Sep 13, 2012 - Beginning of my journey

Today, I'm gearing myself for an exciting voyage. My route has been plotted and now I'm double checking to assure I have all my vital supplies in order. Supplies: 1.Adequate amount of food (specifically: rice, sugar, unleavened bread, and flour)water, and trading material (cloth, molasses) 2.Map (which contains my route) and compass 3.Telescope 4.Nets and poles Unfortunately, the navigational process is grueling because of the insufficient techniques and I may have difficulty seeing where I'm going. On the bright side, I have a decent...

Aug 7, 2012 - Cadiz - Sea & Bus

We had breakfast in our room and watched the ship dock at Cadiz. We were all ready to leave as soon as the gangway was down. Christine again decided to stay on board as we were going swimming. We decided to take the Hop-on-Hop-off bus as it went to the beaches. We were at the beach in a couple of stops and went down to a lovely wide, soft sand of Santa Maria Beach. The water was decidedly cooler than at Ajaccio, and only feet got wet today. We walked along the beach a way and the children searched for shells and built sand castles. We got...

May 17, 2012 - Cadiz

After toast and coffee at the hotel, we began the drive along the coast to Cadiz. They say Cadiz is the oldest continually occupied city in Europe. The old town includes a Roman Theater and an Arab castle. The Roman Theater was being renovated. Hm. Perhaps more “reconstructed.” Lots of bags of cement and big rocks lying around. Still, impressive to think that the Romans built an out-lying port there and had a booming civilization. The real glory days of Cadiz were in the 18th Century. Columbus began two of his four trips to America from...

Apr 14, 2012 - Cadiz, Spain

April 14 - Cadiz, Spain (Cadiz is in the southern Spanish 'province' of Andalusia – famous for its port wine and horses.) Our 'gift day' in Cadiz was great despite extremely strong winds and some rain at times. We left the ship about 12:45 with raincoats and good maps of 4 walking tours we could take. This is a lovely walled city, Europe's most ancient city still standing. It has gorgeous architecture, intriguing narrow streets, and magnificent parks along the seaside promenade & wall. We encountered terrific winds whenever we were near the...

Mar 20, 2012 - Spain - Cadiz in Andalucia

20 March: We left Vila Real at 7.20am at low tide and were immediately in Spanish waters. We raised the mainsail with a reef as strong winds were forecast with gusts to 18 or 20 knots (roughly 40 kilometres/hour). We originally planned to make Mazagon our next stop, but the wind was from the NE so it would have been a hard slog; instead we decided to make it a long day and head straight to Cadiz. The wind reduced in the middle of the day and it was touch and go whether we would make it to Cadiz in daylight, but then the wind really picked...

Nov 17, 2011 - white cities

During the night we sailed through the straits of Gibraltar out of the Mediterranean and north to Cadiz for the final port on this leg of the cruise. It is located on a narrow strip of land that restricts its growth and looked like a walkable town that we would enjoy if we had more time here, but we headed out to see the highly recommended White Cities. Muslims settled in southern Spain about eighty years after their faith began and they brought their building style to the area - walled cities, white washed homes, wrought iron grill work...

Jul 26, 2010 - Cadiz, Spain

Cadiz was a good nice surprise and a good choice for some beach time. Cadiz seems to have a reputation as just a port town where people spend a night before catching a cruise somewhere but I really enjoyed my time here and stayed an extra night longer. The city is not as pretentious as the northern Spain beach towns of San Sebastian and Santander. It is more of a working class city but the scenery is beautiful. It is very easy to get around walking or by bicycle which was my choice. The beaches are light golden/white sand. The water is...

Jul 17, 2010 - Atlantic Coast at Cadiz

July 16 Today we travelled by train two hours south of Seville to the very old city of Cadiz (CAHdee) on the Atlantic coast of Spain, west of Gibraltar. Cadiz is the oldest continuously occupied city in Europe, dating back to the Phoenicians in 1100 BC. It is the port that many Spanish explorers departed from to venture to the new world. It has been compared to Havana in its appearance and is often used as a substitute for Havana in depicting Castro-era Havana. The city was originally an island but driftwood over the centuries has created...

Jun 11, 2010 - A day in Cadiz

After spending the day in Sevilla on Thursday, we decided to take a train to Cadiz on Friday and explore that small down on the southern coast of Spain. Cadiz is said to be the oldest city in Europe - occupied continuously for a few thousand years. We took a cab to the Sevilla Santa Justa train station and bought tickets to Cadiz. The government workers who man the trains and ticket counters don't really want to communicate in any language other than Spanish, so be prepared to conduct the entire transaction without the assistance of any...

Apr 11, 2010 - Homeward Bound For The Next 4 Days

Sunday 11th April – Day 92 A day at sea, thank goodness, we need to think about packing. I went off to make a birthday card, which had a surprising centre, we were all discussing the final tour of Italy. The Captain made an announcement, that the ship was about to do an about turn, as the watch on the bridge, had spotted what looked like an up-turned life raft, so all passengers were asked to look out, whilst the ship did a broad sweep, to return to the original spot. It took a while, and when we got back, the item spotted was two miles in...

Sep 27, 2009 - Cadiz

Through the night we sailed the Staites of Gibraltar. At dawn we manoeuvred in the Canal Principal to our destination of Cadiz. Early start and we were off on another excursion - this time to Seville - a town described as a sexy, sophisticated and gorgeous looking city - it lived up to all its superlatives. We went on a guided visit to the impressive Gothic Cathedral and then walked to the Barrio de Santa Crue and the Jewish Quarter with its narrow streets. We visited the Alcazar, an ancient medieval fortress built by Arab architects and...

Aug 8, 2009 - Cadiz, Spain

Packed up on the beach and headed to civilization and a real bed. After 3 days I think we´re both ready! The drive to Cadiz is only about an hour and one Wayne knows well considering he has driven it a few times both this year and last. Cadiz is the city where he spent two weeks this year learning Spanish. This day was a journey to experience all that his time here was about! First we found the pension he liked and got a room. It is a wonderful place and worked out to about $30 each a night - love it! I took a couple pictures of the...