Playa Victoria Cádiz

Hello again!<br> As I said previously, I'm going to jump around a bit and not just go day by day in this blog. Therefore, this entry begins on September 19th on a train heading to Cadiz, Spain. This was my first adventure in Spain with my friends outside of Cordoba, my first excursion. <br> Honestly, I can't even remember exactly how I met all the people I've become close with on this trip. Well, I guess that's not true. I already told you how I met ...

... and Cameron Diaz in it. I hope they get a part! Lunch was interesting and kind of like eating in a Chinese restaurant as the plates just kept coming! After lunch we said goodbye to the sons and continued walking and finally ended up back at the ship but not before taking a rest in the Plaza DE Espana across from the ship. When we were there the park cat ladies came by and fed the wild cats who were pretty friendly. Great ending to a very nice day!

Today was the second and last excursion we did through Holland America. Jacqui had wanted to see the Andalusian horse show, and we could also get in a sherry tasting with it! <br><br>First off was the tour of the Gonzales Byass winery. I'm not a big fan of the normal sherries, but I love the sweet sherries. And it was cheap. I got a ...

... something to see. After the show we headed to another white village town called Arcos de la Frontera. This was another cobble stoned hillside town set among 2 churches and a convent. We had a nice lunch and walked around the town. The streets were narrow and tiny and mike did a great job of navigating through the narrow roads (he's getting much better)...we left and started our 2.5 hour drive from there to Nerja our destination for the next 7 days ...

Cadiz is a nice city but I would probably never go to if there wasn't a European Masters Championship in Swimming. <br><br>I'm swimming:<br>100m breaststroke: 2:00,01 (very bad :( )<br>100m freestyle: 1:32, 87 (very good - my personal record...:) )<br>50m freestyle: 39,62 (technically VG, but actually horrible - googles went loose, was thinking of loosing my contacts all the time, not concentrated on speeding; could be at least 2 sec better... :( )

As I have been suffering from "writer's block" Lesley has written the last two episodes. Now I have recovered we can return to the usual cynical and sarcastic pattern. And there has been plenty to be cynical about of late. And, fortunately, there has been plenty to enjoy as well. We arrived at Camping Paloma, near Tarifa, in sunshine. Blue skies, 26 degrees, and wind. We had expected it to be windy on this coast and we were certainly not ...

I'd been to Spain for like a month now and I hadn't seen the sea yet, so I decided to change things and get a bit of suntan. I called up 3 friends, we packed ourselves to a comfortable train and after an hour or so we got off in Cadiz, an important harbour and a really nice city on the Costa de la Luz. <br><br>Although I went there for the first time in February, it was so warm that I could stay in the swimsuit and survive. We started with a cheerful visit in a ...

... there in the early morning for a few hours so I will get to see the Rock of Gibraltar from a distance. I hope that they will show the Super Bowl tomorrow on the ship but it will be in the wee hours of the morning if I stay up to watch it since we are six hours ahead of the east coast. Hope you all are having a good weekend!

... go to the beach for the rest of the day. then walk home and i don't know from there. if you don't take your siesta you will be very tired. it isn't easy going to bed extremely late and then waking up at 8 to get ready. Now for clohing, it isn't that they are dressed to a T everyday. it's just that they take the time to get dressed everyday. Heels are common but not necessary. you can't just leave the house in a logo soccer type t-shirt. but i ...

From Vejer we drove to Cadiz. Setting foot in Cadiz is to finally leave the Costa de la Luz of trendy surfing culture, neat beach towns and any hint of touitist money... As Frisco put it, it's like Naples, but without the guns. UNemployment, crumbling buildings, sailors and builders sitting in the bars at 9.30 in the morning playing cards and knocking back anis and a sickly red liqueur called Pacharàn. UNderestimating ...