It's a taxi ride into town but that's OK because the old town of Cadiz is a city worth walking around for a couple of days. The tourist bureau people were extremely helpful and a brochure provides information about four different walks which are marked out with painted lines along the relevant streets. It is a fabulous idea as we didn't need to look at our map to find our way and the main buildings have signs with historical information written in Spanish and English.
As Cadiz is the oldest city in Europe there are some archeological sites dating back to the Phoenicians, but most of the current buildings are about 300 years old. The narrow cobbled streets are kept very clean and many impressive wooden doors open into beautifully tiled entrance foyers of apartment buildings. The foyers lead into courtyards, which are a light-well for the surrounding three storeys of apartments. When these were private homes the family had living areas on the first level, bedrooms on the second level and the servants' quarters on the top level. The magnificent cathedral was well worth a visit, especially to see the enormous underground crypt, but one of the best features of Cadiz is the number of plazas and parks throughout the town, many of them with shady trees.
By the time we reached the main shopping streets it was siesta time so the streets were deserted. We were disappointed in our tapas lunch next to the market but we found a fabulous bakery/cafe (Panarea) and the Orange phone shop in Ancha Street (near site 52 of the purple walk), where there are also excellent book shops. We are learning to have siesta time too during the heat of the afternoon so after a rest back at the boat we returned to town for dinner at about 8.30 pm. What a change! Everyone was out shopping, promenading or having a coffee or alcoholic beverage as they watched the world go by. The streets were packed with people.
Greg, Bob and I had dinner at a restaurant in Plaza San Antonio, at the outside tables in the open in the plaza. We were surrounded by local families who gathered for the adults to chat while the children played, racing around on scooters, bouncing and kicking balls or just running about. One group of eight boys, about 3-4 years old, sat in a tight circle while one of them shared his bag of small toys until their mothers collected each of them to go home at about 10.30. It was fabulous to see the interaction of the community and kids outside playing rather than being blobs in front of TV or with electronic gadgets and we appreciate how smart their town planners were to include so many great meeting places amongst the homes.
Anne and Richard found Virgen de la Palma, an interesting restaurant street with palm trees and had a very good tapas meal there.