest status of all.
Setting off for Cadiz we programmed in the name of the hotel and let Gloria, the GPS, do her thing. Unfortunately she appeared to be having a bad day and was not concentrating too well - and of course we had no idea where we were going.
We did traverse a long bridge to get quickly from the mainland to the peninsula and ended up in the middle of huge port infrastructure. We spied a new bridge that had yet to open and is very contentious apparently. It cost €500m from the EU funds and not all Spaniards think it was necessary.
Anyway as we got closer to the old part of town amidst lots of domes and white buildings, the road became narrower and the distinction between road and pedestrian footpath disappeared completely. Ewan was congratulating himself on hiring such a small car, but it was only just managing some of the lanes. Making sure we weren't going the wrong way up one way lanes was tricky!
Finally we found ourselves in a small square with a few locals shaking their heads angrily and directing us to stop or to go in the opposite direction. Flummoxed we tried to work out what to do as Gloria had gone to sleep, although she would occasionally revive and give garbled and useless directions. Eventually three old blokes came to our assistance. ....that is, they told us exactly how to get to the hotel with much pointing and waving of hands and of course, in fluent Spanish. Then one asked if we were English and then proceeded to give us directions in his version of English which was just as bad as our Spanish!
Eventually we worked out which lane we could enter in the right direction and thanked them profusely before heading back to the main road. Finally we parked in a car park so we could locate the hotel on foot.
Hauling our bags over yet more cobblestones we were pleased to find the Hotel Las Cortes nearby.
A giant G&T calmed our nerves and we headed off for a look at Cadiz. It's basically an island so we wandered along some of the coastline promenades and old gardens before returning to the hotel to collapse for a well earned siesta!
Unfortunately we had timed our siesta a little late for dinner so we just went to the local bar and had some tapas.
Went to bed looking forward to exploring further tomorrow,
Your worn out and weary correspondent
Dianne
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