2 nights in Conil, but now the toilet needs emptying. Luckily there was a fuel station on the dual carriageway just outside Conil. We filled with fuel (which, incidentally, is less than a Euro a litre at the moment). There was a gents on the outer wall of the filling station and so Mike was able to chuck it down the pan discreetly there.
Mike had picked up a flyer at the marina at La Linea advertising motorhome parking at El Puerto De Santa Maria - just across the bay from Cadiz. It boasted 24hr security but nothing else facilities-wise. I entered the co-ordinates into Snoops but they would have lead us to a town near Granada. I entered them again - same thing. Conveyed the information to Mike, who had to enter the co-ordinates himself twice (why is that????) and so we had to fall back on that age old safety net - common sense. Yes! Fortunately I haven't lost the ability to work things like this out all by myself and using the map on the flyer we got to El Puerto on the C32 bypass, got to the out of town shopping centre and picked up Aire signs from there.
For our visit to Cadiz we took the Catamaran across the bay. Apparently quicker by train or bus but I reckon not half so much fun. We wandered around Cadiz which was lovely (photos below) and back to El Puerto for the evening.
El Puerto is a large town who's faded buildings speak of a more illustrious past. In fact it was so affluent and important back in the day that Christopher Columbus sailed from here in the Santa Maria. There was no noticeable gorgeousness in the bars here as I found in Conil, the only point of note that Mike was ordering fun-sized baby beers, completely dwarfed by my G and T's. Another average meal at a Mexican restaurant rounded off the evening.
This part of Spain is where the sherry comes from and I had a fanciful theory that at the end of one of their long haul sailing journeys half way round the globe, looking for somewhere new to exploit, someone had a keg of wine left over. Taking a sip, a certain individual pronounced that this elderly wine wasn't bad - "lob some sugar into this oxidised slop, they'll still buy it".But how wrong was I? No, no, no - they're special grapes, cultivated here and have been on the go since Shakespeare was a glint in his grandfather's eye. (Or possibly Great Grandfather - I don't pretend to be a history buff). As we left El Puerto I saw the Osbourne sherry Bodega which reminded me to mention where this alcoholic aperitif hails from.
Photos from our walk around Cadiz below. By the way - you don't pronounce the zed. So saying Cadiz would be more like cardy without the gan.
The following morning we used all the information at our finger tips and following the printed page this time, referred to our aires book of Spain and Portugal and headed for Rota the following morning.
Mike had picked up a flyer at the marina at La Linea advertising motorhome parking at El Puerto De Santa Maria - just across the bay from Cadiz. It boasted 24hr security but nothing else facilities-wise. I entered the co-ordinates into Snoops but they would have lead us to a town near Granada. I entered them again - same thing. Conveyed the information to Mike, who had to enter the co-ordinates himself twice (why is that????) and so we had to fall back on that age old safety net - common sense. Yes! Fortunately I haven't lost the ability to work things like this out all by myself and using the map on the flyer we got to El Puerto on the C32 bypass, got to the out of town shopping centre and picked up Aire signs from there.
For our visit to Cadiz we took the Catamaran across the bay. Apparently quicker by train or bus but I reckon not half so much fun. We wandered around Cadiz which was lovely (photos below) and back to El Puerto for the evening.
El Puerto is a large town who's faded buildings speak of a more illustrious past. In fact it was so affluent and important back in the day that Christopher Columbus sailed from here in the Santa Maria. There was no noticeable gorgeousness in the bars here as I found in Conil, the only point of note that Mike was ordering fun-sized baby beers, completely dwarfed by my G and T's. Another average meal at a Mexican restaurant rounded off the evening.
This part of Spain is where the sherry comes from and I had a fanciful theory that at the end of one of their long haul sailing journeys half way round the globe, looking for somewhere new to exploit, someone had a keg of wine left over. Taking a sip, a certain individual pronounced that this elderly wine wasn't bad - "lob some sugar into this oxidised slop, they'll still buy it".But how wrong was I? No, no, no - they're special grapes, cultivated here and have been on the go since Shakespeare was a glint in his grandfather's eye. (Or possibly Great Grandfather - I don't pretend to be a history buff). As we left El Puerto I saw the Osbourne sherry Bodega which reminded me to mention where this alcoholic aperitif hails from.
Photos from our walk around Cadiz below. By the way - you don't pronounce the zed. So saying Cadiz would be more like cardy without the gan.
The following morning we used all the information at our finger tips and following the printed page this time, referred to our aires book of Spain and Portugal and headed for Rota the following morning.
Now, sorry Vicarious, but you could have made more of Rota. The entry is factual and correct and Rota at this time of year was definitely a seaside town at rest. We had a walk towards the town and came across a boutique hotel that clearly catered for Americans. What lead us to think this? Well, there were a couple of clues - an American flag flying outside a boutique hotel type establishment and the Tex-Mex menu got us on the trail. Rota is right next to an enormous US Naval base and I must confess I was looking forward to admiring some hunky servicemen. Now, sorry US Navy. I managed to persuade Mike that we could go out on a Saturday night and benefit from US dining standards but where were the hunks? Conil beat Rota hands down on that score. My burger was fab, I can't take that away and the toilets were impeccable - in fact I could have eaten my burger in there and had no hygeine concerns. But - I do question my powerrs of reasoning on a regular basis. Why did I order a burger? This Western facing coastline isn't just fabled for surfing and all sporty pursuits relating to surf and a prevailing wind. NO! Tuna. So many tuna were landed here at one time, observers from towers could visualise them. Conil even had a depiction of Tuna fishing on the tiles outside the church. I could have had a great slab of this wonderful meaty fish, but I didn't. Oh well, that's just the way it was.
Next stop Sanlucar de Barrameda. Another time folks.
Next stop Sanlucar de Barrameda. Another time folks.
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