Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

August 25

We sailed into the port of Cadiz, Spain about 9:30 this morning – it is a beautiful day here.  Cadiz is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Europe, founded in about 1100 BC.  It is a city of both old and new and surrounded almost entirely by water.  In fact, it used to be an island until they filled in a part and now it is a peninsula.  There are forts, beautiful churches and remains of old city walls, and, of course, beaches.  They have 8 km of beach here.  Today the huge Anthem of the Sea is also in port, and they have enlarged the port so that 6 ships can be here at one time.  Today, only two, thank goodness.

We took a long walk around the town, we learned that breakfast occurs here at about 10:30 and the cafes were opening up.  In fact, if you want to do business, say at a bank, at 10:30, don’t try.  No matter how long the lines are, the staff takes their break for breakfast.  And, lunch is at 3 and is the main meal of the day, so they will say good morning up until 3. Dinner is at 10 PM, typically, and is usually tapas and drinks.

Parking is tough here and people pay more for a parking spot than for their apartment!

Tapas, by the way, originated here and literally means “lid”.  It was because there was a lot of dirt and dust in the summer so at the outdoor cafes, the customers would put a saucer over their drink, then put ham or other small items in it, just enough to fit in the saucer.  Now we know it as “small plates” and around here it costs usually 2 -3 euros.

Lots of wonderful buildings, not so much tile here.  This is one of the churches – totally unimpressive from the outside, but wow, what is inside!

A couple of things about this part of Europe in general.  Seat belts are mandatory in tour buses, and the driver can be fined if passengers don’t wear them so we are constantly reminded.  I don’t know about public buses.  Also there are MANY circles or roundabouts here.

Spain is having a tough time now, unemployment is 25% and many young people are leaving Spain to find jobs elsewhere.

A couple of our wanderings, Norm is trying to hold up an old building, and I wanted to buy this dress but he said it wasn’t my color!!!

Look at the size of those knockers!

After lunch (and we do not eat lunch at 3!) we went on a tour of two of the famous “White Villages” of Andalucia, the name of this area of Spain.  On the way, we saw flamingos that summer here and some stork nests, as well as fields of sunflowers that they use for oil, and the olive groves for the oil that they export all over the world.  We also saw bulls that are used for bull fighting, those bulls are treated like royalty here.  There are many wind turbines and if people agree to have them on their land, they are paid 6000 euros/windmill/year and they can have up to 6.

The villages are Medina Sidonia and Arcos de la Frontera.  Both are charming. We walked on very narrow streets and visited some churches and saw other historic buildings, most built on the ruins of Muslim buildings from the Arab origins of this area.  In Arcos, we took a small train way up to the village.  We also stopped for tapas before we did the winding walk down.

We were happy to be here where the temperature only got to 95 degrees, instead of opting for Seville where it reached 120 today, apparently typical of this time of year.

This is a convent of cloistered silent nuns. They sell pastries but you never see the nuns, they slip them through a small door.

Our tapas today

a practically perfect day!

August 22

We are now in the north of Spain, in the city of La Corona.  It is typically cloudy here and very green with temperate climate all year.  We expected rain, but it turned out sunny the whole time we were out and rained after we returned to the ship in the afternoon.

The city symbol

This is one of Spain’s busiest ports.  It is sometimes called the crystal city as they have a lot of glass here and the buildings that face the sea are notable for this.  Some is plain glass and some stained glass, and it is a beautiful sight.

We visited a market where the local people were buying their fish, meats, fruit and vegetables.

And the entrance to a lovely garden where John Moore is buried.

The cathedral here, the 12th century Church of Santiago – the oldest church in La Corona was the first stop on the camino ingles (English route) to Santiago de Compostela. St James is poised on a large column.  There are five smooth grooves here, formed by the millions of pilgrims who have placed their hands here over the centuries.

We saw one of the fortress castle -St. Anthony’s Castle – a 16th century fort.

We enjoyed the rehearsal of a symphony here while having the first two of our tapas stops at lunch.

We were lucky to sample many dishes in areas that the locals enjoy their tapas and wine or beer. White wine at the first stop and red at the second.

The second stop, the King of Ham! And it was all delicious

The inside of the second tapas place. The ham is all cured differently, which accounts for the different tastes

New friends from Dallas

First tapas place overlooking the courtyard and listening to the symphony practice

We were lucky to sample many dishes in areas that the locals enjoy their tapas and wine or beer.

There was a local arts exhibit and I bought a locally made necklace and earrings.  A beautiful day!

August 21

We docked in Gijon, Spain this morning, the port is a very industrial place, nothing of interest to see here at the port, but the town has an older section.  We went on an excursion to Aviles, a town about 20 minutes from Gijon.

Aviles is a industrial city in the midst of a cultural transformation. Oscar Neimeyer designed an international cultural center in the Brazilian style. It is a very futuristic building which really contrasts with the medieval 12th and 13th century buildings in the old town.

This part of the building is yellow to signify Brazilian beaches and the art is a woman reclining on the beach. Look carefully!

We saw the 13th century Church of Sabugo and the municipal palace, as well as lots of charming old buildings in the “poor” section of town and then the “rich” section. We had a stop at a bakery where we sampled two of the local pastries, one was very much like a challah and one like a small cake with sweet icing.  We had our coffee there, outside on a square.

The streets are paved this way, very different from the cobblestones we have seen.

Later, after more touring in the old city, we stopped at a traditional “llagar” where the outstanding apple cider made in the Asturias region is served.  We had three kinds of the fermented cider, known as “sidra” which is poured from a bottle held high overhead so it aerates on its way to the glass which enhances the flavor and aroma.  With the cider, we had local cheeses.  Delicious!   There was singing going on and sawdust on the floor to absorb the cider that escapes when pouring from such a height.  We sampled the one that is drunk the most in the pubs, which is meant to be swallowed in all one drink, one that is more like a wine, and one that is like the sparkling cava.  I liked the sparkling one best.

Norm chugs his cider

The display of the different bottles

Friends sharing a good time!

The cheese plate after we devoured most of it

Aeration!

This town is also on the Santiago de Compostela and there is a small ceramic marker to signify that.