Cádiz

Hola from Cádiz!! Well actually I'm back in Sevilla....but pretend that we're in Cádiz! With CIEE (the program I'm in) we have some planned trips that are inculded in our tuition. They're not required but why not go? They're free! ....in a way! Actually it was a bit of a struggle getting up this morning to walk to the University to catch the bus. I think for the first time David, my roommate, learned what my parents have known all my life...that I am NOT a morning person. I need my sleep. I like my sleep. So when I don't get enough sleep, Adam is cranky. Cause I'm never cranky at any other time of day, right? ...right!

Anyway, Cádiz is located on the South Eastern coast of Spain. It is a peninsula and it is one of Spain's major ports. A lot of Cruises come through Cádiz and its incredibly beautiful. It is one of Spain's oldest cities and is the only Spanish city or area to never have been under French rule. San Juan, Puerto Rico, is modeled after the city and the beach that I went to today is the beach where "Die Another Day" was filmed! You know...when Halle Berry comes out of the water? It's supposed to be in Cuba... but it's actually in Cadiz! Here's a clip for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about.

What was so cool to me about Cádiz, besides the architecture, the weather and the beach was that I was on the other side of the Atlantic swimming in the ocean! Also I was so close to Africa! Geeky? Yes. Exciting? YES. So before we went to the beach and had some free time we took a mini tour of the city with CIEE. The actual architecture at first reminded me a lot of Sevilla but it much more colorful. My favorite part of the tour was climing to the top of the cathedral where you had a 360 degree view of the city. You could see all around the peninsula and the view was perfect. The top was a bit crowded so it was kinda hard to take pictures at times, but it was definitely worth the hike to the top.

After the tour we had about four hours of free time to walk around the city or go to the beach. Like most of the other students, we went to the beach. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. After our midterm yesterday and weeks of adjusting to anything and everything Spanish, floating in the ocean, swimming, and lying on the beach was perfect. After swimming for a bit a couple of us decided that we wanted to walk along the wall and path to the Castillo de San Sebastian which is a fortress protruding from the beach. The walk to the castle looks like a mini mini mini Great Wall of China. Not really. But kinda. Anyway, along the wall there are these steps down into the water where it's really shallow and there are these mini coves where you can stand in and swim. It felt very like Pirates of the Caribbean. Except it looks like the Great Wall of China. In Spain. In the Atlantic. Got it?

Jumping off the "Great Wall"

On the walk back to the beach we saw these two Spanish guys jumping off the "Great Wall of China" into the water from pretty high up. It looked really cool! But really scary too. Long story short...after much contemplating, myself and a couple of others decided to try it. It was so much fun. When you're looking down and about to jump you're scared shitless, but I just jumped and besides a litte water up my nose I was fine! After that we hung out a the beach a little more...I fell asleep... got a little sunburn...and then got back on the bus to Sevilla. We were all exhausted but decided that when we have a free day we want to come back. It's only an hour-ish away and its so beautiful. Made me excited to go to Lagos but as I was walking back to my apartment from the University today I realized how incredibly fortunate I am to be having these experiences and to be living in such a beautiful city.

Hasta que volvamos a ver!

P.s. if you wanna see pics of Cádiz click HERE!