SUNNY CADIZ & EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA ON SATURDAY;

SATURDAY 29^th/ MARCH 2014.

VISIT TO CADIZ AND “ EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA ”

We were up just before dawn to get ready for our day out to Cadiz & ‘ El Puerto De Santa Maria ‘ to give it its full title ! We caught the bus from by the ‘Plaza de la Vendimia’ – there were two buses in fact, one from here and one down in Sabinillas & Duquesa,so over 120 persons in all.On our bus as usual we were the only English speaking but on the other one there were quite a few English people. Our neighbors from above us Pilar and Bartholomew joined us.

It was cold and damp as we set off but the latest forecast for the Cadiz area was warm and sunny, and so it turned out, it was a glorious sunny day with just a little breeze blowing off the Atlantic in Cadiz with clear Blue skies as you will see in the picture above; on the way we stopped at the large coach park for coffee and tostadas on the house!

As we arrived in Cadiz down by the cruise liner harbour a ship had just arrived, we walked across to the main square past the town hall to the cathedral and spent some time inside listening to the Grand Organ being played, it always adds something to a cathedral when you hear the music, it brings the place ‘Alive!’ See the pictures above. We then went and had a coffee and glass of fresh orange juice sat outside opposite the cathedral in the new ‘La Cathedral Hotel’ before jumping into a taxi and going off along the long ‘Playa’ beach front to go to our favorite Talas Bar ‘Arte Serrano’ next to the best seafood restaurant in Cadiz – sadly they did not both open until the afternoon so we decided because it such a nice day to walk back along the front past the surfers as you can see.

We ended up back in the main square and had a well deserved glass of wine and a friendly Bacardi & Coke with a small Tapas to set us up for the rest of the day ahead; it was then time to rejoin the bus and go across the bay about 12.15kms to ‘El Puerto de Santa Maria’ for lunch. As we were crossing the old bridge we could see the new bridge that’s is being constructed “ La Pepa ” as it is called has two main pylons, one in the Bay of Cadiz and the other in the Cabezuelas Harbour standing 180 meters high – it will be when finished the longest bridge in Spain and the longest span cable-stayed in the country! The pictures were taken from the coach as we crossed on the old one !

Lunch was in a large restaurant on the new part of the sea front by the long sandy beach in the town by all the tall-rise holiday buildings; it was a ‘Grand Buffet’ with a large selection on the cold starter section, then two hot sections, meat and fish and finally a large cold selection section – eat as much as you can !! Wine, Beer and soft drinks on the tables. A rather nice surprise. We then went into the old part of the town where the tourist guide met the coaches and took us off into the centre of the town to see the castle, cathedral and the famous bullring as it’s the third largest in Spain with seats for over 15,000 spectators and dates back to the 1880s!At one time the heavens opened so we took shelter in a old café car bar in the main square. See the pictures above.

On returning to Manilva late on Saturday evening we treated ourselves to two long cold drinks, well deserved of Gin& Tonic and Bacardi & Coke !! We canceled our Steak and chips and settled for some comfort food ‘ Heinz Baked Beans’ on Toast topped with Brenda’s famous Poached eggs !!

On the sports front during the day and evening Manchester City could only draw with Arsenal 1-1; over here Barcelona won 1-0,Atl,Madrid won 1-0 And Real Madrid won 5-0 !

Thoughts for one ‘Helluva’ Day in sunny Cadiz, Puerto de Santa Maria and Manilva;

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