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| Playa de la Caleta |
I traveled to the city of Cádiz for the second time on Saturday. This time though, it was a day trip with CIEE and the streets weren't flooded with people dressed up costumes like during Carnaval. This city in southern Spain is actually an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and is situated only 18 kilometers from Africa (we could faintly see the mountains of the African coast when looking across the water). Cádiz is about 3,000 years old (one of the oldest cities in Europe) and is crucial to the history of Spain. In the 1700s the king declared Cádiz as the primary port for Spain. Pirates were no longer an issue, so ships coming from the colonies/America didn't need to take the Guadalquivir into Sevilla. With this influx of colonial products and the development of a tobacco factory, the city experienced a golden age and wealth. Later in history, this island location was a key protection factor during the Napoleonic Wars. Originally, there was a wall that circled the island, making it almost impossible to invade. This is important because as Napoleon's army progressively conquered the country, they were never successful in Cádiz. Quick fact about Napoleon: during the Peninsular War, Napoleon had convinced Spain to join him in invading Portugal, and in return he would leave Spain alone...Spain quickly found out that was a lie. After taking Madrid, Napoleon locked away the Spanish king, Charles IV. Luckily, the Spanish government remained unified by moving their base to Cádiz. It was then here that in 1812 the parliament proclaimed the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812. Although it was never fully in effect, the 1812 Constitution influenced the one that Spain has today.
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| Parque Genovés |
Okay, enough history, but the reason I bring up this piece of history is that the Constitution was announced and read to the public on March 19th, 1812 in Plaza de San Antonio. Not only did I walk through this plaza, but the date was March 19th, so there were several tributes and activities going on in Cádiz related to this. For example, there were a couple small bands that were marching around the city, a person dressed up as Napoleon, and street decorations. I thought it was quite hilarious that there were people in costumes roaming the streets of Cádiz because my host parents have given me the impression that people of Cádiz are always happy and it's very normal for them to wear a costume any day of the week (probably not exactly true). These residents are known for their witty humor though.
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| view from Torre de Poniente |
On our tour of the city, we started at the Puerta Tierra, an entrance to the city that is a monument representing the protective wall around Cádiz. The first important site was the neoclassical government building (ayuntamiento). We learned that the city's flag depicts Hercules between two columns because of the mythical legend that here is where he separated Africa from Europe and the remnants of this separation is the Straight of Gibraltar (on the Puerta there were also two columns referencing this, but on top were the patron saints that protect the city and cathedral). As we moved along, we passed through the medieval city, or older part that was built upon Roman ruins that date back to the time of Julius Caesar. The city expanded in population and beauty during their golden years. Just outside the door of the old city is the neoclassic cathedral and center plaza. The cathedral has two towers and we were able to walk up to the top of the Torre de Poniente. The view was awesome and we got our first look at the beaches of Cádiz! The water color was soooo pretty and I was shocked by how narrow the island actually is. Widthwise, to get from one side to the other would probably only be an 8 minute walk. Coming back down, we took a scenic boardwalk along the city's coast. Passing through Parque Genovés there were lots of decorative plants and trees. Finally, we made it to the beach!!! - Playa de la Caleta. Since it was the first time going to the beach in Spain, everyone was anxious to get there. It was gorgeous and I was disappointed I didn't bring my swimsuit because we had 3 hours of free time aka beach time. I was tempted to just go in with my clothes on, but settled for sticking my feet in. Interesting fact is that this is the beach where they filmed part of the James Bond, Die Another Day movie. Cádiz is said to resemble Havana, Cuba in a lot of ways (although Cádiz was first). In my picture you can see the white building that juts out into the beach area. I asked what this was and apparently it used to be a place for rich people to come take in some fresh air and enjoy the scenery, but not be out in the sun because tan skin meant you were a poorer person that needed to manual labor outdoors (now it is a building for underwater archeology...there are many boats that were sunk in the nearby water so they look at the artifacts that remain).
Sunday morning rise and shine. Courtney and I got up early to go on a hiking trip near Huelva. The area was called Santa Olalla and the route was 14 kilometers (about 8.7 miles). The hike started at a castle and continued on through the Spanish country-side. The two times I've gone hiking in Spain, I've been surprised by the scenery...the rolling green hills and animals (we saw sheep, bulls, horses, and pigs) are more of what I picture as Ireland. There were also large fields of pretty little white and yellow flowers. Courtney and I were really hoping to see a waterfall because a different hike had one...there wasn't one in this area, but we did get to see a huge quarry where they
mine for copper.
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