UNDER CONSTRUCTION-NOT FINISHED--DINNER TIME!

Saturday, October 17, 2026
Cadiz, Spain
70^o F, sunny

 

Cádiz is an ancient port city built on a narrow peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.  Located on the southwestern coast of Spain, it is widely considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, first settled by the Phoenicians around 1100 BC.  It has approximately 110,000 residents.

 

This historic port was not only shaped by the Phoenicians, but also the Romans, Moors and Spanish.  Cadiz is also considered one of Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, spanning more than 3,000 years.

 

The tour we scheduled with “Spain Day Tours” tour to Juarez and Seville was cancelled so we were on our own today in a new port we had never visited before. TK remembered his first time in Europe in 1968—the U.S.S. Columbus, a guided missile cruiser, docked in the port of Rota, about a half hour away.  

 

We decided to find our way to the market, and asked locals along the way for directions.  At the Plaza de la Liberatad, there were vendors outside the Mercado Central de Abastos de Cadiz selling vegetables, fruits, baskets, leather goods, and so on, BUT inside there were over SIXTY fish vendors, I counted! Stalls were overflowing with glistening fish, octopi, shellfish, crab legs, snails, langostino, cuttlefish, eels, squid, bluefin tuna, dogfish, prawns, oysters, and so much more.  This is the largest fish market I have ever seen—that said, we must have missed the meat market part.

Mercado Central de Abastos de Cadiz

It is Spain's oldest covered market, serving the city of Cadiz continuously since 1838.  That's pver 188 years of fishermen, farmers, and shoppers passing through  the same neoclassical doors. 

Vendors outside the Mercado

Seafood!

Of course we were looking for a café, but strangely we did not see a bakery or pastry shop. We strolled along and finally came upon a café (Marquesa de las Huevas) with STRONG coffee and TK’s cappuccino, a croissant and an almond cake like pastry for TK.  Another reason for a stop like this is that most cafes have a restroom but one has to buy something. That is totally fair.

 

Marquesa de las Huevas

The shops were interesting (toy, men’s and women’s clothing, leather, cosmetics, cellphone sales, Apple store, jewelry, lingerie) and we stopped at a luggage store where TK purchased straps for his luggage.  We will use the Gorilla tape, the duct tape, and now the straps.  I emailed the plastic wrap place at the FLL airport, but they have not replied. I will try to call today, but the six hour difference makes it hard—we still have a lot of ports ahead to continue to our quest to find a solution to luggage with broken zippers!

 

Cadiz is very clean, with many lovely parks and statues and memorials.  People were friendly and helpful. There was a protest at a government building, not unlike the protests we saw in Copenhagen, Sweden, Norway, and other countries we visited in August-September/Baltic-North Seas. 

Protest in front of a 

government building

 Art. 371. All Spaniards have the freedom to write, print, and publish their political ideas, without the

need for any licenses, review, or approval prior to publication, under the restrictions and responsibilities established by law.

TK’s Takes: We had no tour so we wandered around and probably missed a lot of sites. Sometimes tours have people who are sick, coughing and sneezing, so we avoided that today!

He noticed a lot of dogs—dachshunds, doodles, Yorkies, and so on. All seemed well-behaved.

Today-Cadiz. Monday-Cartagena.

Tuesday-Majorca. Wednesday-Barcelona