The Rain in Spain

We spent our last day in Spain in Cadiz, and Cadiz is very nice with pleasant weather, when it stops raining. 

Every guide book tells you how hot the south of Spain is, hinting that tourist regularly wilt under the sun.  Tom had one bad day in Cordoba when he got drenched, I was sensibly in the Arab baths all morning so I was fine, and apart from that the weather has been pleasant and not too hot.  The day trip to Cadiz may have been a little ambitious - two hours there and two hours back on the train.  Think of doing a day trip by train from Melbourne to Bendigo.  As the train pulled into Cadiz station so did the rain.  And not just rain, it bucketed so hard that the station staff closed most of the doors to limit the rain coming in.  Not a good start to our plan to promenade around the foreshore to the old town.  A quick change of plan had us in a taxi to the museo where we spent a pleasant hour or so taking in the antiquities.  The museo also housed an art collection, with a lovely Rubens and some weird modern stuff - I am going to have to learn something about modern art before we hit Barcelona.  

The markets

We came out of the museo to glorious sunlight and a lovely warm day which we spent wandering this old port city.  Loved the market - fresh fish and plump, ripe fruit, but with no kitchen to cook in I was reduced to window shopping.  I did find some lovely scarves (the best polyester that three euros can buy) and went wild.  After I have worn them all on the rest I of this trip I will decide which to keep and which to give away as gifts !   Tom found a tower to climb while I roamed the market. 

A typical Analusian sreet where modernity meets Islamic & Gothic

So after a lovely week we farewell Andalucia in southern Spain.  We now head to Morocco before returning to Spain to visit Barcelona.  Andalucia has been exotic and gorgeous, and of course the food has been exceptionally good.  Ok, flamenco was a bit lost on me, but as Tom pointed out I am not really made for culture and I should just stick to sports.  And I was fulfilled on our last night in Seville when our taxi driver had the radio on full bore listening to what was obviously a soccer match.  Even with no Spanish I could tell one of the contenders was Sevilla FC and that it was exciting.  The taxi driver and I got excited together, even though we could not understand each other.  Later that night the streets were full of happy Sevilla supporters following their 2-0 defeat of German side Frieburg in the Europa competition match.  Viva Sevilla!

The food ...