Cádiz was a fairly last minute trip. We had said we wanted to visit, but didn’t actually buy our bus tickets until the night before.

Stepping off the bus in Cádiz, we were met with the unmistakable scent and feel of sea in the breeze. We soon felt like we were in a postcard with huge palm trees and the red-hot sun acting as our backdrop. We hadn’t planned our day at all, so figured we’d just walk around the impossibly narrow streets and see what we stumbled across. The main plaza was buzzing with tourists and locals in equal measure. With a crowd gathered around the grand Cathedral gawking at, what seemed to be, a silent protest. It didn’t take long to realise that it was actually a set-up for some kind of French film/TV series. (Wouldn’t mind seeing the final product of this but I have no idea what it was for!). The film crew did mean however, that we weren’t able to go inside the cathedral.

Moving on from there, we wandered through the little streets, crossing the central market as we went. Small cobbled streets would lead into large roads with tables and chairs set up for outside dining. I think outdoor living is the one thing I’m going to miss the most about living in Spain. We continued walking along the coast to try and visit the castle of San Sebastian but due to restoration works we weren’t able to go in. Thankfully, a short walk up, we found a little beach supply shop. We bought a beach towel each and headed up to La Caleta. It’s not exactly a pristine Caribbean beach but the sun, sound of the waves and sea breeze led to the both of us fully falling asleep for an hour or 2. We woke up, wondering what century we were in and in desperate need of one thing – ICE CREAM. We ambled back towards the centre and gorged ourselves on gelato before strolling back to the bus to return back to base.

I remember when we were choosing cities for our year abroad, Cádiz was originally on my list. One of the girls who was previously there, gave me the heads up that there wasn’t much to do. After having visited, I totally understand that living in Cádiz would have been much like Alcalá but it was definitely a lovely day trip if you enjoy a calm, casual, chill trip.