Port of Cadiz in Spain

What’s to see in Cadiz, Spain? With only eight hours in Cadiz what could you possibly see, well let’s take a look…

Day 399 – April 5th, 2015. Cruise Day 15 – MSC Magnifica in Cadiz, Spain on Easter Saturday – cloudy and sunny

Arrived at 8am and left at 6pm.

MSC daily program Easter Sunday 2015

We had breakfast at the buffet and took it easy allowing the rush of people to get off the ship. Around 10.20am we walked off without any waiting, only to find ourselves having to join a queue waiting to board the red city sights hop on hop off bus.

City Sightseeing Cadiz bus tour

Cadiz is one of the oldest cities in Europe, apparently Phoenecian traders arrived here around 800BC. It’s not quite an island in that it’s joined to the mainland by two roads, rather a small piece of headland that sits at the bottom of Spain.

City Sightseeing Cadiz bus tour

The bus stops just outside the terminal (the big green arrow) and costs 17 Euro.

Cadiz cruise terminal where the sightseeing bus stops

We managed to get on the third bus that came along and began the hour round trip, which you can hop on or hop off at any stop, we stayed on for the entire loop and only got off at the beach stop on its second passing. Even though the sun was out and quite warm, the open deck of the bus made it very chilly.

Wrapped up warm for our bus tour of Cadiz

We then walked around the area making the most of our time and the great weather. The next group of photos are from the sightseeing bus tour, enjoy.

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #1

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #2

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #3

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #4

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #5

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #6

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #7

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #8

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #9

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #10

Cadiz sightseeing bus tour #11

The city sights bus tour was good to give us an overview of parts of the city, but really you don’t need to do it at all as you can walk everywhere in good time. Now we know this, next time we can and will get off and just walk around.

The city of Cadiz is very nice and most definitely worth a visit and with the port being right in the town, it’s ideal to walk off and do your own thing.

We walked along the beachfront past many nice looking buildings all around town into one plaza then to the next, eventually making it back to the other side of town and the ship.

Cadiz beachfront, Spain

The entire town of Cadiz from what we saw was really very nice, the architecture, the manicured gardens, plazas and squares, the street lamps, the cobbled pavements to the creative door knockers made this a city to be proud of.

Cadiz in Spain

Plaza de mina Cadiz

Cadiz architecture – Plaza de San Antonio and church & Cádiz Cathedral

Door knockers of Cadiz, Spain

The main square of Cadiz with lots of cafes, and streets that run off from the center.

Plaza San Juan de Dios Cadiz, Spain

We gave our bus ticket to a staff member waiting for the next bus to arrive as the tickets are valid for 24 hours, and made our way aboard.

MSC Magnifica in Cadiz, Spain 2015

When we arrived in port I thought that I saw another cruise ship, though it wasn’t actually in port because it was in refit a bit further away from the cruise terminal area dwarfed by cranes, the Explorer of the seas actually looks like a little toy being worked on by huge robots in my considerably enlarged photo.

‘Explorer of the seas’ getting a face lift in Cadiz, Spain 2015

On board we made our way to the buffet for a late lunch where we joined Graham and Richard and chatted while keeping an eye out for their wives to return to the ship… by 5.30pm having not seen them return, they were getting a little nervy until we bumped into Richards wife who said they were back a long time ago, and we’d just not seen them.

Easter Sunday dinner

Appetisers

Thin slices of turkey – cooked with acacia-blossom honey and sweet paprika served with spring salad leaves and wild berry dressing (J)

Salad

Easter salad – green asparagus tips, hard-boiled eggs and crispy prosciutto strips on lettuce leaves (M)

Soups

Double chicken consommé and angel hair pasta – with vegetables and parsley (J)

Cream of pea soup – with poached fillet of sole and drops of low-fat yoghurt (M)

Pasta and Risotto

Rosette ai carciofi – artichoke rosettes with Asiago cheese and toasted almonds (M)

Main Courses

Thyme-crusted lamb chops – with mustard grain gravy, asparagus tips sautéed in butter and new potatoes (J)

Desserts

Easter chocolate cake – sponge layered with dark chocolate cream on raspberry coulis (J)

Picture sequence from top left to bottom right.

Easter Sunday dinner meals on MSC Magnifica 2015

Easter dinner menu was very average and so were the meals… Although the chocolate cake was the best yet.

I woke at around 1.15am as we were coming close to Gibraltar, unfortunately it was too dark, even with a full moon the rock of Gibraltar was just a silhouette on the skyline.

Easter Bunny with Sali-du & Loieli