Cadiz

I am so far behind! I finally have some new pics downloaded, so it's time to get blogging. Before my parents left Spain to head home we had one last mini-vacation. We went to the coastal town of Cadiz for a few days and then stopped in Chipiona for Johnny's birthday party. Sadly, Mike couldn't be with us because he had to go to Vigo for work, but he ended up having a great time as well. We stayed in a nice, new hotel in Cadiz close to the beach. Jay's favorite part was our bed. It consisted of two twin beds pushed together with great big white fluffy comforters on top. Jay loved wedging himself in between the two beds! He had the best time crawling around up there. In Cadiz we went to the Corte Ingles and marveled at the amount of things to buy. Then we took a hop-on/hop-off tour bus of the city. It was really nice to see all of the city and to get some historical information as well. Cadiz is thought by some to be the oldest city in Europe, founded in 1100 BC by the Phoenicians who called it Gadir. Ferdinand Magellan and Amerigo Vespucci once lived in Cadiz which means the city either inspired greatness or a desire to move on. Cadiz also happened to be the launching point for Christopher Columbus' second and fourth voyage to America. Cadiz was also one of the few cities that was able to fight off Napoleon when he came to conquer it. Pretty impressive I'd say. Today it's a pretty coastal town with nice beaches and a lot of history. On one particularly picturesque beach we saw fishing boats galore. We also saw a fisherman at work gutting his fish. There was a whole crowd of men watching, along with a few stray cats hoping for a treat. One of our favorite spots in town was a beautiful park with pretty trees and song birds.

After seeing Cadiz we went down to Chipiona to party on the beach. Little Johnny turned two and we had a great time eating cake and playing with friends. Jay especially liked the sand. It was his first time crawling in it and he would have played all day had we let him. After the party we went and tested out Maria's bunuelos (little donuts) which were excellent. We really liked Chipiona. There were so many people! It's a happening place in the summertime. Maria doesn't close her shop until 2 in the morning! Come winter though and it will be a ghost town. Spaniards certainly enjoy their summers.