Yea, I enjoyed it. It was part of a day-trip to Cádiz, which is the oldest city in Europe and just about a two hour bus-ride from Sevilla. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean, and was the main point of trade between the Americas and Spain during and beyond the time of Christopher Columbus. It is also quite beautiful, as evidenced by the views from the tower of the city's cathedral.
In the morning, we had a walking tour of the city's main historic sites. While we were walking around, we noticed that the decorations for Carnaval were already in places. Carnaval is a pre-Lent celebration in which everyone dresses in ridiculous costumes and parades through the streets at all hours of the night. The Carnaval celebration in Cádiz is the third largest in the world, after Rio and Trinidad. Yes, that means it is bigger than Mardi Grad in New Orleans (which is also a Carnaval celebration). This one also lasts ten days.
In addition to the cathedral and a monument to Christopher Columbus (with an ever-burning flame as a tribute), we went to the fresh fish market. Everything sold at this market is caught that same morning. There were stalls upon stalls with all sorts of fish and shellfish, which are trimmed and cut right in front of you.
So obviously that made me really really hungry for some seafood. When they released us for our free afternoon, Matt and Katie and I headed straight for a table in the sun at a tapas restaurant where we enjoyed several dishes that included calamari, mussels and shrimp. Everything was delicious. We bought some ice cream for dessert and ate it by the water.
After exploring by the water, we laid on the beach until the bus came to pick us up. It was quite devastating to leave. With no class on Mondays or Wednesdays and a 10 euro round-trip price tag, I'm sure I will be back at that beach many times!
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