21st October – 24th October
After stuffing myself with far too many free tapas in Granada, it was time to head to the coast. We stopped a night in Benalmadena, in the Costa del Sol stretch of coastline. I have to say, I did not think much of it.. Well, for me, it was probably one of the less desirable places we have been in our travels. Just huge stretches of trashy tourist resorts and tacky old hotels. And the beaches.. nothing to write home about really.
So needless to say, it wasn’t hard for our next destination, Cadiz, to be an improvement. Arriving across a huge spanning bridge connecting the mainland to the peninsula of the old town, I was a little concerned. From this perspective, it just looked like a huge, industrial port. But fear not, once we made it into the old city I was pleasantly surprised. An old fishing town, Cadiz seems to still feel fairly traditional and very local. With this area having one of the highest rates of unemployment in Spain, and a generally older population, you didn’t have to venture far to see old Spanish men spending their day fishing off the brake-walls around the town.
Unsurprisingly, Cadiz is well known for its fresh seafood, particularly the local specialty – Dogfish. We made our way to the central market to try it, and I have to say, it was quite delicious. It is also where I had the best croquettes I have had in our travels thus far (well, they didn’t give me food poisoning so that was a start!) We also managed to get Tegan drinking beer.. something she never thought she would do. But alas, even she couldn’t deny the fruit beer.. and when everyone happily stands around the streets surrounding the market drinking all day, who can say no (definitely not me).
Upon our arrival in Cadiz, Ian also informed me that this was where scenes from James Bond “Die Another Day” were filmed.. namely the Halle Berry water scene. So, unsurprisingly after our session of stand up paddle boarding I found myself involved in a recreation.. only Ian was the one emerging from the water. I will state that this was entirely his own idea!