Day 15, Cadiz

We changed our plans at the last minute from a longish coach journey to Seville, to a guided tour round Cadiz, and I am really glad we did. Cadiz is a lovely town, with lots of interesting things to see, but walkable at my pace - nothing too steep thank goodness. Added to that we had yet another excellent guide, who was very observant, noticed who was slow and who needed a walking stick, and paused every so often to allow us to catch up. We did the obligatory drive around the town, past a beautiful park, and a wonderful flea market, which I really wanted to go back to - we planned to return after the rest of the tour, but were very tired afterwards so....

There were some astonishing trees everywhere, but in dark corners, so I wasn't able to photograph many of them, but there were also flowers everywhere, including several of these "tubs" outside the cathedral. I imagine a week after we visited they would have spread even more.

Our first stop was at the museum, which was really interesting, with all sorts of artefacts, such as psalters, locked safely in cupboards, a few pictures, some embroidered copes, chasubles and so on, and two extraordinary lifesize figures, the patron saints of the city. They were identical, and I have no idea which this photo is of! They were gilded all over, not cloth at all.

We continued to stroll along the streets, and were told that some of the bricks were of oyster stone - literally made with crushed oyster shell. I think you should be able to click to enlarge.

We continued inside the cathedral, where a service to welcome a new bishop was about to be held. We looked around briefly, but I enjoyed watching the people. There was what was obviously a family, or group of related people, and a lady wearing a normal smart suit, but with a full mantilla and comb. I have only ever seen mantillas worn in paintings, or for dance performances, so that was fascinating.

We ended up in what must have been the main square, where there were preparations being made for a carnival. There were lights in the streets, which would have looked wonderful when all lit up. The streets were very narrow, with tall buildings as is so often the case in Mediterranean countries - that way it is cool to walk in as you are shaded a lot from the sun.

We walked beck to the coach, and were taken back to the ship, but made an executive decision not to walk across the entire town to get to the street market. Keith finds walking difficult with his soon-to-be-new knee, and my breathing limits the amount of energy I have. But we really enjyed Cadiz, and with so many of the other places we visited, would be happy to return.