Wednesday, November 11

On our way to Algeciras in Southern Spain we stop for a visit to Cadiz. Our faithful iPad GPS has bit of a panic attack as it thinks we are trying to drive into the ocean!  Seems it doesn’t know about this big new bridge yet!Cadiz juts out into the Bay of Cadiz and is almost entirely surrounded by water.  It also claims to be Europes’s oldest city. Legend says Hercules was its founder but historians credit the Phoenicians with establishing the town in 1100 BC!  Cadiz is also where Christopher Columbus first sailed from to discover America.  We once more find a parking lot almost by accident.  Parking near the old town part of Spanish cities is always difficult because the streets are so narrow that there just isn’t much room for cars.  This abandoned building in the center of town right next to well kept occupied buildings is something we have seen everywhere in Spain.
Here is an interesting link to abandoned villages in Spain that are for sale.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2576711/Buy-ghost-village-50-000-Thousands-abandoned-Spanish-hamlets-sale-price-London-garage.html

The 2008 economic crash was a major factor in so many buildings being empty and/or abandoned in Spain.

We visit an old fortress that now houses several art studios and exhibit spaces.I quite liked this fellow.It was a lovely day and we wanted to enjoy the sunshine so we wandered the streets instead of visiting another cathedral or museum.  This gull kindly posed for me with the Cadiz Cathedral in the background.The fish market is always an interesting place to visit. Being born and raised in Alberta far from the ocean, I have no idea how one cooks, or eats most of the fish we see, but I think more fish is eaten here than beef, chicken or pork.

We stop for tea at a little Pastelaria and sit with a view of this lovely pink building with this balcony and its pink flowers. I love just watching people as we sit and relax for a bit.

The streets in the old town are very narrow, and we manage to get a bit lost looking for the Torre Tavira which was the city’s watchtower in the 18th century.  It has been converted into a camera obscura and I wanted to see that.  By the time we found it we realized we as didn’t have time to see it as the next tour was in an hour, and lasted forty five minutes.  We need to be on the road again before then, so reluctantly I leave without getting to see the camera obscura I was so curious about.  If you are curious too, check out the information here.    http://bhamobscura.com/2014/12/inspirational-obscura-torre-de-tavira-torre-tavira/

We walk out towards the fortress on this long causeway but don’t have time to visit it either. It is time to head back to the car and continue on to Algeciras and our next apartment.

Thursday, November 12 Algeciras

We have a quiet day today, do some laundry and relax in our new apartment.  We have a penthouse on the seventh floor, with views of the mountains from the balcony on the west side and we can see Gibraltar from the balcony on the East side of the apartment!  It is pretty spectacular.