Un Día en Cádiz

This past weekend we took a day trip to Cádiz, a coastal city about an hour and a half south of Sevilla. We started our visit with a walking tour of the city center and learned a little bit about its history. Cádiz has been an important port city in the past. During the 1500s, goods such as tobacco, tomatoes, and chocolate all passed through this city to be transported to the rest of Spain. We saw important landmarks and buildings like the Ayuntamiento de Cádiz (City Hall) as well as the ruins of an ancient theater from Roman times. We also saw replicas of two Egyptian tombs that were discovered in this very city. The continent of Africa has only a distance of about 8km from Spain.

After a small ice cream break, the students got to visit the cathedral that is literally next to the ocean. Once inside, we climbed up one of the bell towers. It was exhausting but well worth it because the views from the top are spectacular. It is said that on a very clear day you can see Africa from the bell tower. We couldn't test that theory because it was a bit hazy but the views of the city itself were still amazing. Some students claimed that the cityscape reminded them of Greece because of all the white facades while others said it looked more like Cuba. After the tower we went inside the cathedral and visited the crypt. Both fascinating and a bit eerie, the students loved the fact that it was below sea level and that the material used to build the cathedral was a special stone that was covered in seashells. 

Our last stop of the city tour was the fish market. This spot was filled with mixed expressions from the students. While some were shocked to see merchants chop up entire fish, others said that the fish market made them hungry. I too must admit that I was impressed by the variety of sea food they had. One merchant had the head of a tuna that must have been five feet long. 

We ended the day going to the beach. It was the perfect way to end our first week in Sevilla. 

Sun. Sand. and Ocean.