Day Trippin' in Spain; or, Cádiz times two

We have taken a couple of day trips in the last month.

One of the first places we visited was Cádiz.

First---you must pronounce Cádiz like an Andalucian. It's KAH-ðe (and the "ð" is like the th in "this"). You don't pronounce the z because you are in Andalucía. Nobody pronounces the ends of words with s or z. (We now say ¡Adío! with the best of them)

(Also: our now 12 year-old likes to sing "Going back to Cádiz" in the style of L.L. Cool J. I guess we should be proud?!?)

So why Cádiz?

From the Base area (Rota/Puerto de Santa María), it's one of the closest historical towns and you have TWO fun-filled ways to get there!

You can either take a 30-45 minute ride on a four-lane road, complete with a trip over a really amazing bridge called La Puente de la Pepa (watch the video here taken from a drone as it was being built), or you can take a ferry.

For the five years we were at GTMO, we took the ferry back and forth between the leeward and windward sides of the base. There were many goodbyes (and jumps off the ferry pier---it's how we said goodbye there), and it was nice to be back on a ferry again. This is a foot ferry, so no cars.

the ferry to Cádiz with the bridge in the background

Cádiz looks and feels like a small island, but as you can tell from the map, it is indeed attached by a small sliver of land:

Cádiz was founded by the Phoenicians in 1104 BC (let that sink in for a minute) and is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain (and one of the oldest in Western Europe). The city is surrounded by much of the old wall, and the legend is many exotic plants were brought by Christopher Columbus from his voyages to the New World.

I first went with a group of ladies (including a GTMO friend!) one of the first weeks I got here in August for a nighttime Moroccan festival. The second trip was during a blustery day in October with my family, including my parents. Driving was a quick and easy trip, but finding parking in the historical part of the old city (and parking in Spain's rather ridiculous parking garages---even with a compact car---was not easy). The ferry was easy and cheap and dumped us off right at the historical center of town. The schedule made it easy to plan a day. The city is very different in the day from the night.

Pictures from my two trips:

the Ayudamiento, or City Hall, in the Plaza de San Juan de Dios,
completed in 1861. The Andalucian flag (left) was first flown here!

Cádiz Cathedral in the Plaza de la Catedral, completed in the late 1880s.

another view at night

We caught a great market and ate paella at a good sidewalk cafe.

El Arco de la Rosa---Rose Arch

Be prepared to walk---a lot---on cobblestones

one of many statues in the Cádiz Cathedral 

entrance to the crypt 

Here's the thing: in two short trips, I've only seen 1/10 of what's to be seen and done there. We didn't hit museums or several other famous landmarks. But why try to do it all in one day? Cádiz is an easy trip from here and I know we will visit it many more times in the future.