Just returned from two glorious weeks in Cadiz. Temperature tooooo hot - fabulous! Was in the high 20s most days, and hit 34 when we went to Seville. Came back to floods in Scotland

What to say . . . Cadiz is wonderful. Parts of it remind you of Miami (what I've seen from the Golden Girls, at any rate) and Havana, Moorish Africa, Spain and southern England (!) all at once. The beaches are golden-white and the sea the most beautiful shade of blue. We stayed at the Hostal Fantoni (45 euros a double con bano per night) which was close by the Renfe and the bus stations as well as being next to one of the best squares, San Juan de Dios. Not the most friendliest of places (the men seemed to enjoy being grumpy), but the lady of the family was lovely and gave me a kiss when we left.

Plenty of bars, cafeterias and restaurants selling a variety of foods. A great place for tapas is San Francisco Uno, in Plaza San Francisco, where the salchichas de pollo were scrummy. But the best experience food-wise was the market where you could buy fruit, meat and fish. And the fish section was amazing! Everything you had ever thought of and then loads more, and so fresh they were almost moving.

We spent most of our days on the Playa de la Victoria, close to the new part of the city, but the beach bars could be a nightmare. Grumpy waitresses who preferred to serve the Spanish before anyone else regardless of when they arrived. Very annoying. But most days we took a picnic from the market and had a right royal feast (as my waistline will now testify).

An easy daytrip is to Puerto de Santa Maria, on the vaporcito (small steam boat). It was very hot when we went here, and we missed the opening of the Plaza del Toros by five measly minutes, but seeing the bodegas was fab, and it was a nice place.

Sevilla took 1.30hrs by bus (same by train) and is officially the hottest place I have ever been in my life. We only went for a day, and what a shame. After just a couple of hours we were discussing how "next time" we would come for a few days. The view from the Giralda is amazing, but I would save your money on the bus tour. Not really worth it. But this has to be one of the most beautiful cities in Spain.

Finally, we spent a night in Malaga, and again this is a city that we want to see more off. Pity it gets such a bum rap as being "the airport place" when there are so many beautiful buildings to see. The huge amount of beggars, however, is off-putting as they are very hard to get rid of.

Thank you to everybody for their suggestions about where to go in Cadiz and the Costa de la Luz. As ever when I go to Spain, there is never enough time to see everything I want to when one of the biggest pleasures is just getting into the Spanish rhythm of life and then you join the "manana" set! Can't wait to return.

Great cultural observations Elizabeth! You're getting me pumped for the next 'Feria de Abril' in Sevilla! Thanks for the report.

You didn't have an opportunity to check out my friend's American Barbecue restaurant in C�diz, Rob's Ribs, did you? Not exactly traditional Andaluz cuisine, but definately worth the trip from what everybody's telling me. I need to make it down there soon and try it out myself.

Hi Elizabeth, great travel log there, thanks for reporting back with us

While the province of C�diz on the whole is great, I always find the city of C�diz to be quite run down since the town hall does not invest much in the restoration of monuments, the cathedral, etc... The dirty white washed houses and such do give it a quaint look and it is fun to get lost in the winding streets.

Great point, the older men here pride themselves on their grumpiness

I was in Puerto de Santa Mar�a this past weekend for the first time as I had a client there I had to deliver a cell phone to and I also enjoyed the little I saw of it.

For Bodega tours, Jerez de la Frontera just 30 munutes from Pto. de Santa Mar�a is THE place to be, a city founded on Horses and Sherry, how could one go wrong with a vist there

I hear ya on that view from "La Giralda" I was in Sevilla this past April for the Feria de Abril and I went up the tower (had been before) for the view, love the ramps up to the top instead of stairs (Whhhheeeeeeeee!).

Been to M�laga for a day but never got to know it well, maybe I will get back soon for a weekend.

When is the next trip?

Your memories have inspired me to get some of my Sevilla pics up that I took last April so until you can get back, here are some pics to bring it all back:

� Giralda

� Giralda Again

� View from Giralda

� Bullring from Giralda

� View 3 from Giralda

� Jinetes & Caballos

� Sevilla

Saludos,
jer....

I also have some pics of Sevilla:
Sevilla 1
Sevilla 2
and some pictures of a night of flamenco in Sevilla:
Flamenco!

These pictures are fabulous! Thank you both for making me feel as if my holiday was soooooooooo long ago now . . .

Jer, I tried getting one of the bullring but my camera wasn't good enough so yours is wonderful. Have to make plans to get back to Seville, but at the minute it doesn't look as if we'll get back to Spain until next year Did have a cunning plan to go back to Cadiz and use it as a base to visit Feria in Seville. All those horses, I'll be in heaven

It was great to read some travel news about the Bay of Cadiz. I have come to know this area only recently and have decided that it is SUPERB. Need to spend more time developing my website but have added some pictures of Cadiz and El Puerto de Santa Maria and some surrounding places. Having bought a flat in El Puerto it will be the start of many more visits. Anyone wanting some more information, please contact me. I want to add some CONTENT to my site with stories of visits to the town and anything that will give some better idea.

Hasta Luego ! Nige
www.spaincostaluz.com