Cadiz

Apart from the occasional passenger from a cruise ship, at this time of year the sight of a Brit in T shirt and shorts is quite a rarity in Cadiz, most people are dressed as if it’s winter!

Although the place is a regular port of call for the cruise ships, Cadiz is very much for the Spanish and I certainly am the odd one out, in more than dress code. 

I suppose it was only to be expected that booking a hotel in the historical centre for what seemed to be a ‘competitive’ rate was bound to come with some compromises. The five storey town house has a small roof terrace and cafe (only open 4-10pm) but my room is a little depressing and hence I may well depart a day early. It’s clean with standard facilities, but small with no natural light, a sort of very large cupboard with the ambience of a posh prison cell. I’m maybe over egging the pud a little and being a tad harsh, but suffice to say it’s not really my cup of tea.

Friday morning I tried to find some breakfast, one might think that by 9am the cafes would be open, but it seems that despite the town being on Central European Time, the people are actually operating on GMT! I managed to find a little cafe not far from the hotel where the owner took pity on this unusual looking character meandering around the narrow streets. It seemed that he opened up especially for me, although I had noticed he was about 45 minutes behind his advertised opening time but hey, this is Spain so I suppose mañana is the rule of thumb. I took the easy option and plumped for the special offer of fresh orange juice, a coffee and a toasted ham roll for €5.50, and not long after consumption yet again regretted the choice, I really need to stop eating their bread! But I managed a four mile touristy walk around the town without the need to divert to the nearest servicos, so I’ll mark that down as a result.

Just for good measure I knocked out a 5 miler in the afternoon sunshine so now have a warm head and tired legs. Tomorrow I will drive!