Day 4 – December 6,
2017 – Spain
At about midnight, the ship sails through the Straits of
Gibraltar. I didn’t stay up for this
event, but Bob did. Because it was dark, he barely saw the rock but did see
lights on both the European (In this case, Gibraltar, which is British) and
African sides (Morocco). Pretty
cool! This morning we are docked in the
Spanish City of Cadiz; and, of course, we are now in the Atlantic Ocean. About mid-morning we took a hop-on, hop-off
bus tour of the City with Steve and Barb.
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| One of the many small beaches surrounding the Old Town of Cadiz |
Cadiz … The old town section is quite small, situated on a
narrow peninsula surrounded by beautiful beaches on the Atlantic. The city, also founded by the Phoenicians as a trading
post in 1100 B.C., is considered the oldest continually inhabited city in
Europe and was third most important in the Roman Empire. The beautiful and ornate town Hall and many
other historical monuments are in the peaceful Plaza Espana. After our tour
ended, we strolled along the Plaza, stopping to have a drink. I sampled the sherry, as this area is known
for its sherry production. Not bad! But before that the main stop was …
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| One of the many beautiful side altars at the Cadiz Cathedral |
Catederal Nueva or Cadiz Cathedral … This is one of the largest
cathedrals in all of Spain, famous for its beautiful dome of golden tiles. It
took almost 116 years to complete, built primarily in the 18th
century in a Baroque style. But because of the time span, it underwent several
major changes to the original design; so it was finally completed in the
neoclassical style. The different styles are very obvious on the outside of the
building. Once again you see the massive columns separating the main nave area
from each of the side altars, including a chapel behind the main altar. The chapels have many paintings, relics and
statues from the old cathedral and from monasteries throughout Spain. There is also a large crypt area underneath
the main altar, holding the bodies of bishops and other dignitaries. Columns surround the main altar with a canopy
on top and a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary is nestled on the altar piece.
We spent about an hour wandering the entire church, listening to audio
explanations of the various areas.
Simply fascinating and gorgeous!
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| Our Lady of Guadalupe on the alter piece of the Cadiz Cathedral |
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| The Nave of the Cadiz Cathedral |
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| The plaza in Old Town Cadiz Look at those fun-loving tourists!! |
After the tour and drinks in the Plaza, we headed back to
the ship … met up with the rest of the gang at Happy Hour to hear about their
day, then off to dinner up in the Terrace once again (pretty hard to pass up
grilled lobster and shrimp, I have to say!).
This has been a very relaxing day. It was great spending time with Steve
and Barb and just pretty much doing our own thing.
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