Kevnjan's new adventure.

Sat. 23rd. Feb. Had lots of rain on Wed. night but it cleared up sufficiently for us to explore the delights of Cadiz on Thursday. We took a bus up to the old town and admired the cathedral from outside, we're getting pretty fed up with being ripped off to go into churches which are operated by one of the wealthiest organisations on earth. Cadiz is one of those towns where just to wander aimlessly around ancient streets and soak up the essence of the place is a real pleasure. The architecture and just the Spanishness of it make it special. We visited the Castillo Santa Caterina, (no charge), a 12th century fortification started by the Moors in the 12th. century and improved by the Spanish, in the next few hundred years. It has been heavily restored, but is still an impressive fortress overlooking the wild Atlantic. There were two art exhibitions on show there which were worth a visit on their own. As we left the heavens opened and we got soaked but got the bus back to the van and dried out. In the evening we returned to the Barrio Vina, an area highly recommended for it's seafood restaurants. We made our selection and ordered fish. A very mediocre meal followed, much to our disappointment. We've had a lot of culinary disappointments this trip!! What's going on, we're not used to such a poor standard in Spain. We arrived back at the van soaked through again by torrential rain. The weather turned worse overnight with heavy rain and high winds. Not much sleep. Still, it could have been worse. Friday morning, drove to Puerto Santa Maria, where we found an ACSI campsite, partially under water. After a good look around we found a relatively dry pitch and settled in, just in time, as more heavy rain caught up with us. In the afternoon the showers became a little less frequent and we managed to walk to Mercadonna to top up our victuals. Today we took the train to Jerez de la Frontera, another town we've looked forward to with eager anticipation. It didn't disappoint. We invested in a tour of the Gonzalez Byass (Sandeman) Bodega for a taste of traditional wine and brandy production. We were amazed by the sight of a tree which is producing both oranges and lemons, you don't see too many of those!! The tour was slick and informative and the tasting excellent, the mouse with a taste for sherry didn't put in an appearance, I think he must have had the day off, maybe had a hangover. As Jan doesn't drink alcohol I had to take care of her share at the tasting. The tapas were a little stingy though delicious. We walked around the walls of the Alcazar, another 12th century Moorish fortification and checked out the cathedral, only €2 for old folk like us. We selected a table in the sun, at a restaurant in the Plaza de la Asuncion, an historic old square and ordered lunch while we decided whether to lash out. Lunch was a pleasant surprise, it was acceptable if not inspired and it set us up for a look around the cathedral. It too was a pleasant surprise but I (unlike Jan) find these places look better from the outside!! It wouldn't make my top 10. The Italians have those covered. By the time we had walked back to the station and then back to the van at the other end we had notched up a fair number of kilometres through the day. I'm now enjoying a well earned Scotch and contemplating taking the van to Jerez on Monday when we leave here for another look. Washing day tomorrow. At least the rain seems to have gone away for the time being.