<\/p>\n McNote:\u00a0 The first site I saw upon awaking was this view of Cadiz (above).\u00a0 Definitely the prettiest port we have pulled into at least in the docking area from our side of the boat!<\/p>\n Our first stop on the tour was to Vejer de la Frontera, about 35 miles south along the coast.\u00a0 Along the way our tour guide (whose name I did not write down, of course) gave us a fantastic running dialog and background on everything we were seeing.\u00a0 The big surprise for me, though I admit I have had little exposure to Spanish history\/background, was that Cadiz is essentially an island connected to the mainland by a long causeway.\u00a0 It\u2019s strategic importance as a port was directly related to its ability to protect itself from land attacks from internal<\/em> Spanish strife\u2026interesting.\u00a0 We have all experienced driving through the US heartland and seeing abandoned farm \/ ranch buildings \u2013 wondering the story behind them \u2013 you saw the same thing driving through the Spanish countryside, except that the buildings appeared to be 2, 3 even 4 hundred <\/em>years old instead of 60 or 70\u2026very cool!<\/p>\n Anyway \u2013 after about 45 minutes on the bus we arrived at Vejer de la Frontera \u2013 a very interesting white village perched on the edge of a cliff \u2013 the bus driver did a good job winding his way to the top.\u00a0 When we arrived we were all pleasantly surprised to see that we were the only tour bus!\u00a0 That was to quickly change, but nonetheless we seemed to have the place to ourselves from a tourist perspective.<\/p>\n We all gathered and started our walking tour.\u00a0 If you ever plan on taking this one be forewarned:\u00a0 lots of steps and lots of hills!\u00a0 The town is very interesting, your classic EU tight streets \u2013 everything is traditionally white \u2013 the guide mentioned that this is not<\/em> mandated by law\/covenant, just an unspoken sense of pride.\u00a0 Initially walking through the streets, they were practically deserted.\u00a0 Apparently Spanish towns do not \u201cwake up\u201d until approximately 10 am.\u00a0 It was a quiet stroll through the narrow streets \u2013 only occasionally requiring the dodging of cars. \u00a0Besides the incredible architecture there were not too many striking highlights on our walking tour.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the close of the walking tour we had a 30 minute sit-down to enjoy traditional Tapas (see pictures) \u2013 they were interesting\u2026J\u00a0 Our hosts for the Tapas were extremely nice \u2013 although they did not speak English they did their best to make us comfortable and were very patient with our fumbling and pointing.<\/p>\n We headed back on the bus (there were now 10+ tour busses!!) we headed to Cape Trafalgar \u2013 \u201cmarking the bleak headland where Lord Nelson won the Battle of Trafalgar\u201d \u2013 a quote from the Disney description\u2026I couldn\u2019t have done it better\u2026<\/p>\n As before, a very nice ride through the countryside as we got closer it definitely felt like we were arriving at a national park type of area \u2013 very well maintained and obviously a source of national pride.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When we arrived we essentially parked at the side of the road close to the park area and after being warned we only had 30 minutes, walked the last \u00bc mile.\u00a0 The closer we got \u2013 the more sand we were inhaling.\u00a0 As we got to the entry are of the Cape, we had to make our way around a bulldozer and dump truck.\u00a0 The wind off of the beaches had been so bad recently that it had covered the walk ways and they were in the process of removing it.\u00a0 As we moved down the path into the open, we were immediately assaulted by a spray of stinging sand.\u00a0 I have to be honest, I really have to hand it to the people that live in or have to operate in desert areas \u2013 we were there 20 minutes and had sand everywhere!\u00a0 Whining aside, once we did get out in the open, it was spectacular!\u00a0 Huge expanse of sanded beaches with (I am assuming) locals flying massive para-kites in the wind.\u00a0 Not sure whether or not they were actually controlling them or not, but there were dozens flying around.\u00a0 The Trafalgar Lighthouse itself was far up on a cliff \u2013 too far for us to reach in the time we had, but it was quite a site.<\/p>\n Our final stop today was Conil de la Frontera.\u00a0\u00a0 Here we had an hour to wander on our own.\u00a0 Mic, Melissa and I found a little caf\u00e9 and sat outside \u2013 enjoying a coffee and beer, watching the people.\u00a0 The caf\u00e9 was off the beaten track, up a narrow (aren\u2019t the all?) street.\u00a0 There were a number of shops around so Melissa and I strolled and did some impulse buying.\u00a0 Got a couple of postcards and stamps.\u00a0 The people were very nice \u2013 and although there was a mis-match in language, we managed to point and \u201cspanglish\u201d our way without an issue.\u00a0 Time got away from us a little while \u2013 so with some pushing and prodding from me (I hate<\/em> being late to things), we found a post-box for the postcards, and quick-walked down to the bus \u2013 although we did stop along the way for snacks for Mic (with me impatiently tapping my feet), we managed to make it to the bus with no dirty looks from our fellow passengers.\u00a0 (Mcnote: we were not even the last ones on the bus)<\/p>\n Then back to the ship \u2013 again a (thankfully) uneventful drive.\u00a0 We thanked (and tipped) our tour guide and made our way on board.\u00a0 After a two-hour break to recover from all the walking we headed out on our own little Cadiz walking tour.<\/p>\n For a while we wandered a bit aimlessly, making our way to the Cortez Plaza and the Constitution memorial.\u00a0 We had picked up a map and after a few minutes of studying realized that they had walking tours defined on the map.\u00a0 Differently color coded lines were on the map that indicated tours depending on your interest \u2013 medieval architecture, art, shopping, etc.\u00a0 After a while we realized that not only were the color coded lines on the map, they were actually drawn on the street!\u00a0 Now, this was my kind of walking tour \u2013 completely dummy-proof.\u00a0 I pride myself on being able to read a map \u2013 what guy doesn\u2019t? \u2013 but this way I could look smart and<\/em> have proof that we were going the right direction.\u00a0 After briefly contemplating keeping it to myself so I could really look smart, I showed everyone and we were off.\u00a0 It should be noted that all<\/em> signs, site descriptions, etc were in English as well as Spanish.<\/p>\n We actually kept our tour of the City of Cadiz pretty short.\u00a0 We eventually made a bee-line for the cathedral square and did a quick in-out look at the church.\u00a0 We opted not to spend the extra euro (5\/person) to enter the church and look around, which we later regretted\u2026I blame our fatigue from earlier.\u00a0 What we did see was breathtaking \u2013 the architecture is amazing, especially considering it was built in the 1600s!<\/p>\n We wandered the streets, but realized that we were doing so during Siesta time which went until about 5\/6 or so.\u00a0 This is a time where the shops close and the owners take a break during the day.\u00a0 It was pretty quiet, but very nice.\u00a0 So we made our way to another street caf\u00e9, ordered coffee\/beer and did some people watching.\u00a0 After a while we made our way back to the ship for some more rest, dinner and Flamenco (and rainforest room)!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a quick shower for final sand extraction, Melissa and I headed to the Flamenco show and Mic headed to the rainforest room for some well deserved relaxation time.<\/p>\n The show was amazing \u2013 this is my first exposure to live Flamenco and it was very cool.\u00a0 The troupe was from Cadiz and obviously very passionate.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have any reference to judge, but I thought they were amazing and I enjoyed the show very much!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/pullling-into-Cadiz-Spain1.jpg\" "\\"pullling-into-Cadiz-Spain\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/View-of-Cadiz-outside-our-window1.jpg\" "\\"View-of-Cadiz-outside-our-window\\"")
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