Day 186 of our big adventure saw us in Cadiz – situated on the south-western coast of Spain about halfway between the Portuguese border and Gibraltar. It was a fair distance from our yoga retreat in Portugal, around 400km, but on these fast toll roads it seemed amazingly quick. Cadiz is old – really old. Oldest city in Western Europe with remains from the Phoenicians still strongly in evidence. It’s an important port town and base for the Spanish navy. Looking on the map, it’s a strange piece of geography with the city jutting out on a long thin strip of land into the sea. Not surprisingly, it was prone to frequent attack from the sea. We stayed in the old part of town – full of tiny winding streets and blissfully free of cars. There is a certain status to staying or living in old Cadiz according to Pablo our walking tour guide. Apparently you can say “Cadiz Cadiz” if someone asks where you live, as opposed to just “Cadiz” if you live in the more modern part. Well there you go then . . . The free walking tour, a service which has sprung up elsewhere in Europe we noticed, is such a great way to see a place you have newly arrived in. As an aside, the word “free” is somewhat of a misnomer as you are meant to pay what you feel the tour is worth – I like that. Walking around Cadiz with a local was great as you got not only the historical stuff but also some of juicy bits – like how the mystery of a strange shadow at night was eventually pinned on the bishop, caught one night heading off to “Pay-Pay”, the local brothel. We also got some tips for places to hang out – the best one of which was a local place offering decent vegan options (man, its hard to eat vegan in Spain!) and flamenco jam sessions. Magic . . . From Cadiz we drove back up north to Seville, the capital of Andalucía and home to about a million people. It’s a hot city with the temperature usually reaching the high 30s in the middle of summer. Even now, in October, the temperature peaked today at 32 degrees with a high of 35 expected tomorrow. In contrast its now 17 degrees in London and 16 degrees in Amsterdam. Wow Seville is beautiful. The Guadalquivir River runs beside our apartment and its full of life – walkers, bikers and runners and, on the water - kayakers and rowers. Mornings are the time to do things here in Seville when it is cooler. The central city itself is one big photo opportunity with tree lined streets, masses of street art and centuries old buildings. Incongruously, one of the most impressive squares was constructed in 1929 - a relative baby in these parts. The Plaza de España (Spain Square) was constructed especially for the Ibero-American Exposition of that year – which seems amazing that something this big and impressive would be constructed on some promotion exercise. If you remember Lawrence of Arabia (well I do), some of the scenes were filmed there. Tomorrow we leave for a tiny place called Pavia – another 4 hours drive from here, but closer to Lisbon where we return to Holland in three days time.
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I was feeling less than a hundred per cent when we arrived at Prana Casa – a yoga retreat centre close to Aljezur on the southwestern coast of Portugal. Since Lisbon I had been feeling a distinct loss of energy and the stirrings of a cold brewing. Situated in the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina (the South West Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park), this place felt miles away from the tourist hotspots of the Algarve. Prana Casa is owned and run by Eve, a vibrant ex dumpster-diving surfie, while Hector, a gentle giant of a man from Mexico, helps out with the cooking and maintenance. Eve’s yoga class in the morning (at a quite civilised hour of 8:30) was followed by a big casual breakfast. Then we have the day for ourselves – nice . . . Another hour of yoga at 5pm (one of which was on the beach) and then dinner – vegetarian. My highlight was a barbecue, prepared by Hector, over an open fire pit in the garden. We had a great group of fellow guests from Germany, the Netherlands, Argentina and Spain. I thrived here and within 3 days was relatively back to normal, health-wise. The house and garden have energy about them – I can’t put my finger on it, but I just felt incredibly chilled. The environment is beautiful – quiet and natural with birdsong and, in the distance, the sound of surf at the nearby beaches. If anyone is looking for a place to restore – come here – it’s magical . . . The sea on the Atlantic coast is completely different from the Mediterranean. The water temperature is chilly and the waves big - this is real surf country. The beaches are stunning – raw and natural. It’s wonderfully quiet and far less built-up than the Algarve towns we travelled through. Portugal has one “national” and thirteen “natural” parks – this area being in the latter category. Wikipedia has a convoluted explanation of the difference between the two, which completely befuddled me. Looks like it was written by some bureaucrat at the end of a very long lunch. But the system obviously works judging by the absence of featureless high-rise apartment blocks and hotels. Next stop – Cadiz on the southern coast of Spain . . .
No its not the Lagos in Nigeria, as Google maps keep wanting to take me to, but the Lagos on the southern Algarve coast of Portugal. Interestingly the two seem to have a connection, the Nigerian Lagos having been visited by the Portuguese in the late 15th century and who eventually settled and were granted a slaving monopoly. Well the less said about that the better . . . ! Lagos is a nice little town. Its popular with tourists but not quite as tatty as other package holiday hotspots like Albufeira (about 45 minutes drive from here), described by someone on Tripadvisor as a “skanky neon strip full of pissed Brits”. Lagos admittedly has elements of skankiness, but it does have character in the older part of the town with winding cobbled streets and locals out and about doing their shopping. Our Airbnb this time is in an apartment in a slightly characterless complex called Iberlagos. Its saving grace is its proximity (2 minutes walk) to a gorgeous little bay called Dona Anna and massive swanking swimming pool - part of the complex. For a nice 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen, living area, 2 bathrooms, large balcony and wifi we are paying about $NZ 190 a night. On our drive down here from Lisbon we experienced the awesomeness of the European toll road system. Yes its expensive – over 20 Euro to travel about 300 km – but man is it fast and hassle free! The speed limit signs placed every 10km or so instruct you to keep to a maximum of 120km hour. Well I can tell you that we were just about the only car on the road to keep anywhere near that limit – routinely we were passed by late model BMWs and SUVs that literally left a bow wave after them. One, I am sure, must have been doing well over 200 kmh. The second half of September is such a great time to travel in the south of Europe. The summer holiday crowds have largely gone (school holidays are over around the end of August here) and the temperature is not so sweltering. It looks like temperatures will be ranging between 18, in the evening, and 29 degrees during our stay – I can handle that. The best part about Lagos, in my opinion anyway, is its proximity to a number of small, stunning beaches. Dona Ana, right in front of our resort and pictured in the photo at the start of this post, is described as the most picturesque beach in the Algarve – well that is according to the authors of lagosportugalguide.com. It was great to do a bit of body-surfing on our first day – but since then I have been feeling a little under the weather. Hope things improve before our yoga retreat starting tomorrow . . .
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Richard and JolandaJo and I have decided to give up our work, our house and our lives in Wellington NZ to see the world. Our big adventure started on April 6th 2017 . . . Archives
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