Today we reversed the “manana” lifestyle we have adopted so easily. We had an early start (alarm at 7:30) as we had booked a train ticket to Seville from San Fernando Bahia Sur.

The tickets were booked online at www.loco2.com using information from www.seat61.com. loco2.com is basically an English website with links to all trains and tickets on the Spanish train operators website, renfe.com. Plus you don’t have any issues paying on-line with a UK Credit Card.

The tickets were immediately available for pdf download and were able to print them off on our HP Mobile Printer. A word of caution though. The web printed tickets don’t allow access through the station barriers and at one point, we thought we would miss the train as we simply couldn’t get through – until one of the station staff presented us each with a kind of “platform ticket” to gain access through the barriers.

The Spanish rail net work is first rate. We were on a Medio Express service – the train, infrastructure and stations were predominantly new and the little train sped along at 160km/h. Spain might have borrowed a lot more money than they should have but none of it was squandered. There have some fantastic infrastructure to show for their excesses – unlike the crumbling roads and railways in blighty.

And one more point. The station had plenty of parking and it was all free. Compare that to the 30 or 40 quid you have to pay to park at Reading station for the day.

On to Sevilla. A long day logging some 16km of walking as recorded on the phone pedometers. We had lunch courtesy of a recommendation on the website www.seville-traveller.com where the writer lists six recommended Tapas bars. We chose La Flor de Toranzo and it was excellent for a light lunch of toasted sandwiches.

After lunch we visited the Cathedral (the largest Gothic temple in the world and the third largest of the Christian world) and climbed La Giralda tower to see panoramic views across the city. It’s very difficult to photograph because its just so large.

 

Here is a picture of La Giralda Tower, all that is remaining of the former mosque at this site.

 

 

 

 

 

Christopher Columbus’ mausoleum is located in the cathedral, held aloft by the four heralds representing the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre.

Sounds like a plot from Game of Thrones…

 

The walk back to the station (around 25 minutes from the Old Town) was via the beautiful Plaza D’Espana.

 

A long day yesterday in Cadiz resulted in an even later start today. Our days have truly shifted. Breakfast at 10; Lunch around 3 and dinner before 9 – if we are lucky.

Anyhow, today we took the bikes to Puerto de Conil and then onwards to Roche.

 

The flora on the cliffs amongst which the numerous cycle and walking paths meander is very pleasant.

 

 

View to Conil port

 

 

The port itself is certainly not Cannes.

 

 

 

A number fishing boats and pleasure craft can be seen bobbing in this secluded bay and harbour. There is also a popular bar / restaurant but alas we had taken a picnic…

 

Conil port lighthouse

 

Atop of the hill is a functioning lighthouse and then the country lanes wander off along the coast to Roche and beyond.

 

 

 

 

The cycling is just about right here. Not too hilly and plenty of off-road sections – we covered some 20km today, mainly on cliff path and track.

Tourism is a numbers game. And there was plenty of evidence of that during our return visit to Cadiz (or pronounced Cardiff without the ‘r’).

Firstly, there were a lot of people in town – this being primarily due to the arrival of two cruise liners at the port of Cadiz. Still, fortunately we visited today because tomorrow there will be 5.

Secondly, the map we had from tourist information had a number of colour coded walks on it, suggesting different ways to see all of the sites.

Mo thought she had seen coloured markings on the pavement but was nevertheless surprised when Tourist information did indeed confirm that the coloured lines were replicated on the ground. No requirement in Cadiz to be able to read a tourist booklet – “dumbed down tourism”…

 

There’s lot’s to see in Cadiz. In fact, staying in the old town would be a great place to spend a long weekend – there are flights from the UK directly to Jerez which is close by Cadiz. Everything is in walking distance – the monuments, the numerous bars and restaurants, beach etc. There’s also a railway station with good links to Seville and beyond.

Not wishing to disappoint the organisation of our hosts, we chose the purple line, abandoning just before its end and then picking up the yellow line all the way around the headland.

 

The standout experience of the day was the Tavira Tower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A splendid 360 degree panoramic view of the city beholds those prepared to climb the 172 steps.

There is also a darkened room containing a Camera Obscura – working on the principles of the pinhole camera – projecting an image of town onto a white “bowl shaped” screen.

One of the nicest squares is Plaza de Mina and we found a bar to eat a traditional Spanish menu of the day. Not bad for 9.5 Euros each.

A selection of pictures from around Cadiz appear below.

 

 

Beach at Cadiz

 

 

 

 

Typical weather for the holiday weekend…

Ah, so the 10th day has arrived.

Whilst I appreciated the rapid attention at A&E, I’m not entirely sure the consultant truly spends a lot of his time stitching wounds.

The stitching was first rate but the decision to then plaster the area with surgical glue would appear to have been overkill (as well as probably not recommended) and this has now created a nightmare for Mo to remove the stiches. All the knots just clogged in superglue…

This is the prescription from the North Hampshire hospital (excluding the glasses). Not what one might expect but ingenious nevertheless.

 

And after 90 (yes the zero is not a typo) minutes of picking glue, cutting and prodding, the sutures were fully removed. All 6 of them.

 

 

It’s now over 30 degrees in the shade – time for some sunbathing – signing off for today now…

Nothing much to report on day 9. Most of the morning was spent preparing for the big day tomorrow – Mo get’s to remove my stitches.

There’s some last minute panic buying going on to try to buy something to loosen the glue the surgeon spread all over the wound and sutures. The glue is the medical equivalent of superglue.

Petroleum Jelly doesn’t work. Acetone (nail varnish remover from Aldi) is having some success in breaking up the glue bond but it’s still painstaking progress.

Watch out for tomorrow’s update – will we end up at the Spanish hospital after all?

We are becoming acclimatised to the Spanish way of life and by the time we arrived in Cadiz it was late afternoon (maybe even early evening!) and having spent a couple of hours wandering around the Old Town, we decided to we would need to re-visit to properly explore.

Late night BBQ back at the campsite.

Another relaxing day in Conil (mostly spent working) followed by a late afternoon cycle ride from the campsite along the coastal paths. Really need to get an attachment to clamp the mobile phone to the bike to avoid stopping every few minutes to consult maps.me!

The view from the clifftop over the beautiful beaches and nearby villages is magnificent.

 

And here is the route of the cycle ride.

 

Things are pretty chilled out here on the coast near to Conil de la Frontera. It looks like we will be here for perhaps another week or more. Who knows! The weather was a pleasant 21C today and the evenings have been more than warm enough to fire up the BBQ.

Had a look around the town of Conil this afternoon. Managed to buy some vaseline which, rumour has it, is good for “melting” the medical glue slopped all over my stitches. I think Friday will be a long day as Mo takes on the role of nurse – will she put on the uniform?

 

 

We will be able to spend a few evenings in the old town of Conil. Lots of restaurants to choose from although apparently not on this street!

This was our first full day at La Rosaleda, near to Conil de la Frontera.

The hillside location offers some stunning views over the surrounding countryside and

whilst we had chosen a nice plot, we had not opted to pay an additional 4 euros per day for one of the grand pitches.

 

 

 

The site is a category 1 – the highest ranking in Spain and the facilities are absolutely first rate in terms of both quality and cleanliness. It’s also a great time of the year to visit – we are using our ACSI card and the price is 16 Euros per night – even cheaper if you want to spend 30 nights here (8.5 euros per night).

After replenishing supplies at the local supermarket, we finished off setting up the awning and adding some refined touches

– including the remote controlled candles – a recent birthday present from one of my good friends.

Another day on the road. This time a 400km journey to Conil de la Frontera departing Caceres around 10am.

This should have been a relaxing days travel but the weather in Caceres was atrocious and the inclement weather persisted for most of the journey.

Heavy rain and wind weather warnings were posted for the region and extracting the van from the Caceres site was truly miserable. The heavens opened up and it was freezing cold. It was pointless trying to stay dry – the adopted approach was to basically wear a pair of shorts and bare feet rather than soaking lots of footwear and clothing.

This persisted until our arrival south of Cadiz and latterly we’ve enjoyed a fine evening. The forecast looks good for the next week.