Chipiona and Cadiz

Chipiona old town

Friday 24^th August. We arrived in Chipiona today after spending a couple of days in the beach resort of Mazagon. We had plenty of wind for our sail here, but also plenty of swell, which made for a rolly ride. As we approached Chipiona the water got shallower and the sea became rougher, so we were glad to be going into harbour. But as we started to roll the genoa in, it jammed solid. We unfurled it and tried again, but the same thing happened.  The only solution was to drop the genoa, which meant turning the boat into the wind and waves, and Cliff going forward to wrestle the genoa down as the waves broke across him on the foredeck.

Spain's tallest lighthouse

 Saturday 25^th August. We explored Chipiona today. It’s an interesting town with lots to see – it boasts Spain’s tallest lighthouse and is home to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Regla, better known as the ‘Black Madonna’. The sanctuary is a striking building, set just above the beach. One unusual feature in the church is the font, which is made from half of a large clam shell – we imagined the priest would need to be very careful to avoid catching the baby on the sharp edges!

Sancutary of Our Lady of Regla

The clam shell font

 We were also fascinated by the Chipiona fish corrales – these are rock formations off the beach that have been enhanced since Roman times to form large natural pools. At high tide the water rises above the rock walls allowing fish to swim into the pools, and as it recedes the fish are stranded and are then caught by the fishermen using spears and other traditional tools.



Plaza de Espana in Cadiz

Monday 27^th August. We sailed to Cadiz yesterday, there was very little wind and we motored most of the way. The marina is 2km from the city centre so we got the bikes out today and cycled in. What a brilliant, fascinating city! Its heyday was in the 19^th century when it hosted the signing of first Spanish constitution and was the centre for trade across continents.  The merchants had grand houses built with watch towers on them so that they could look out over the bay and see the ships with their goods coming and going. We started our cycle tour admiring the merchants' houses near Plaza Espana then cycled along the battlements and through shaded gardens with wonderful views across the bay.  We finally wound our way down the narrow cobbled streets to the main square and the impressive cathedral.

Cadiz roofline showing the watch towers on the merchants'  houses

Cadiz cathedral

I’m not a great church lover but Cadiz cathedral is truly majestic – apparently it’s the largest church in Spain. The organist was practising as we wandered around inside the cathedral and we were treated to Toccata by Bach, which fitted perfectly with the surroundings. We also discovered a new taste at a tapas bar across the square from the cathedral – grilled goats cheese and walnuts on toasted bread spread with wine marmalade. It was so good we ordered a second round!

The other highlight in Cadiz was highest of the original watch towers - Torre Tavira - which  had a Camera Obscuring offering a bird’s eye view of the city. As the camera operator moved it around he gave us a guided tour, explaining the history of the buildings we could see.