I was going to title this one ‘Hordiz’, but you probably are getting a little tired of that spiel. Too bad, it’s a cute title. And the tourists here aren’t quite the same as the ones that are trekking thought Spain like us to check out castles and monuments. They are forcibly brought here by big-ass f****g cruise ships! So, a small town; a 4000 – 10,000 strong invading army wearing shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops; and…well, you get the picture.
Cadiz, (pronounced CAD-ith) is considered to be, the oldest continuously inhabited city in western Europe and the oldest port city in Europe dating all the way back to the Phoenicians. Hannibal apparently started his famous march across the Alps into Italy from his depot here. And, it was used as the prime meridian point for navigation on all charts for 100 years by sailors. So, as you can guess, it has the usual history of Greeks, Romans, and Moors. But it really got going during the age of exploration. There are not a lot of big relics compared to some of the other places, but the ones that are here are impressive. Between the new world ventures and all the skirmishes with the English, Dutch, and Portuguese, Cadiz became heavily fortified to protect the bay and Spanish interests (and sherry) and has been the home port of the Spanish Navy since the 1700’s.
We only spent a half day here with an easy 40-minute train ride from Jerez costing all of €7 each, return. Way cheaper than the west coast express. It was hot and sunny, and we wandered through the typical narrow streets of old town, checked out the forts along the sea wall, and stopped for a nice lunch at the central market. We are learning to not be tourists. Instead of paying for some tapas or the menu del dia from the cafés (where the beer is €1.50 each), we went across the street to the grocer and bought 2 cold beer, a small loaf of bread, and a block of cheese for €2.00 and wandered back to the market, grabbed a table, and ordered a small soup, a chick pea salad and some patatas bravas. A filling lunch for two including brew for under 10 bucks.
Cadiz might be small but it’s still a lot of walking and by the end of the afternoon we were pretty tired. It’s an interesting place but I don’t think we could spend more than two days here and the week in Jerez was a better choice for us. On the other hand, it’s hard to get a feel for a place unless you spend some time there, so…we got the cruise ship view along with our tourist friends, but took the train home. I’m sure we’ll meet them again in Lisbon.
