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Linda Allan
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Travel Blog Posts
July 30th 2009
July 29 Caught the early train from Cadiz to Madrid. It travels at anywhere from 85 to 140 kms/hr going from Cadiz to Seville on ordinary rails, then in Seville switches to the high speed rails and makes the rest of the journey at 249 kms/hr (according to the electronic speedometer in the cars). Unlike the Andulsia Express, this train had a "pointy nose" and was a very comfortable and, as is the norm with Spanish trains, left and arrived on time to the minute. From the train station it's a quick metro trip to the Opera metro stop, and our hotel (a different one from the one we stayed at two weeks ago) is just a minute from the metro stop. After checking in, we went for a quick beer an snack at one of ... read more
July 30th 2009
July 28 As I said yesterday we pretty much have a daily routine wich we vary only slightly. Today we had our breakfast coffee at the beach bar and after our swim returned there for a beer and a snack . The calamari in Cadiz is excellent - lightly breaded, not greasy, and fresh tasting. After our rest we made our last tour of downtown Cadiz. Although it is not a large area we still found new things to see.I have included a few things that caught my attention. We then went to the beach for one last evening swim. We are really going to miss the water. As usual, at night we ate in one of the two small bars in front of our hotel, having a variety of tapas (and beer).... read more
July 29th 2009
July 27 One of the problems with a vacation in a beach town is that the days are somewhat the same. While this makes for a somewhat boring blog it makes for an enjoyable and restful vacation. So we did what we did yesterday - breakfast, beach, beach bar and early siesta. Then we took the bus downtown and decided to walk the part of the waterfront we had not already seen before. Between the extremely hot weather, lack of shade and the construction it was a not very interesting walk but it was very very hot . When we arrived at the city beach we discovered that there was a walkway out to an island that many years ago was used to quarantine plague victims. The site is closed for renovations but the view from ... read more
July 27th 2009
July 26 What is the thing to do if you are staying in a hotel with a sidewalk cafe, that is a 5 minute walk from a great beach? Get ready to go to the beach first thing when you get up, stop at the cafe for a cafe con leche and a croissant and head straight to the beach. So that's what we did this morning. There were lots of fun waves to bob on but not too rough to be intimidating to me (Linda). Once I was tired we went for a walk on the packed sand and let the water lap around our ankles and then Jim went back to play in the waves while I headed for the beach bar with my book. Jim joined me later and we had a remarkably ... read more
July 26th 2009
July 25 Today we had a very pleasant beach-town day. In the morning we made the walk into the old town of Cadiz. Without luggage, and losing elevation rather than gaining it as we went, it proved to be a fairly short walk. Also, it's abut 7 or 8 degrees cooler here than it was in Madrid and Seville, so that helps with the walking. We walked along the seawall as far as the cathedral, which we didn't enter (having just been to Seville we've already seen as impressive a cathedral as we're going to). Then we wandered along what the tourist map calls “lively shopping areas”, buying a beach towel (essential equipment in Cadiz) along the way, until we got to the tip of Cadiz. The lively shopping areas seem to specialize in clothing and ... read more
July 25th 2009
Today we took the train from Seville to Cadiz. In Spain there are all types of different trains, which vary greatly in speed, quality, and price. Normally for long distances we take the AVE, which is the Spanish equivalent of the French TGV (very, very fast), and for short day trips the AVANT (almost as fast as the AVE, and bizarrely cheaper). Today we took the Andalucian Express. Express turns out to be the Spanish word for “milk run”. Cheap, slow, crowded, and a bit uncomfortable. But it got us here. Cadiz is a popular spot with Spaniards looking to excape the heat of the cities in July and August, and some of the people on our train were carrying their beach lawn chairs. They were probably just making a day of it. Cadiz is a ... read more
July 25th 2009
We saved the best for last (kind of). We decided to see the Cathedral of Seville, which is kind of the star attraction and what many people see first, on our last day in Seville. The Cathedral is in the middle of town, which makes it right next door to our hotel and we figured that by the end of our trip that might be as far as we could walk. The cathedral certainly is astonishing, but we actually think that if you can see only one thing in Saville, the Alcazar is better, which is really saying something Anyway, like lots of old buildings in Seville, the cathedral started during the Moorish period, then was completed in the Christian period, so the style is very eclectic. From 1181 - 1198 part of the building served ... read more
July 22nd 2009
Sevilla is a town made for walking - it's flat and all the cool stuff is within a couple of square kilometers. Unfortunately there's one small fly in the ointment: it's hot! Today we did what is reputed to be reserved for mad dogs and Englishmen. We went out in the noonday sun. We walked through Parque Maria Luisa (very green, very lush, very pleasant) to the Museum of Popular Arts and Customs and the Archaeological Museum which face each other and are housed in two buildings that were built as part of the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition. Two very beautiful buildings. Already it was starting to get pretty hot. At both museums they declined to charge us admission, nominally because some of the exhibits were being repaired, but most likely because it was too hot ... read more
July 21st 2009
The Ten Plaza Tour In Spain a Plaza can be anything from a giant pedestrian area like Plaza del Sol in Madrid or Plaza Catayuna in Barcelona to a tiny intersection where the four streets didn't line up exactly, and left enough room for a tree, a statue, a fountain, or an outdoor cafe. Within 100 metres of our hotel there are five plazas: Plaza de Santa Cruz, which is a little urban park, Plaza Alienza, which is a cobblestone square with two trees and a bar (where we have been known to have a beer), Plaza da Elvira which we have yet to find in this maze called Bario Santa Cruz, and Plaza Virgen de Los Reyes and Plaza Del Triunfo, which are large spaces that flank the Cathedral where the carriage drivers and con ... read more
Sunday July 19 "Royal Alcazars of Seville"
Published: July 20th 2009Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Seville
July 20th 2009
Sunday July 19 We visited the "Royal Alcazars of Seville" a Royal Palace dating from the Moorish times. The upper floor are still used by the Royal Family from time to time but the lower floors and the enormous gardens are open to the public and are spectacular. There is a massive amount of intricate stone carving and ceramic decorations. The rooms are arranged around very pretty interior court yards with water features and plants. Hard to convey in words how amazing it is so I will post a few pictures. It is our favorite attraction so far and even has a pleasant cafe in the garden to have a drink, cool off in the air conditioning, and rest. We spent over 4 hours there, had late lunch and a long siesta. When we checked ... read more
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