¡España!

Cadiz is a gorgeous little beach town on the coast of southern Spain. We only had two days there, and we spent most of our time exploring the Old City.

    

On Day 1, we left at 9:30 to walk the 10 minutes to the city center. Because nothing actually opened until 10, we spent some time walking by the water before we could buy tickets to climb up the tower of the Cathedral. It's the highest point in Cadiz, so we could see everything from there. Such a beautiful city, even when it's rainy.

  

  

After climbing the tower, we went into the actual Cathedral. There were alcoves dedicated to different saints, each beautifully decorated.

         

Next we went to see some Roman ruins, where I got to touch a wall that's older than Jesus Christ.

      

We spent the rest of the morning wandering around the city before the rain got to bad and he had to take refuge. It wasn't too upsetting though, because our refuge included churros and hot chocolate. YUM.

That afternoon we walked along the water to an old castle. We couldn't go inside, but it was nice to be on the beach.

   

Jordan, Aileen, and I went out for a late dinner that night. We found a fantastic place in a little side street, where we got delicious tapas and sangria. I had pork in a black pepper sauce, with a hot chocolate tart and vanilla ice cream for dessert. MORE YUM. A+ to Spain for the food.

The next morning, some of us hung out at a cafe, watching the Spanish news about the government shutdown. I think the fact that the Spanish were just as upset about it as we were shows how far our government reaches around the world. As a government nerd, that made an impact on me.

For lunch that afternoon, we headed to the local fish market. It had five long rows of stalls selling all kinds of fish, fruits, and vegetables. My mom would have been in Heaven with all the fresh food. We got some crepes and oranges, and sat at table to watch the action for a while. When the late afternoon heat began to set in, we decided to head back to the ship before we melted. But don't worry...there was one last stop for frozen yogurt.

  

Overall, Cadiz was more of a relaxation port than anywhere else we've been so far. It was kind of nice to be able to hang out at a cafe and not feel guilty about missing out on something. I think it was a good wrap-up to Europe before heading off to Africa!