In Jerez and Cadiz

October 24, 2022

Off the bikes for a day

I was up in good time, and arrived at the Trek bike store promptly for their opening at 9 am after a less than 10 minute bike ride. Rear brake pads were installed in a jiffy. The sales guy spoke pretty good English, and he was excited that I live near the Whistler bike park (well, relatively speaking - I didn’t try to explain that it was over 500 km away from my home). Singletrack biking is apparently not legal where he’s from - the Canary Islands. He'd like to visit Canada, but he’s horrified by the thought of six months of winter. He said that his father figured Canada must be a good country, because it's rarely in the news.

I was back from the shop in under an hour, and Gail and I left to walk to the train station for a day trip to Cadiz. We walked quickly, skipping shopping at a frutería - and then it turned out that our train was 30 min late. Not Swiss trains! But the access was easy, and it only cost a few dollars for the 30-ish km trip to Cadiz.

There were lots of sad looking apartment blocks en route, and dry looking fields. Are masks mandatory on trains? Must be. Everyone seems to be wearing one. We did too.

We walked around the old town of Cadiz and viewed a very cool Roman theatre that has been excavated fairly recently. Then had lunch of tortellitas de camarones (fried shrimp omelet) and salmorejo next to a noisy construction site.

We headed for the beach after lunch, walking out to a closed castillo at the end of the causeway. A few men were fishing using enormous rods. It was a hot day, so we changed into our swim suits right on the beach and enjoyed a leisurely dip. Unlike Malaga, we had company on the beach and in the water.

The public toilets on the beach were closed, of course. Just like the toilets in the Cadiz train stain were closed upon our arrival. And we have yet to see a toilet or outhouse at a hiking trailhead. I'm baffled.

After our swim, we headed back towards the train station, with a quick stop for ice cream. The lineup for train tickets wasn't moving. Good thing Gail figured out how to buy tickets for the 5:15 pm train from the machine. We sat opposite two young women who never stopped talking the whole way to Jerez. It was exhausting just listening to them.

An example of Spanish wiring. How do they ever figure it out?

This is a recycling bin painted to demonstrate breast self-exams. Genius!

Part of the Roman theatre, build in the 1st century BCE; the ruins were discovered only in 1980.

Steps of the theatre. Apparently it was one of the largest theatres in the entire Roman empire; it could hold 10,000 spectators.

Another beautiful fortress-like doorway. They're everywhere.

Salmorejo for lunch. I should have photographed it before I stirred in all the ham and hard boiled egg.

Cadiz waterfront. There are a couple of small beaches, but most of it looks like this.

A fortress that juts out into the Atlantic. It's not open to the public.

Our swimming beach, just to the left of the causeway. Unlike Malaga, we weren't the only people swimming this day.

On the way back from the train station, we bought a load of fresh veggies and a jar of white beans, along with a bottle of verdejo, and made ourselves dinner. It felt great to eat a plate of vegetables. Spanish food is delicious, but vegetable-forward it ain't.

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