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Published: February 1st 2009
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Cathedral in Cadiz
This was a picture of the main cathedral from the top of the tower Well I guess it is about time for another update. We have just left Spain and the time there was truly amazing. It was incredible trying to immerse myself into the culture. I was lucky enough to go on three dramatically different trips that gave me a real sense of the different parts of Spain.
My first day in Spain was spent in Cadiz, the city that our ship was ported in. I went on a 6 or 7 hour city orientation. I was the only guy in my particular group (for those of you that don’t know, the female to male percentage is like 70% female to 30% male) and I didn’t know a lot of the people but it gave me an opportunity to meet more people. We went to a few museums and saw the archeological discoveries and learned more about the history of Cadiz. After that we went to the top of one of the towers to allow us to get a better view of the city as a whole. Cadiz is a relatively small city, but it sure didn’t seem like one at the top of the tower. After we left the tower, we walked
M.V. Explorer Docked
Our ship docked in Cadiz to the main square near the cathedral and had lunch. As most of you know, I am an extremely picky eater, but I am trying to be more open to new foods. This was perhaps one of the weirdest meals I have ever had, except for a certain meal at an authentic Chinese restaurant. First of all the Spanish do NOT mess around when they eat lunch. The meal was eight different plates. Two of the most interesting plates were some sort of fried krill or shrimp cake and eggs with fish. Now the really scary part is they tasted awesome. The fish paste they brought out was pretty gross, but overall the main meal was good. I will say that the Spanish know how to make a dessert. They brought out a chocolate cake with graham crackers in the middle of it. It was so good that I went back and ordered it again the last day we were in Cadiz. After lunch we went to the main cathedral in Cadiz. It was quite large and it had a few golden artifacts and stuff in it. Then they took us down into the crypt and showed us around there.
Cathedral in Arcos
In the first of the white towns we visited There was actually a preserved body in a glass case that you could look at which I thought was kind of cool. Finally, we went to another art museum and back to the ship. I went back out a little later to experience a weeknight in Spain. A group of us went and had dinner at 10:30 in the main plaza and went back to the ship at about 11:30 to get ready for the next day.
The second day I went on a trip called the White Town Tour. This tour took us to two different towns out in rural Spain. The first town was Arcos. Arcos is a town built around two small cathedrals (small for Spain, I mean). The buildings are white because it helps reflect the sun during hot days. The town was very nice and had a few really nice views. The cathedrals were nice but nowhere near as impressive as the one in Cadiz. While we were waiting for the bus to take us to the next town, I saw a Gamestop. So I went in and talked to the two workers inside for a few minutes about video games. They told me
Landscape in Ronda
A house in Ronda, the second of white towns they were Soul Caliber players so we talked about favorite characters and stuff. It was a fun experience. When the bus finally arrived I said my goodbyes to my two new gamer friends and headed to the next town. After an hour bus ride we reached Ronda, another white town. Ronda was located in some absolutely beautiful countryside. We went to another cathedral and walked around the town for a while. Soon after the cathedral, we went to the first bullfighting ring in Spain. It was pretty cool to walk out into the middle of this ring and just think about how many bullfights must have happened right where I was standing. After a little more touring of the town, we got back on the bus and headed back to the ship.
The third day I went to Donana National Park. This was a pretty cool little park. Donana was located on an island across a river from the city Sanlucar. Donana was really special because it has four distinct biomes: forest, marshland, sand dunes, and beach. One big difference between this park and the ones I have been to before was that you had to stay on the
The Marsh in Donana
It was pretty cool to see this big marsh right after leaving a forest. bus except in certain areas. So even though I really wanted to walk around, I got to get a bus tour. The forest was nice. We saw some deer, some wild hogs, and some houses that were built by the natives a long time ago. After the forest we entered the marshland. The guide told us that the marsh was the largest in Western Europe. We spotted a family of hogs in it and there was a large flock of flamingos in the distance. After the marsh we headed to the sand dunes. This was my favorite part of the park. It was amazing how different this area was from the rest. I strayed a little way from the group to try to get some cool pictures. I also saw some lynx paw-prints and followed them a little way, hoping that it would still be around (it was not). Finally we left and went to the beach where we saw people getting clams out of the ocean and the marine biology teacher showed us this cool sea worm that was washed up. After the beach, we boarded the ferry with a group of school children. We talked to the group
The Sand Dunes in Donana
This is right after leaving the marshes. through one of our members who knew Spanish. The kids talked to us about their school and asked us if any of us had met “Mr. Obama”. It was an amazing little experience to some up an enjoyable trip to the national park.
Overall, Spain blew away all of my expectations. There is so much that I left out and so many pictures I would like to share with all of you. I had such a good time here and have seen some really interesting things. We are stopping in Gibralter today, so if I see anything interesting I will post it tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing well.
P.J.
P.S. - They really like dogs here in Spain. You see them everywhere.
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Nicole
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Good pictures! I really like the marsh pic and the one with the cathedral. Chocolate cake and Soul Caliber...glad you are still you in Spain. :)