June 10, 2019

Last night we had dinner in Toscana and I wanted to have the crab appetizer that the guest chef Michel Personnaz prepared in the cooking demonstration.  With a blink of the eye, Sasa, the maître ‘d had it in front of me. That’s Oceania service.

While in the restaurant, we passed between the rock of Gibraltar and Morocco.  Here are the pictures.

Today we are in the port of Cadiz, Spain.  Last time we were here we went on a tour outside the city, so this time we explored the city.

The Oceania Riviera was also in port today, it is one of the two bigger ships in the fleet.  Nice for many crew members to see their friends. And here’s the view as we sailed in.

Not sure what this lock represents but I thought it was cool.

The city is very walkable and we took advantage of wandering through beautiful narrow streets.  First we went to the City Hall and noticed the beautiful building and the interior statues and paintings.  We wondered about security – well it turns out we weren’t supposed to be upstairs and someone came and told us to go out!  I did get some nice pictures though.

Maybe you have noticed that Norm is very intrigued by the knockers!

Here are some pictures of the city.

The tree above is said to be one of the giant trees brought to Spain from the New World by Columbus!

The picture below is of a spice shop. I love how they display their merchandise.

This is the front and back view of the sea gates to the city.

We visited three churches.  Here are pictures of two of them.  I will save the third for a more full description.

The second one:

And now for the most amazing one, the Cathedral on the Sea also known as the Holy Cross Cathedral over the sea or Catedral Nueva.

It was built in the 18th century in Baroque style and Neoclassical style was added later. It took 116 years to complete. It is huge and is decorated all in stone.  The yellow dome adds a Moorish feel to the building.

There is a 6 Euro entry fee for this church and it is well worth it.  There are many chapels all around the huge interior. I took photos of just a few of them.  The choir section has many built in seats and the organ is quite impressive.

I tried to take a panoramic photo but it doesn’t accurately portray the size and beauty.

The visit includes the crypt where there are tombs of many of the notable people of the time.

The crypt is actually below sea level!

We then climbed up to the tower and what a view from there!

The market here is a beautiful old building, but not too many stalls were open.

We did some shopping, Norm bought a pair of shoes and I got a couple of tops.  I wanted white jeans which I said I would get when I got home.  Well, the next shop we passed had some that I saw from the window.  And they were perfect!! Viva Spain!

We had lunch at a lovely sidewalk café off of one of the beautiful plazas or squares of the city.  It is always better to find an out of the way place – less crowded and less expensive.  This one was wonderful and the food was delicious.

It was a great day – we love Spain and each city is special.

Tomorrow and Wednesday we will be in Lisbon, Portugal.