Saturday in the Silver Teacup!

Seville, Spain, has pretty much everything a budding language student could dream up for a study abroad experience. It's big enough to brim with stunning tourist attractions and tapas but small enough to never overwhelm. Arguably, the only thing lacking is easy access to a beach (we can't quite count the iconic Guadalquivir River, can we?)--but even that is accessible when CIEE plans an excursion to the coastal city of Cádiz!

This Saturday, Spanish Language and Culture students in Seville got to visit the charming little city that, according to our tour guides, also goes by the nickname the "Tacita de Plata," or "Silver Teacup." In their regional accent, locals often pronounce the city's name as "Cái," skipping most of the consonants!

Enough about the name, though--what did we do there?

A DAY IN THE LIFE: CÁDIZ
9:00-10:30am: Bus ride! (With the time difference, all you North American readers were likely fast asleep at this point.)

11:00am: Walking tour
Under the wing of Spanish-speaking tour guides with years of experience under their belt, students visited and learned about:

• Plaza de España (Plaza of Spain)
• The monument to the Cortes of Cádiz
• Plaza de mina
• Church of San Antonio
• Calle ancha (Wide Street)
• Plaza de las flores (Plaza of the Flowers)
• The local market
• & more!

For example, students learned that Cádiz, which was founded by the Phoenicians around 1100 B.C.E., is the oldest still-inhabited city in Spain. Cádiz also houses what was once upon a time the most important port in Spain!

12:00am or so, depending on group: Climb up to the top of the clock cower of the Catedral de Cádiz "Santa Cruz del Mar." (This part of the itinerary may or may not have also included loud, startling clangs of the bell every quarter hour!) Did you know that this tower is the highest point in all of Cádiz?

Afternoon: Time to hang out at the beach, see the sea, eat delicious picnics packed by host families, and maybe get some ice cream. Cádiz actually shares the Atlantic Ocean with the East Coast of the U.S., which meant that some students got to literally soak in their home turf!

5:30-7:00pm: Time to trek home, relax, and have dinner with host families.

Students had the opportunity to visit a city in a whole different province, hit the beach (if desired), soak up some more Spanish, and learn the history of how our region became what it is today--all in one sublime Saturday with CIEE!