Transatlantic Cruise, Part 3: Cádiz

Day 490 (October 31, 2019): Cádiz, Spain

Sometime during the middle of the night on our way from Málaga to Cádiz we left the Mediterranean Sea, passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, and entered the Atlantic Ocean. It felt like one small step closer to home. Cádiz was our third day in a row of trekking around Spanish towns, but it was perhaps my favorite. The weather kind of sucked, being extremely cloudy and overcast, but Cádiz felt the most intimate. It was a small town with dozens of narrow streets to get lost in and was surrounded on almost all sides by the ocean, separated from the town by a huge city wall.

It also felt surprisingly tropical, with all sorts of plants, trees, and birds to be found all over the place. We walked through a public garden area with colorful flowers and black and white checkered tiles that felt reminiscent of a scene out of Alice in Wonderland. We also walked on the beach for a while. It was definitely not a day you’d want to go swimming, but the sound of the waves was nice to hear. We also walked out along the rocks and were checking all the tidepools for little fish and crabs. We continued walking back through town, past outdoor markets, churches, and cafes before ending back at the port again.

We grabbed lunch on board the boat, but then decided to head out again to do some shopping. We went to a department store were Travis picked up a new sweater, after having realized just how old and tattered his normal one had become. We also stopped at a small grocery store to pick up a few items as it would be a couple days before we made it to a port stop again.

Once again, at the end of the day we went up on deck and watched the sun set as we pushed off from Cádiz and sailed further out into the Atlantic on our way to the Azores.