11 December ’05, Sunday.
Going through our copy of Bruce and Peg’s diary the last couple of days, we found that for the first time we are following in their foot steps, only 5 years later. I think we are about 1 or 2 days behind them now, but as I said, 5 years later. It’s fun to read their diary and then write one for us. Peg, if you ever read this, please don’t feel that I am plagiarizing your work… This afternoon we pulled into Cadiz just after noon, and headed for the “old town” that was established in 1100 BC, although what we see today only dates back to the mid 1500’s. Being a Sunday, I was shocked at how many local people had come into town. It was packed and parking??? Non-existent… We thought about parking in the bus zones and even some of the other areas that we know are trouble, but we opted not to because we saw for the first time, a motorbike that had a “boot” attached to the wheel. Now most often a motorbike has pretty much carte blanche, but seeing the boot…we opted to keep looking. Finally, after traveling the main route, and the narrow alleyways, we found a spot just long enough for us to squeeze into. To top that off, Sundays are free… Cadiz is a town of about 150,000 +, and the old city is pretty much right on the water. The town is built out on a spit, and fills it in completely. Another 100 yards out into the water is an old fortress that is linked to the mainland by a narrow walkway. In the city a small part of the fortress wall is seen here and there. Huddled between are many of the ancient buildings of the old town and most proud yet, are the basilica and the churches of Cadiz. We really enjoyed our time by visiting the churches, walking the “pedestrian” areas window shopping, browsing the street markets, and finding a “perfect” Tapa’s Bar for lunch. Fortunately we took the time to visit Cadiz, because it was one town that we had almost passed. In leaving, we found ourselves fighting a head wind for the next 60 or so miles. Just prior to arriving in Tarifa, we came upon a mountain completely topped with the huge windmills that were generating power for most of the towns of the area. You would think that this was “The” power supply for all of Spain… Tonight we are spending a night in a campground that has about 3 “day campers” and 40 “full time” campers registered. With the wind coming into this area, it makes this coastline one of the finest areas for windsurfers in all of Europe. The beach is about 400 meters down the road. On our walk after arriving, we saw about 10 camper units sitting at the beach and every one of them was there to enjoy the wind and surf. About 100 yards back off the beach are some huge sand dunes that attracts the dune buggies and ATV’s. Well, it’s been a nice walk, a nice day, and we’ve seen some great sites…tomorrow…Tarifa
Going through our copy of Bruce and Peg’s diary the last couple of days, we found that for the first time we are following in their foot steps, only 5 years later. I think we are about 1 or 2 days behind them now, but as I said, 5 years later. It’s fun to read their diary and then write one for us. Peg, if you ever read this, please don’t feel that I am plagiarizing your work… This afternoon we pulled into Cadiz just after noon, and headed for the “old town” that was established in 1100 BC, although what we see today only dates back to the mid 1500’s. Being a Sunday, I was shocked at how many local people had come into town. It was packed and parking??? Non-existent… We thought about parking in the bus zones and even some of the other areas that we know are trouble, but we opted not to because we saw for the first time, a motorbike that had a “boot” attached to the wheel. Now most often a motorbike has pretty much carte blanche, but seeing the boot…we opted to keep looking. Finally, after traveling the main route, and the narrow alleyways, we found a spot just long enough for us to squeeze into. To top that off, Sundays are free… Cadiz is a town of about 150,000 +, and the old city is pretty much right on the water. The town is built out on a spit, and fills it in completely. Another 100 yards out into the water is an old fortress that is linked to the mainland by a narrow walkway. In the city a small part of the fortress wall is seen here and there. Huddled between are many of the ancient buildings of the old town and most proud yet, are the basilica and the churches of Cadiz. We really enjoyed our time by visiting the churches, walking the “pedestrian” areas window shopping, browsing the street markets, and finding a “perfect” Tapa’s Bar for lunch. Fortunately we took the time to visit Cadiz, because it was one town that we had almost passed. In leaving, we found ourselves fighting a head wind for the next 60 or so miles. Just prior to arriving in Tarifa, we came upon a mountain completely topped with the huge windmills that were generating power for most of the towns of the area. You would think that this was “The” power supply for all of Spain… Tonight we are spending a night in a campground that has about 3 “day campers” and 40 “full time” campers registered. With the wind coming into this area, it makes this coastline one of the finest areas for windsurfers in all of Europe. The beach is about 400 meters down the road. On our walk after arriving, we saw about 10 camper units sitting at the beach and every one of them was there to enjoy the wind and surf. About 100 yards back off the beach are some huge sand dunes that attracts the dune buggies and ATV’s. Well, it’s been a nice walk, a nice day, and we’ve seen some great sites…tomorrow…Tarifa