Cadiz

For 5 days we visited very good friends staying in Cadiz, a city on the south westerly part of Spain, and facing out to the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by the Phoencians and it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. In the 18th century it was the main port of Spain and the gateway to trade with the Americas. It is situated on a narrow slice of land surrounded by the sea. The ancient city walls contain the Old Town with well preserved historical landmarks.

It is a lovely city and easily accessible by foot. There are beautiful buildings and architecture, and museums to visit. The food is excellent and of course wine and Sherry from close by Jerez is famous. While we were there we visited the famous Osborne Bodega to see the cellar where they age our D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry wines, VORS and Brandy de Jerez.

Many thanks to Bernadette and Paul who looked after us so well for our few days which were so enjoyable. It was so nice to enjoy such lovely weather, great food and drink and even better company!

Caminito Del Rey

In May 2022 we finally got around to taking the Caminito del Rey trail. In total it is almost an 8km path which took about 4 hours to complete, but it was an amazing day weather wise, it couldn’t have been any better. The trail runs through a gorge created by the Guadalhorce river, starting at Ardales which is about 55km Northwest of Malaga and finishes at El Chorro. It runs through cliffs, canyons and a large valley and many parts of it are along a narrow pathway hanging over 100 metres up a sheer cliff face.

The original pathway, which you can see along the way, was built to bring materials and provide access for maintenance workers to the local hydroelectric dam. In 1921, King Alfonso XIII officially opened this feat of engineering, taking the walkway to the Conde de Guadalhorce dam, and since then it has been known as “the King’s little walk” - Caminito del Rey.

Fortunately the walkway has been completely refurbished and makes a fantastic trail that I would highly recommend. Please ignore the groovy hairnets, another gift from Covid 19! 😒

Photos take by Sharon Farrelly and the video, which is a bit long, I took with a DJI Pocket 2. I may get around to doing a short version 😁

 

Cuba day 4

Monday, Valentines day, but it's a slow start, eventually we set out at eleven and head for the Capitolio. And today the sun comes out and it's lovely to have the warmth on your face. The Capitolio is closed for renovations for two years. So we head around the back of it to the cigar factory but they don't let you in with cameras or video. So instead we just have a coffee in the shop there and watch a lady there who they have making cigars. Next we head into the area called China Town but to be honest apart from the gateway into it it doesn't look very Chinese but we get a few more photos. We deiced to break up and a few of us head to get a bite to eat before heading down to Ramses's store. As usual times gets away from us with our exploringf and we are late as we are supposed to meet the rest of the gangs there for 2.30.

Ramses shows us his work and it is fabulous, there are some magnifient shots that he has take on Havana which inspires us to get more shots.  He brings us to a local restaurant and we decide on an early dinner. Our first really disappointing meal my meal was as hard as leather.

Off home early as we have to pack for our trip tomorrow with Ramses to Trinidad de Cuba which sounds brilliant.

Cuba day 2

The Hotel Nacional is a grand old hotel that has seen better days. The rooms and corridors are musty and could do with a face lift. But you can see how majestic it once must have been. The rooms are large with plenty of space and the main reception area still has a grand feeling about it. The ceiling is beautiful. The hotel itself overlooks the Malecon, the broad roadway, seawall and boardwalk that strehches 8km along the coast from Vedado, to the Harbour Mouth in Old Havana Town.  Today the Atlantic waves break high over the sea wall. In fact today the weather is very poor and parts of the Malecon is closed to traffic because the sea is breaking over the road. The hotel grounds are quite extensive with two swimming pools and a tennis court though today they are naturally empty. A nice bar is on the veranda of the hotel ground floor where one can enjoy mojitos and snacks.

We head to the large basement restaurant where they put on a really good breakfast which should keep us going for a good part of the day.

We are here to take photographs so even though the wind is up we decide to get out and explore. The plan for the day is to go to the Old Town, Havana Vieja, to look for our guide, Ramses, who will take us to Trinidad de Cuba for a couple of days, and then to take a bus tour to orientate ourselves.

We get a feel for the town which is very run down but the people are friendly and some of us are brave enough to ask for photos and to get some architectural shots. People seem happy to pose but others come looking for money or want to sell you cigars or other tat.

Our tour of the City in truth was not great, a combination of the weather and a poor route. We end up back in the old town and this time we find Ramses's shop but he is off today.

Though when we get back to the hotel and having a rest before going out I get a nice surprise and a call to the room from Ramses who is down in the lobby and a couple of us meet him, and he's a good guy. We find a good Paladores, a home restaurant where we have a very good meal and head back to the hotel for a few night caps and to listen to the music on the veranda. Off to a good start let's hope the weather picks up.