A Visit to the Oldest City in Europe

Today we took a drive to a city called Cadiz. It’s on the Western Coast of Spain on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. It was established by the Phoenician in the 1100s. My guidebook said that it’s the most under visited city in Spain and much of it remains unchanged from the early days. Based on this we were expecting an old deserted village, but it was far from that. Instead, it was bustling city, jam-packed with people and cars. Finding a parking spot was quite the challenge because there was no way we were risking another parking garage. Once we conquered the sport of parking we walked all over the small peninsula. It had everything that a typical port village had: tiny alleyways, a city center, plenty of churches, and lots of little shops. This place should share the nickname of “the windy city.” Because of its location with water on three sides, the wind never stopped. But I guess that was a good thing because it sure was hot. We had ice cream in the town center, strolled the shops for some souvenirs, and took in the sights of the town.

From Cadiz we drove a different route along the coast to the most southerly spot in Spain. The town was called Tarifa and it’s a famous spot for windsurfing. And I thought Cadiz was windy! This is where the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea come together. Africa is only 7 miles across the Strait of Gibraltar. We had an awesome lunch at a place right on the beach while gazing across the sea to Morocco.

Next we headed to the Rock of Gibraltar. We couldn’t come this far and not see that icon. It sure was an impressive rock!


By the time we got back to the villa it was late and I will still full from our big seafood lunch. We decided to go to the market for supplies and have a light dinner on our patio. It seemed the wind was even strong back on our beach which caused the waves to be bigger than usual. We sat and relaxed, munching on our picnic dinner, sipping our cheap Spanish wine, and listening to the crashing surf.

To see a few more pics from this outing, please click here.