Cadiz (Andalusia), Spain

In a complete change of pace, I went on a land-based tour that covered Andalusia in general and not just the city of Cadiz. But let’s start with the city.

Cadiz is an island-port city in the SW corner of the Iberian peninsula. The island was first settled in 1100 BC (ish) by Phoenician traders, who referred to their trading post as the end of the world. Because (of course) the Earth was still flat back then, and anyone who kept sailing west from there was bound to fall off the edge.

Fortunately, we did not fall off the edge of the world when we left Cadiz. Instead, we wandered aimlessly inland, passing from the salt flats (where salt is still harvested today, although not as plentifully as in Roman times) to the farmland; through the fishing villages and the pine forests –

Yes, that is a pine tree. It’s called an umbrella pine.

We wandered past the spot where the battle of Trafalgar took place, and also the Trafalgar lighthouse. As this was not our final destination, I never got an opportunity to pay money to climb the staircase – nuts! But the beach there is quite the favorite with kite surfers, and we saw upwards of 30 surfers out enjoying the wind and the waves.

<No Kite-Surfing Photo Available. The coach windows were tinted and almost all of the photos I tried to take from inside it ended up overlaid with a blurry image of my face or phone. Whatever.>

These are from a rest stop along the way. Lovely little village.

Tomorrow – on to Gibraltar (squeeeeeee)