Cádiz!

May 21, 2011

So today was Cádiz!

It was a perfect day weather wise. It was not too hot or too cold, sun was out, not a cloud in the sky! I woke up, showered, ate breakfast, packed my bags, and we were off by 9:30! Our group met at a meeting spot and 9 and we took a bus. It was about an hour and 15 minutes away – not bad at all! Plus it was a nice bus haha. When we got there, we had 3 tour guides that taught us about the city.

The city is divided into 2 parts – “nueva” y “vieja” (old & new). The new part has more modern buildings while the old part is sooooo quaint. Cádiz is the oldest city in Western Europe. I can’t remember the year it was built, but 1500’s sounds about right. We took a bus through the town with the guides telling us information about buildings and such. Then we got off and began an hour and a half walking tour. We stopped at many important monuments. I took lots of pictures but I can’t remember what half of the places were called. They were important historically with the “constitución” in Cádiz, but the tour was in Spanish so I wouldn’t get the names right if I tried haha. I did understand & learn a lot though!

After the walking tour we had free time. My friends and I literally spent a good 4 hours on the beach and it was awesome. Beautiful beautiful. Working on my tan so I can blend in with my Spaniards a bit more. Which reminds me, when I was walking home from cena last night my friend and I got a bit lost. I stopped and asked someone for directions but we were all confused. (Side note – you all know how good I usually am with directions. I’m pretty good with knowing where I am and where I am going. But Seville, and probably many other places in Europe, is so different. The streets are narrow and winding and there’s probably 400,000 of them, and they’re unlabeled. I’ve never had the feeling of ‘being lost’ really in my life until I got here. Wow!) Anyway, the people that were trying to help us asked my friend where she was from (she’s from NY) and then they proceeded to ask me if I was from Seville! I was excited because I was talking to them in Spanish to begin with. I’ll take it as a complement J

We left Cádiz around 5:30. I got back around 7 and showered and changed. I could barely keep my eyes open! My señora got back around 9, we ate by 9:30, then I went to the café to check my email and facebook. I’m sorry if I don’t get back to you all promptly but I really appreciate the posts and messages you have sent! They make me smile, and I do read them, but sometimes I don’t have time to write back, so I’m sorry in advanced!

Spain is great. I understand more and more every day. Immersion really is the only way to really learn Spanish. I hope to be able to respond more very soon. Anyway, I’m exhausted and tomorrow we are hiking (7-9 miles oh dear!). I probably won’t post this until after the hike, or maybe even Monday. Pictures will be coming soon on my facebook as well. I’m awful at taking pictures unfortunately, and most of them are of buildings. They don’t do the real deal justice though. This place is sooooo beyond words beautiful!

Hasta pronto!

Kate