A day in Cádiz and a weekend in Jerez

We kicked off the weekend by going on a day-trip to Cádiz, which is a short 45 minute train ride from Jerez. The train station here is beautiful - designed by Anibal Gonzalez who also designed the Plaza de España, which we saw and loved when we were in Seville. With similar Moorish arches and tile design, it makes waiting for the train a pleasure.....the station café is a good one too!
One quick note for anyone of retirement age travelling by train in Spain....showing proof of your advanced age will not automatically secure you a discount (unlike Portugal, where it will). A “golden” pass has to be purchased first - it’s a good deal at €6 per person if you plan to use the train often when visiting the country.
There was not much to see between the two cities - except factories, fields full of sunflowers and salt flats, which start to appear when closer to the ocean.
We arrived at the train station in Cádiz, which is only a very short walk to the city centre.....along the way we passed the port, where the cruise ships drop anchor. The port is important to Cádiz and is home to the Spanish Navy, which has a rich naval history......the famous Battle of Trafalgar (October 21, 1805) took place just west of here - between Cape Cádiz and the straits of Gibraltar. Admiral Nelson died in the battle while fighting France & Spain, but the British won the battle, ending Napoleon’s plans to invade England.
Cádiz is also the the oldest city in Europe - founded by the Phoenicians - it has archaeological remains that go back 3100 years. One of Cadiz’s most famous landmarks is its 18th century cathedral, which features baroque and neoclassical elements. Located right on the waterfront, its dome can be seen throughout the city. Making our way towards the cathedral we entered the main square of town - The Plaza of San Juan de Dios. This area is very clean and has a row of contemporary-style fountains fronting an attractive statue. The square, which is open to the harbour, also leads into the commercial centre of Cádiz.....it is however, not a new area, but of medieval origin and has been both the commercial and the administrative centre of the city since the 16th century. There’s no shortage of cafés around, and there’s also a small, permanent handicraft market to occupy tourists. As we lingered to admire the square, we were fortunate enough to see a performance by a flamenco dancer and listen to the guitar player who was accompanying her.
Another few minutes walk brought us to the Cathedral square, which is the historic centre of Cádiz. The Cathedral is lovely, with an impressive façade and flanked by palm trees, it’s a gathering place for tourists, and a meeting point for locals. The square itself is very attractive - on another side of it is the Santiago Church, and on the opposite side is the Arco de la Rosa - a preserved 13th century arch - part of the remains from the old medieval walls of the city.....and around the back of the cathedral is the Atlantic Ocean....which is where we headed!
We’d decided ahead of time that most, if not all, “monuments and buildings” would be off limits during our day long trip to Cádiz.......and that we would just walk the city streets, allowing them to take us in whatever direction looked interesting to us at the time - and we did (mostly) stick to plan! There is nothing that is strikingly upscale about Cádiz - and once away from the couple of main squares that are full of the more frantic “monument seekers,” it seems to be a place for locals and visitors alike, to wander the streets, sit at cafès, go to the beach and just enjoy the atmosphere.
We strolled the whole length of the promenade - from the back of the cathedral to where it ends at the north west end of the peninsula......and that’s where we deviated a little from our plan, by stepping inside the Castillo de Santa Catalina. There’s actually not much to see, but it’s a pleasant little stop-off and the entrance is free. On the grounds there’s a small chapel, and the walk around the upper wall gives some lovely views of the ocean - plus some good opportunities for photos! From these walls another castle can be seen - the Castile de San Sebastian. We’d seen it as we’d walked along the promenade, but unfortunately for us, it’s currently under repair - together with the long breakwater path that leads up to it. There’s also a good view of an old white domed pavilion that divides Caleta beach in two.......the building’s claim to fame is that it was once used as a swanky hotel in the movie “Die Another Day” with Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry.
We retraced our steps along the promenade - all the while enjoying the ocean views....and the welcome breezes! Passing by the cathedral and walking along the promenade in the opposite direction, we thought that we’d found the entrance to the remains of a Roman Theatre - but it turned out to be a small art gallery - a bit disappointing, but after a few missed turns through the old city streets we found the one thing that we’d decided to seek out while in Cádiz. These amazing remains were found in 1980 when a 13th century fort, which had been abandoned since the end of the 18th century, was being destroyed.......a subterranean semi-circular design was recognized along with a Roman Theatre. Probably built during the 1st century BC, it was one of the largest ever built in the Roman Empire - and it’s still only partially excavated! Built to take advantage of the slope of land on which it stands, it has a tiered semi-circular floor spanning over 120 metres that would have accommodated 20,000 spectators.
This hard to find spectacular piece of history also contains a small museum with artifacts and scale models to help explain details. After the museum, we walked through 75 preserved metres of a vaulted, ring-shaped gallery which would have given preferred access to the seats.....for us it provided the way outside to see and admire the theatre......and give us goosebumps! One final note on this “hidden gem” - during the time that we were there, we saw only a few other visitors...and, amazingly, entrance is free!
The latter part of our day in Cádiz was spent just “mooching” around the streets - at one time accidentally finding the excellent market area, where we sat and enjoyed a cold beer, before slowly making our way back to the train station....only getting “lost” a couple of times. On one occasion when our opinions differed on which direction we should take, we enlisted the help of a local man who we’d seen earlier in the day - but it was really his dog - an Airedale Terrier - that had got our attention. We’ve been fortunate enough to have had 2 of these wonderful dogs, so it seemed logical (to us) that he would be the guy to ask for directions.....and.....we would also get to pet his dog! Directions to the station were “sketchy” - given that neither side spoke the language of the other....but we did manage to communicate our mutual love of Airedales and, although we didn’t get the name of the man, we did find out that his dog’s name is “Terry.”
We arrived back at our apartment in Jerez almost 12 hours after leaving - too tired to go out for our usual evening stroll after such a long day of walking....we’d exceeded our usual number of steps and had walked just over 20 kilometres....a personal record!.....so we decided that the weekend would be quiet - and is was....kind of!
After sleeping late on Saturday morning, we followed up with a leisurely breakfast, before stepping out to buy provisions for the weekend (all but a few souvenir shops close early on Saturday and stay closed all day Sunday). Our first stop was at the market here in town. Open 6 days a week, this traditional food market in Jerez is housed in an old, high-ceilinged building where its stallholders happily serve customers a variety of fresh fish, meat and produce. With a lively atmosphere, the market and its immediate surroundings are a great place to walk around and “hang out” - there are, of course, plenty of cafés within the area. The fresh fish sold here is especially renowned - Jerez being only 20km from the sea.
The remainder of the day was quiet, although from time to time we did hear some stirring music floating in through the open windows - plus we heard even more church bells than usual. When we emerged for our evening stroll around 9.30 pm we found the source......the road leading to the church at the end of our street was blocked by police, and some kind of ceremonial procession was entering the church - accompanied by quite a few musicians and lots of people! After waiting for a while, the crowd seemed to thin out and, with only the continuing peal of bells, we went on our way and finished the stroll with a late night drink at our favourite bar.....thinking that was it.....not so!
Sunday was another lazy day, with just an afternoon walk to stretch our legs, we emerged again around 9-ish for our evening stroll. We passed “our church” commenting that all seemed quiet there and back to normal, but after rounding the next corner we found ourselves in the middle of a crowd who were watching what seemed to be a continuation of the parade from the night before! This time we were assaulted by the powerful scent of incense, the same stirring music that was louder than ever and a large float, bearing a religious statue, that was being carried aloft by a group of strong young men (who did take a rest from time to time!) Not knowing the religious significance, we watched for a while before squeezing through the crowd and getting ahead of the whole procession. We settled in at our favourite bar - enjoying the busy, late Sunday evening - with a front row table that gave us a great spot to watch whole families, from babies to the elderly, walking around, eating gelato and choosing tables at their own favourite places. After an hour or more we were ready to leave when what should appear around the corner?.......yep....the whole procession again - which had, apparently been slowly making its way along the streets of Jerez. With people beginning to stand in front of our table, a man at the next table to us motioned for me to stand up......he then positioned my seat back in front of the crowd....Trevor followed quickly with his own seat - and our table....so this time we really did got a good view of everything!
With a special thanks to my friend Barb for doing some research - there is apparently in this area, every year on July 29th, an unconventional pilgrimage which involves the carrying of an effigy of Santa Marta throughout the town, taking “her” to and from the cemetery.....it’s a celebration and a giving of thanks on behalf of a family member or a loved one who have had a “brush with death” in that year. In some places people carry coffins and/or dress in funeral attire! We saw neither of those eccentricities and cannot say if this was the same event.....but it was interesting to watch and left us wondering what might happen during our last few days in Jerez!