The City of Watchtowers…
- Ruth Mcbride
- 2 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Cadiz, Spain Day 13/16, Viking Vesta, ‘Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean
March 25, 2027
I’ve completely lost track of time! Richard asked me what day do we fly to Paris after this cruise is finished and I have no idea! It is nice to be on a very long cruise where we measure time by whether it is a sea day, or by which port we are in. This feeling is similar to how we felt on the Viking Neptune World Cruise. If it’s Wednesday in this case, we must be in Cadiz, Spain!
Neither one of us have been to Cadiz before. I love being able to visit a new city and try and see as much as we can for the short time we are in port and then we have a better appreciation for why the cruise line stops at this port and is it a city we would want to visit again?
There were many long excursions today with one of them going to Seville, Spain but that involved an 8 hour bus ride there and back to Seville. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, we do not like long bus rides and prefer to do walking tours if we can wherever we go. Today was no different. We had a walking tour of Cadiz booked and the Vesta was docked downtown Cadiz. Downtown was a perfect spot to be docked on a sunny 20C day to be able to walk into town with our guide and walk back to the ship, after ditching our guide.
Cadiz has a population of about 117,000 people and is located in Andalucia, the southernmost province of Spain. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in Western Europe founded by the Phoenicians (Lebanese) after the Trojan War in 1100 BC. Legend has it though that the city was founded by Hercules. The usual suspects ruled over Cadiz - Romans, Moors - Visigoths, and the Christians. With the discovery of the Americas Cadiz became important and prosperous as a port for the Spanish silver fleet. Columbus actually sailed to the New World on his second voyage in 1493 from Cadiz.
We quickly learned that Cadiz was the city of watchtowers. The ‘House of Trade’ moved from Seville to Cadiz in 1717 and the city became the main port for trade with the West Indies. Wealthy merchants built the watchtowers on to their mansions to spot their ships returning from the New World, enabling them to secure cargo and be the first to sell their goods. The towers also served to warn of pirates, enemies or bad weather and acted as a city-wide defensive network.
Parks everywhere with nice places to sit and visit.
Spring is in the air! Blossoms everywhere.
Richard taking it all in.
The City of Cadiz also has a very high concentration of parks and green spaces due to its unique ecological location and a long history of urban planning focused on green spaces and its conscious effort to preserve its natural coastline. The city acts as a “green lung” with lush urban gardens that are everywhere throughout the city.
Narrow streets which are cars as well as pedestrians
As we walked with our guide through the narrow streets of Cadiz, we would all of a sudden stumble upon another beautiful, lush garden.
We were also so lucky to be visiting Cadiz in March when the orange blossoms were blooming on the trees. The smell of oranges wafted throughout the town and every park had a number of bitter orange trees providing shade in the parks.
Monument to the Constitution of 1812, Cadiz, Spaiin.
The monument in Cadiz commemorates the centennial of the signing of the Constitution of 1812 or “La Pepa” which was the very first constitution of Spain. Drafted by the ‘Cortes of Cádiz’, the document was a groundbreaking document that embodied the spirit of liberalism and enlightenment ideals at the time it was written. Individual rights and social freedoms were given to Spaniards for the first time in this Constitution and the State’s power was limited by the Constitution.
A former rich merchant’s home with watchtowers overlooking the harbour.
The architecture of Cadiz is a mixture of baroque and neoclassical buildings built with patterned stone.
Intricate tilework in Cadiz
French wrought iron balconies and detailed stonework on this beautiful building downtown Cadiz.
Up close details of the lions on this building in Cadiz.
A heavy, ornate wooden door in Cadiz.
The key features include balconies and facades, large doorways and ornate doorframes with tile work on some of the entrances to the various buildings in Cadiz.
We walked with our guide to get a feel for the old city of Cadiz until she walked us to the Old Market area. We knew that the city was going to shut down around 2pm-4:30pm and since we had a back on board time of 5pm, it was a good idea to ditch the tour and head out on our own to do some shopping and explore Cadiz on our own. This is also why I booked us on the first tour of the morning. Knowing that Spain has ‘Siesta’ time every afternoon, makes it a difficult or frustrating place to visit, unless you strictly want to see the historical sights in the open air, during the afternoon.
Richard getting his hair cut in Cadiz.
Richard needed a hair cut and while we could have his hair cut onboard the Viking Vesta, there is a better story to be told by having his hair cut in Cadiz. On one of the side streets of Cadiz’s old town, we saw a barber pole, so Richard went in to inquire how long he would have to wait to have his hair cut. When we were told it would be about 5 minutes we decided to wait and get his hair cut today. There was a nice clean washroom we could use too! The lovely staff of the salon made me a nice apple cinnamon herbal tea while I waited for Richard to have his hair cut. 15 euros later, Richard had a great cut and we were on our way!
New leather shoes! I love them and they fit so nicely!
We did some shopping in Cadiz in what I would describe were ‘local stores’ instead of ‘chain’ stores which we could find anywhere, in any city in Spain. Leather goods were prevalent and at very good prices. We both bought some leather shoes and we really enjoyed our time exploring on our own in Cadiz.
We headed back to the Viking Vesta for some lunch on the Aquavit Terrace overlooking Cadiz and the massive other cruise ship in port - Odyssey of the Seas. We noticed that the City got a lot busier as we were walking back to the Vesta, as the tours from the Odyssey of the Seas were starting to fill the small streets of Cadiz.
“Gambas” or prawns at the BBQ on the pool deck.
We met up with David and Julie for dinner in the World Cafe. Viking had a special BBQ on the pool deck, with live music, but frankly with the roof closed, the pool deck venue is WAY TOO LOUD to sit and have an enjoyable meal with conversation. The music dominates the area and since it is too cool at night to open up the pool deck, the noise drove us to sit in the World Cafe.
David, Richard and I played 70’s Name that Tune Trivia on the Pool deck but alas we only got 24/30 and the winners ultimately had 29/30. While we knew most of the songs, we couldn’t always name the artist and that is where we lost our points.
We really enjoyed our time in Cadiz, Spain, the oldest city in Western Europe and the city of 160 watchtowers built in the 17th Century. I think the time we had in Cadiz was enough to explore the beautiful, narrow, historic streets with a guide and at leisure. I do wish the Spaniards didn’t shut down for Siesta, but hey, I’m not going to change their traditions or culture. I guess if you lived here you would get used to it and make sure you worked around it. Cadiz is a city we would come back to if we were visiting this area of Spain again.
And now we are off to Malaga tomorrow, our last port of call before Barcelona. This cruise has flown by and we have definitely enjoyed it…so much so we are booking another cruise for next fall on a brand new Viking ship!
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