Cádiz

*Please excuse any misuse of preterite/imperfect.  Thank you.

Esta mañana, me desperté un poquito tarde, y por esta razón, desayuné muy rápido.  Tenía prisa porque solo tenía 30 minutos para caminar a la universidad y salir a Cádiz con el programa a las 9.00h.  No me lavé los dientes.  Bruto.  ¡Anduve rapidísimo!  Llegaba al mismo tiempo que el grupo salieron.  ¡Qué suerte!  El día en Cádiz era muy bueno.  La ciudad es tan bonita y fuimos a la playa.  Aprendía varias cosas.  Por ejemplo, hay una basa militar de España y los Estados Unidos en Cádiz ya que es muy cerca de África y Europa y los países pueden controlar comercio y negocios, etc.  Sacaba fotos (algunas son a bajo).  Era un buen día. 

This morning, I woke up a little late, and for this reason, I ate breakfast really quickly.  I was in a hurry because I only had 30 minutes to walk to the university and leave for Cádiz with the program at 9:00AM.  I didn’t brush my teeth.  Gross.  I walked super fast!  I arrived at the same time as the group was leaving.  How lucky!  The day in Cádiz was really nice.  The city is so pretty and we went to the beach.  I learned various things.  For example, there is a military base of Spain and the United States in Cádiz because it’s very close to Africa and Europe and the countries can control trade, etc.  I took photos (some are below).  It was a great day.

(official entrance to the old part of the city)

(their government/city hall-type building)

(the architecture is old and the streets are narrow)

(la catedral cerca del mar...the city's biggest and oldest cathedral that's backyard is the sea/ocean)

(a view of part of the city from the top of the cathedral's bell tower)

(one of the bells in the tower)

(the Atlantic Ocean...you can't really see it, but to the left is where the military base is)

(Edward Scissorhands?...we walked through a park lined with trees and bushes cut into fun shapes)

(la playa...the beach!...the beaches of Cadiz are famous. The James Bond movie set in Havana, Cuba was actually filmed here)

(I loved how all of the small fishing boats looked)

History Lesson of the Day:

Cádiz is perhaps the oldest city in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe.  It is famous for its military strength.  When Napoleon conquered much of Europe, he triumphed all of Spain except for Cádiz.  This is the only city to never be defeated...Also, Cádiz is famous for it's festivals (relating to Holy Week, before Easter).  It hosts the world's 3rd largest Mardi Gras festival.  

Random eye-witness experience (in English for greater impact):

While walking home after our day trip, I saw a dog.  This was no ordinary dog, however.  It looked like a pug/husky mix.  It was crazy!  I did not know these animals existed! I would have taken a picture, but the dog’s owner stared at me because I was looking at his dog in amazement. Bad timing.  Perhaps said photo can be obtained at a later date.