Puerta Tierra Cádiz

... and then there was Shannon. She was actually the one of the first people I met here in Cordoba, and I remember I accidently called her by another name the day after I met her. That's definitely a mistake I haven't repeated!!! But lets see, a few groups of students ended up grouping together on the train since we were all headed towards the same destination. One word sums up the reason why Cadiz became such a popular destination amongst the ...

So today we didn't have an excursion because we had our own private tour guides in Rachel's host family from three years ago. They met us at the pier and were so happy to see Rachel it was great! They took us on a walking tour of historic Cadiz and we had breakfast at one of their places they like and we had churros an coffee with milk. Loly knew everyone we walked by it seemed and although they spoke no English and we speak little Spanish we were ...

... of the sweetest sherry called "Nectar" for 8 Euro. I really didn’t like their regular sherry though. They were pretty cool though. When celebrities or royalty come visit, they have them sign a barrel of Tio Pepe instead of signing a guestbook! And they have a family of mice that are sherry connoisseurs. One of the distillery ...

... the way we stopped in Olvera so Mike could get his photo of the village and church tower. We arrived to Nerja very late and couldn't plug in the address in our handy-dandy gps - so we had to call the owner in the UK to give us directions. it was kind of late by the time we got to the house (after midnight). ugh! this was a long, long day! But, we're excited to be at the beach for the next 7 days. Shae can't wait to get her feet wet in the mediterranean.<br>

Lauren and Liz had a much earlier train ticket to Sevilla than Liz and I, so they headed out early while we slept. Around 11, we finally pulled ourselves out of bed, packed up, and checked out of the hostel. The day before, we had seen a sign in the cafe across the street from the hostel for a complete breakfast for 2 euros, so we headed over there (luggage and all) and sat down. Turns out a typical Andalusian breakfast is juice, coffee and bread ...

... In fact, what we had expected was a light breeze compared with what we got. We stayed for four nights, and all day and night the whole time we were there the wind howled through the site, first from the east, then form the west, then back from the east. But it was not just the wind; it was the sandstorms the wind generated. The beaches here are beautiful soft sand, backed by dunes and umbrella pines. After two days we felt ...

... where we bought a few cans of the Cruzcampo beer and a 1.5 L bottle of Tinto de Verano - a type of cheap red wine with lemonade. We went to see the pier with the Castillo de San Sebastian, the Castillo de Santa Catalina, the cathedral, the old town and the beautiful Parque Genoves with waterfalls and parrots, and it was pretty much everything, so we went to the famous la Caleta beach and enjoyed ourselves there.<br><br>To my surprise, the beach was full of people ...

After 9 days crossing the Atlantic we arrived in Spain. A few factoids to tuck away next time you have a game of Trivial Pursuits: Cadiz is one of the oldest cities in western civilization. It was first settled by the Phonecians about 2000BC. Legend claims that Hercules once lived there. It was later controlled by Romans, Muslims, then Christians. When Napoleon invaded Spain, Cadiz was the only Spanish city that did not sucumb to the French.

... enjoy looking presentable. it's new for me. haha. oh, for my house. It is an apartment located right in the center of town. a 5 minute walk to class right now, maybe 10 or 15 when i start at the university. it takes 15min tops to walk from one end of old cadiz to the other. but cadiz is broken up into 2 parts: the casco viejo, the old part, and the nueve parte, the new part. It is preferable to take a bus to the new part but not necessary. right ...

... total shortage of budget accomodation in Cadiz, we showed up tired and sweaty and having to trek half way across the city after discovering the hard way that a full 4 of the hostels recommended by our Rough Guide were shut down, boarded up, or had simply never existed (at least not in Cadiz!). Cadiz is the kind of slightly transgrressive and sleazy city where every two-bit crook with a spare airing cupboard has a ...