Beach Day in Cádiz

On Saturday morning the entire high school group piled into a bus and headed south to escape the Sevillan heat for the day. We were joined by a group of CIEE staff and professors, including Ángel, who gave us a guided tour of Cádiz. “The people of Cádiz are very proud,” Ángel explained as we walked through the city center. It is not hard to understand why: Cádiz is known as the only city in Spain Napoléon Bonaparte could never conquer, and is widely considered the oldest city in Europe. It was a powerful port city, as demonstrated by the hundreds of tall watchtowers that still stand today and were used to watch over boats in the harbor.

It is also not hard to see why Cádiz is called La ciudad de la luz, the City of Light. The sun is especially strong and glitters off the ocean, which surrounds the city on nearly all sides. The city buildings and houses are also all white, giving the city an especially bright glow. Ángel led us through the narrow streets of the El Pópulo district and we visited the ancient Roman theater that lies, almost completely intact, right beneath the city. We also toured the city’s grand, Baroque-style Catedral  and adjoining tower which gave us an impressive bird´s eye view of the city and coastline. 

After the tour, we had free time to eat lunch and relax on the beach - on our excursion days, the host families pack a picnic for the students to bring along. They could also walk the boardwalk, grab a coffee in one of the beachside cafes, or even swim in the ocean! Most students braved the waters even though it was a little windy out. After a few hours of beach time we loaded back onto the bus and made it back to Sevilla in time for dinner at our homestays. To end the week, the students had a free day to spend with their host families on Sunday and recharge for week two of classes.