Back to the start of the Spain 2018 Report
Onto the next part of the Spain 2018 Report.
Day 5: Cadiz
We slept well in Seville and I made a quick trip to a local Supermarket to pick up breakfast (all the local supermarkets sell freshly squeezed orange juice, squeezed into a bottle for you buy a machine, and super refreshing) and provisions for day and then we were off to Cadiz on the coast for some fresh air after a number of days in hot, confined cities.
Narrow old streets of Cadiz
We passed over an impressive modern bridge and after an abortive attempt to find someone to park for more than a couple of hours at the Railway station, we parked in yet another underground car park (a common feature in these cities) and then strolled the old streets, until we reached the sea wall.
We came out near to the Cathedral and enjoyed a gentle, but refreshing sea breeze as we walked along it towards two castles on the sea.
The Cathedral from the sea wall
We paddled in the sea near one castle, with a long pier to reach it (but closed for work while we were there), and then explored the other.
This offered free entry and an interesting exhibition on a catastrophic explosion in 1947, when a huge store of WW2 German mines destroyed nearly all the military base and a large chunk of the town.
Thiswas definitely the best value attraction we saw along the way, I felt it w ould have been worth 5-10 Euros of our money easily!
As deep as we went!
Exploring the Castillo de Santa Catalina
Inside it looks a bit like the Mexican forts in California
Then we proceeded further, to walk through some botanical gardens, which afforded us the sights of some butterflies and plants for Mandy to identify and a chance to have a drink in the shade.
Water feature in the Botanical Gardens
More narrow streets in Cadiz
We headed back through the streets, climbing the Camera Obscura tower (The Camera Obscura itself was fully booked, but the views were probably better anyway, and we'd seen such things before.
Building with the flag is the Camera Obscura
Another tower (built by merchants for advance warning of arriving traders) viewed from the Camera Obscura, the highest tower in Cadiz
Cadiz and the sea from the tower - It was nice to have some fresh air
We then headed out of town to find our hotel, which took a while and turned out to be a large complex near Chiclana de la Frontera. The hotel was OK, but clearly an out of season haunt of young families with only an expensive, canteen style restaurant (fine for an excellent buffet Breakfast, but not for a nice quiet dinner), so we drove back intoChiclana de la Frontera to at an Indian restaurant with the rather naff name of Bollywood, but the food was excellent - probably the best curry we’ve had outside the UK and better than most here!
18,323 Steps.
Day 6: Gibraltar
Day 6 saw us make the relatively short drive to Gibraltar.
Quite a few people had turned their noses up when I said we'd visit here on our trip, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
We drove to Las Lineas and left the car in a car park in Spain (as advised and made a lot of sense, Gibralatar has little space for visiting cars!)
We walked down "Winston Churchill Way" which leads visitors across the runway of the airport to town.
The entrance to the town is protected by these impressive gates
The Old Governor's house, I believe
We walked through the town and it's true that it's not the prettiest place in the Iberian Peninsular, although it was quite novel to see British post boxes and high street shops. The majority, though, seemed to sell duty free cigarettes and drink.
There were a few interesting sites in the town, mostly reflecting Gibralatar's long standing role as the fortress that guards the approach to the Mediterean.
Signs at the Taxi cab office just past passport control said the cable car was shut due to high winds, but obviously that is a scam by taxi operators as when we found the tourist information office they said it was running and directed us to it.
Sure enough, it was, so we rode it to the top.
The day, like others, had started overcast, but as we rode the cable car, it started to clear up and once at the top of 'The Rock' we were able to take in the amazing views, Africa just visible as the weather cleared.
Impressive view from the top of 'The Rock'
Barbary Apes were obviously used to people
...and clearly thriving.
We started to walk down to the town, passing a number of the Barbary Apes as we went.
We wandered down to St Michael’s Caves and visited them.
St Michael's Caves are impressive...
...but could have done without the coloured lights and music, we thought.
Sometimes they hold concerts in here, as we've seen in other caves
They were well worth a look, although the light and music show spoilt it a bit for us - More white lighting would have been preferable, we both felt.
When we came out of the Caves, we had a run in with two apes, who stole my ice cream before I opened it and Mandy’s bar of chocolate (jumping on her to steal it!) two bites in!
Another Barbary Ape and 'The Rock' - looking towards Africa
Mandy was keen to try and spot some particular Butterflies that are seen in Gibraltar at this time of year, migrating to Africa, so we ventured off the road and walked down the tiny, little used (it seems) Nature Lover’s path to the Great Siege tunnels.
One of a number of 'natural hazard' signs we passed on the way down
Passing under the Cable Car
We did spot a few unusual (Mandy tells me) butterflies, so for her it was worth the diversion, although at times it seemed we were the first people to have ventured that way in months!
This little trodden path is the "Nature Lover's" trail!
The Great Siege Tunnels were quite interesting, being carved through the soft rock of Gibraltar, to provide gun emplacements from the Victorian era through the Second World War (When my Grandfather spent the first couple of years there, defending against an expected Spanish attack that, fortunately, never came).
WW2 defences on the African side of the Great Siege Tunnels
The earlier defences, facing Spain, from the Great Siege period
After that we continued down to the Moorish castle, but it’s gutted inside and just lots more steps, so we passed on the view from the top and continued down to town, where we had a Cornish Pasty and a cup of tea for a late afternoon snack - Both tasted wonderful!
Moorish Tower is just an empty ruin now
Decorated house as we neared the main part of town
Hey, Gibraltar is a little bit of Britain in Iberia, so it seemed only right!
We made our way back to the car, pausing to look at the WW2 memorial and to wait for a BA plane to land before we could cross the runway, and then made the short drive to our lovely golf course hotel, the Hotel Almenara, at Sotogrande.
That's not a Train! Waiting for a landing plane to cross the main road at the level crossing!
A last look back at Gibralatar as we returned to Spain.
After our late lunch, we didn’t bother with dinner, but had a couple of beers (one free as a welcome drink) in the bar before turning in.
Lovely view over the course and sea at Sotogrande
We both agreed that we would have stayed here more nights if we knew how good it was!
23,193 Steps
Onto the final part of the Spain 2018 Report.