February 3rd 2013
We left the campsite around noon and headed in the direction
of Cadiz. We had planned to find a wild
camp for the night and then travel down to Cadiz on Monday so that we had a
full day there. We stopped at a place called Sanlucar de Barrameda. This is on
the estuary of the Rio Guadalquiver, where the river enters the Gulf of
Cadiz. The tide was out but the river
was flowing very fast and it was very windy. This had enticed half a dozen kite
surfers out. I guess they knew where
they were surfing but it looked a bit like surfing on the Bristol Channel. Mike and I had some lunch and then went out
to explore the town. There had evidently
been some type of carnival here in the morning which we had missed but the
square was full of local people ‘wining and dining’ in the sunshine. Mike and I sat on the edge of a fountain
‘people watching’ before heading back.
This area is close to Jerez de la Frontera which is famous for sherry
(and Spanish brandy) and this town had its own sherry cellars. We plan to call into Jerez tomorrow on our way
into Cadiz and perhaps take in a sherry tour or tasting.
And that is what we did.
Monday midmorning found us outside of the ‘bodegas’ of Gonzalez Byass
who amongst other products make Tio Pepe and Croft sherries. We had an interesting tour, it is quite
amazing to see and smell all the sherry in the barrels. The tour ended with a tasting and tapas. I
have always found Tio Pepe too dry and todays tasting did not change my
mind. At the end of the visit I was a
little light headed so we went back to the van for more food and coffee before
driving down to Cadiz our next port of call.
It was a pleasant drive through rural Andalusia but finding
somewhere to park in Cadiz was a nightmare.
Eventually we found a beachside place but it was a long walk back into
town. Cadiz does not have many special
buildings but it was an atmospheric place and we enjoyed our time there. Our one disappointment was that we had read
that Cadiz was the home of fried fish and chips – not England! We were going to
treat ourselves but could not find any.
On the plus side there was a glorious sunset. It was dark when we set off. En route it had
been recommended that we spend the night in Conil de la Frontera on the Costa
de la Luz. All we had was the name of
the town and it was with some difficulty that we found a parking place. The fact it was dark meant we missed the
signs forbidding motorhomes from parking near the beach! In the morning we found we had chosen a
lovely spot above a golden beach with gentle waves. No one had asked us to move on although a
police car visited our parking area about three times.
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