Revisting Cadiz, Spain---------------

October 7, 2019
Sunrise 8:25 am
Arrival 8:00 am
Temp. 80F

Cadiz, located on a peninsula jutting out into the bay, is almost entirely

 surrounded by water. It is said to be the oldest surviving city in Spain and

 was founded by the Phoenicians in 1100 BC and later occupied by the

 Carthaginians, Romans and the Moors. A fascinating old town with

 waterfront gardens, beaches and quaint open squares, it is a busy port and

shipyard today and, since ancient times, its natural harbor has attracted

 fishermen, merchants and ships trading along the Atlantic coast.

Early morning - always a great time to explore a city, especially one set 

on the water.

The Cathedral of Cadiz.

 Coffee morning with the Spanish ladies.

 Interesting apartment building lobby, with laundry drying above!

Quaint side streets.

Glimpses of old Cadiz, Spain.

Cadiz was somewhat quiet the day of our visit as it was a religious holiday.

That evening we set sail for Casablanca, Morocco, a distance of just

190 nautical miles.

Prayers for Florida. . . . . . . . . .

We watch the news, we check with friends here who have family and

 friends there. . . . . .sadly not everyone was able to 'escape' and move

 to safer places. Hurricane Irma is so huge she will impact just about the

 entire state of Florida today, tonight, and into tomorrow.

Irma continues her path, ravaging the Florida Keys this morning and now

heading toward the heavily populated west coast of the beautiful 'sunshine state.'

We really have no idea as to how devastating the property damage might

 be, but we sincerely hope there will be no loss of life.

Florida, you are in our prayers today.

Photos of calmer ocean moments taken on other shores during my travels.

La Coruña, Spain - Architecture and Fashion. . . . . . . . .

Named the 'Crystal City' because of the glass-enclosed balconies which adorn

the tall apartment buildings facing the harbor, La Coruña is a delightful mix of old and new. 

This area in the region of Galicia, is the wettest and greenest part of Spain, a world 

away from the popular resort areas. 

We walked around the city in an on again off again light drizzle, but still able

 to enjoy the architecture, plazas etc. 

As for a final chance at shopping, an exciting thing for me was discovering,
 with a little help from a local lady, the world's fashion giant Zara's flagship store. 
This company is actually based in La Coruña, its massive headquarters
 and design center being just a few miles outside the city.

Did I shop? You bet I did! The entire first floor of the huge shop was a showcase

 for that week's new stock and was full of amazing affordable items. I did 
notice that there were some very fashionably dressed women on the streets of
 this lovely Spanish port city.

La Coruña was our last port of call before setting sail for the return to
 Southampton, England. 

The Bay of Biscay was somewhat rough, but meeting up with several of our

 newly made friends on board, for good eating, drinking, laughing, and watching

 yet another fabulous musical show in the theatre, soon made us forget 

that the regal Queen Victoria was at sea tossing us, and the great singers
 and dancers, about a wee bit. All was good!

It's quite exciting cruising in winter, a much different feeling than in hot weather. 

Some people would not want to do it perhaps due to the lack of hot days on

deck, or sightseeing ashore in what can be chilly, wet weather. 

We thoroughly enjoyed it and would not hesitate to do it again.

Cádiz, Costa de la Luz, Spain. . . . . . . . . . . .

The Spanish coastline stretching from the Portuguese border to Gibraltar is known
 as the Costa de la Luz (Coast of Light).  Cádiz is the capital of the province and
 is the oldest inhabited town in the western world with 3,000 years of history.
 It's position is one of the largest ports on the Atlantic coast of Spain, also a
 naval base and a major shipyard, as well as the port of shipment for the brandy
 and sherry from Jerez de la Frontera, and also olives and olive oil from Seville.

We liked it here. After taking the usual Hop On Hop Off bus around the town

 which has 140,000 inhabitants, and the beachfront area, we spent the remainder

 of our time on foot enjoying what was a cool blustery but mostly sunny day with

 no rain for a change.

Although the historic buildings such as the Baroque style cathedral which

 has undergone recent much-needed restoration, the Renaissance style

 Church of Santa Cruz, and the Neo-Classical Museum of Cádiz were attractive,

 we headed to the seafront, enjoying a stroll through the parks and promenades

 where the combination of white houses and blue sea gave an impression of crisp,

 pristine freshness.

We loved the small shopping streets many leading to open plazas and a market.

This was a great find for me - a tiny, narrow, tucked away Merceria which translates

as haberdasher's, draper's or notions shop. It was very old fashioned, with high ceilings

and lined with wooden shelves displaying yarns, ribbons, knitting patterns, embroidery

 items etc. It was also crowded with customers, locals who obviously are keeping alive

 sewing and knitting traditions - I loved that.

There were Christmas decorations in many of the streets, some quite 

lovely, but this was my favorite in the window of the Merceria -

a lovely Nativity scene tucked between the yarns and notions.

As in most of Spain, tapas bars and restaurants were common. 

This sign made me realize there are never enough vegetarian tapas - although

 this one does have one, Pisto!

We found a nice coffee bar and stopped for a warming drink - then walked back

to the ship for dinner.

Our last port of call in Spain was La Coruña - more on that interesting town later, 

plus I still need to post more on the Lisbon, Portugal stop.  Slowly but surely

I'll get around to it - life has been hectic since we returned home!

Málaga and cruising. . . . . . . .

Málaga, capital of the province of the same name on the Costa del Sol,

 it is one of the oldest towns in Spain and in the beautiful region of Andalucia.

 It is surrounded on three sides by relatively high mountains and enjoys the mildest

 climate in Spain.

Early morning arrival - Málaga at daybreak.

Some those mountains are visible here - and the sun was out for a

 short time but then it clouded up and we had showers for much of the day.

No problem finding a juicy Spanish orange on the streets of Málaga.

We enjoyed our usual overview of the city via the Hop On Hop Off bus,

 then spent time wandering through the old city viewing the buildings and

 doing a little shopping, however it was not a beach day, and there are

 some lovely ones here along the Costa del Sol which attract hundreds of

 thousands of tourists in the Summer months.

The star marks our stateroom on this recent cruise.  

We really liked this location of our balcony cabin. 

It was very quiet, but close to the elevators and stairways, and high enough

 above the dining room that we were not bothered by late night cleanup noise

 which we did experience, and found somewhat annoying, on the previous

 cruise when we were in the same area but one deck lower. 

We enjoy longer walks - after all that eating - through the length of the

 ship to reach the entertainment areas - ballroom, theatre, pub, bars, music

 venues, library etc., all of which are usually forward in the bow of these ships.

Regarding choosing accommodation, some of you have asked for tips on

 selecting a comfortable/affordable cabin on a cruise ship.

 This was our second cruise on the Queen Victoria. Other mid-size ships

 we've sailed on have been Cunard's Queen Elizabeth and the Crystal Serenity. 

Ships of these proportions are really nice, hold no more than 2,000

 passengers, and don't feel at all crowded.

This link below to Cruise Critic's article on ship sizes and their offerings will be of

 great help if you are considering a cruise. For us the mega-ships will never be on

 our list, however the even smaller expedition ships are high on the list as always

 and we'll be cruising on another of those later this year.

Cruise Critic

Cruising is not for everyone, however it is an opportunity to see a lot of countries 

on one trip, with the comfort of only having to unpack once, and personally

 I really love that part!  

Cost can range from very expensive to a surprising bargain. 

I'm not an expert by any means, however if you are considering a cruise

 and need any further information I will be glad to point you in the direction

 of those who can help. . . . . .or answer any questions you may have regarding

my own personal experiences from exciting shipboard life.

La Coruna, Spain. . . . . . . .

 Last port of call in Spain was La Coruna which we enjoyed.

Following a somewhat rough crossing of the Bay of Biscay,

we are 'home'.

This morning Queen Victoria is back in Southampton and we are preparing

 to disembark shortly after a really wonderful pre-Christmas cruise.

Heading to Devon today - more later.