Back for Round Two: TAPIF: Spain Part 6: Cadiz, Where We Went to the Beach, Saw Lots of Costumes, and Were Lied To About Parades

Ewelina and I took two day trips while in Sevilla: first to Cadiz, then to Cordoba.

Cadiz is a little port town located on a narrow peninsula in southwestern Spain and is (thanks Wikipedia) one of the oldest towns in Europe.

We were lucky enough to be there during the carnival festivities, which Cadiz is known for. The city itself is adorable but being there during carnival made it even better. Everyone was dressed up, the streets were totally packed, and there were stands full of singers every few blocks. I only wish I could have understood what they were saying, everyone else kept laughing. Overall the beach area was gorgeous and the streets were super lively and despite my stomach giving me trouble by refusing to digest whatever I had eaten the day before, it was one of my favorite trips.

We did, however, have one disappointment. We were told that the parade would start at 5:00 pm. So at 4:30 we started walking over to reserve a place, and then we waited. The crowd got bigger, adorable children in costumes kept walking by, vendors were everywhere, people throwing streamers and confetti and spraying silly string. It was great. And then an hour later it was less great. And then two hours later we were cold and had to go catch a train. We never did find out when the thing actually started. I was bummed, if you YouTube search "Cadiz Carnival Parade" you'll find ones from previous year, it looked really neat. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

The singers all over the city:

These terrifying things were the first things top greet us:

This guy would jump out and scare people. I swear I thought one lady was going to knock his head off when he did it to her.

Cathedral

Even the trash bins get dressed up specifically for carnival

The coast. So, so beautiful:

Getting made-up for carnival

Apparently they say that these trees were brought back from the New World by Columbus. And when I say "they" I mean Wikipedia. I just thought they were really awesome.

Off the beach there was this long walkway that led to the Castillo de San Sebastián. It was great, at one point I just laid out on the barrier, closed my eyes, and listened to the water. I could have fallen asleep.