Port Call – Exploring Cadiz, Spain

Whenever you are travelling, there are factors that are outside of your control. One of those factors is the weather and today that has been the cause of a little change to the plans for the cruise. Today the port was scheduled as Portimao, Portugal. However, you will notice that the title above is Cadiz, Spain.

Late yesterday as the ship was departing Lisbon the captain announced due to poor weather Portimao would not be visited. Instead, the ship would continue to Cadiz for an early arrival and be in port overnight. Even though it would have been nice to see another port in Portugal, I am happy enough with the decision, read on and find out why.

Cadiz, Spain

The city of Cadiz sits on a small peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Although the land area is not excessive, it is well and truly fully utilised and unlike Lisbon is relatively flat. Upon arrival in Cadiz, it was raining, and there was a strong wind blowing. However, it only lasted about an hour, and soon a group of us from the ship were out exploring the city.

Torre Tavira

The first mission was to find our way to Torre Tavira (Tavira Tower) also one of the highest points in the city. Atop the tower, there is what is known as the Camera Obscura. Which is a system that uses a pinhole camera and mirror to reflect a live image from outside onto a screen. It is a rather interesting experience and not an overly common tourist attraction with a minimal number open to the public around the world.

Walking Cadiz

With the rain gone but the clouds keeping the sun at bay, it was rather pleasant walking around Cadiz. The great thing about the city I have found is that it is a rather small city and easy to navigate. In fact, it only takes around an hour or so to walk around the outer edge of the main downtown area. Heading into the town, I came across a cathedral, which was kind of interesting. However, unfortunately, there was not photography allowed inside.

Roman Ruins

There was a strong wind coming off the Atlantic foreshore across Cadiz. However, this did not stop us making the walk to take a look at some of the Roman ruins. Although they are mostly indistinguishable this small piece of wall is the remains of a stadium.

Cadiz Seawall

The city of Cadiz is protected from the rather relentless swell of the Atlantic Ocean. Right now it looks rather calm, but it is easy to imagine that in storm conditions the waves could be quite large and forceful. I also imagine in the past they could have played a part in defending the city.

Puerta de Tierra

The last stop before returning to the ship for dinner was at the Puerta de Tierra. The wall in this location was originally in place by the middle of the 16th century. However, in the current form and appearance is more from around the 18th century.

Evening Walk

Since the ship was in port overnight, I decided to make the most of this time. Walking any city by night does give a rather different feeling to the city. The primary reason for my walk though was to try and capture the sunset from the land across the Atlantic Ocean. However, it was mostly a non-event today with the heavy cloud cover.

I did not let that get me down though capturing a couple of nice nighttime photos along the way. The first is a cafe that I came across waiting for some evening patrons. The second is a fountain not far from the ship, which you can see in the background.

Must More To Come

I do have plenty more to share from my time in Cadiz. However, I wanted to maximise my time in port, so you can expect to see another post come through soon. If I had just had the one day, I think I still would have got to see most of the city. But it was nice to take it a little easier and not be rushing the whole time.