Here is our Costa de La Luz cycling route so far, from Tarifa at the very bottom of the Iberian Peninsula to Cádiz.in the upper left, all along the coast. It looks such a short distance on the map - and it is if you are cycling 100 km a day or driving a car. Neither apply to us. 30 - 40 km a day is us. We like to leave around 9-9:30 in the morning and arrive by 2 or 3 with stops for coffee. We haven’t really cycled that far since leaving Tarifa on January 17 and arriving at our current locale, Puerto de La Santa Maria. We are in no hurry after all and a couple of unexpected factors have had an impact.
A few things happened in Cádiz. Firstly and most, important I got my haircut in a place recommended by our host - always a bit nerve wracking when there is no easy communication but a few pictures gave her the right idea and I was really happy with the result - €25.
Our apartamento in Villa de Andas Suites (€137 for 2 nights) was certainly roomy - a big bedroom with a window onto the inner courtyard and a big living room/dining/kitchen area with shuttered windows out onto the street, and a bathroom. But the quite elegant lobby did not quite translate into the rooms. They were “tired” rooms shall we say, with dreary paint and dreary lighting. OK for 2 nights but no recommendation, though the woman who checked us in was very welcoming. Photos, reviews and rating do do always give an accurate picture. We were on the 3rd floor, actually the 4th, with 2 levels of roof terrace with a plunge pool above. And there was an open bar up there from which we were invited to have one free drink a night. Unfortunately, neither of us were feeling well enough to take advantage of that. Anyway, the bikes enjoyed their elegant stable.
The day after our arrival, we walked and walked through the city, pretty much circumnavigating it after the morning dense fog burned off and released the warm sunshine.
We took a walk from La Caleta beach with its Brighton Beach-style structure out to the Castillo de San Sebastián, a fortress on a small island off the city promenade. According to Wikipedia: in 1457, a chapel was first built on the island by a Venetian boat crew recovering from the plague. Then in 1706, a castle was constructed to defend the norther flank of the city. There is a watchtower from the Muslim period. In 1860, a levee was built to link the island and the city. The iron-structured lighthouse, built in 1908 was the second electric-powered lighthouse in Spain. Last year, though we walked on the levee, there was no access to the island.
Other random shots of the city including a city work crew starting to pick the oranges from the many trees, before the ground turns into a slushy orange mess. I presume they get used somewhere. They are the sour oranges for marmalade, not sweet ones for juice. And there were actually some swimmers in the ocean as well as surfers. It’s a wonderful walking city.
The second thing that happened, was after a visit to the Oficina de Turismo, we confirmed that it was not possible to ride out of Cádiz to Puerto Real on the massive El puente de la Constitutión de 1812 suspension bridge, the longest bridge in Spain, across the Bay of Cádiz. It is bizarre that there is no pedestrian or cycle path on this bridge. Built as recently as 2015, it has 3 lanes each way and 2 tramways. Here it is poking through the fog.
Last year, we did cycle across that bridge leaving Cádiz, as it turns out in complete violation of what is allowed. When we left Cádiz last year, we were headed east to Jerez de La Frontera, Cordoba and Seville.
Last year, we had simply assumed that we could cycle across this bridge, though we saw no obvious cycle path or signage. We had milled about at the Cádiz end early in the morning looking for access and finally spied a blocked-off wide lane on the left side of the bridge. No cars were on it. Should we? It was Sunday, I think and very quiet - so we did. It is a long, high bridge - 5 km long over the Bay and 69m high, apparently one of the world’s highest bridges, surpassing the Golden Gate and the Brooklyn Bridge. We rode as fast as we could, worried we were going to be stopped. We were not, and it was actually an amazing ride on this smooth “bike path” separated from the traffic, and high above the water. We exited the bridge then by the University of Cádiz and then into a beautiful big nature park and on to Jerez, de La Frontera, never really knowing if our cycle across the bridge has been legit. I think the lane we used is likely for emergency vehicles. Luckily, there were none that day.
But this time, no, no, no, according to the Oficina de Tourismo. We would have to take a ferry with our bikes from the marine terminal close to our apartamento, to the town of Rota further up the coast BUT, we were told the ferry does not always run due to weather, and then there is a bus. Yes, the bus would take the bikes and we were given a schedule.
As is generally a good idea, we decided to go to the ferry terminal and check for ourselves. There the ticket woman said yes, we can take the bikes on the bus - they go underneath in the luggage area, just like we experienced on buses last year - no, they don’t need to be wrapped - BUT the bus only takes 2 bikes per trip so we would need to be there early to get those two tickets - and it is Saturday so there could be others with bikes. No problemo! We would come early to be the first in line and would be happy if it is a ferry or a bus. The ticket woman didn’t know. OK, we get ferry issues.
So the next morning, we departed Villas de Andas Suites and were first in line for the 10:20 ferry or bus, the weather was calm and clear - we were hopeful about the ferry.
But a bus with signage saying “Catamaran” arrived and 3 bus employees finally opened the ticket wicket.
There were only a few other people in line, with no apparent luggage, so imagine our surprise when the young woman said firmly “No bikes on this bus”. But, but, but… “The woman who was here yesterday told us it was fine but only 2 bikes. We are the only 2 bikes.” “No bikes on this bus. Only on another bus.” “Will that bus today run at another time today?” “No.” “Tomorrow?” Shrug.. “I don’t know.” But, but but….
And that was it for that plan. We needed to get off the peninsula. Our only alternative seemed to be riding back the way we had come two days ago - along the dune boardwalks, through the salt marshes to the town of Chiclana that we had already been through. It would take us 2 full days of riding and two nights’ accommodation to go completely around the Bay of Cádiz. Yet we later se this big ad that would seem to indicate no problem with bikes on all these different modes of transportation. Ha!
Thirdly, to complicate things, I was getting progressively sicker as Jim got better. I had developed a hacking chest cough, was blowing my nose and had had a very bad fever and had not slept at all the night before our attempted ferry departure. But I had thought I could manage a ferry or bus, with a hotel coming up fast.
At least it was a nice day and we knew the way. So back we went on that quite lovely ride again, across the Isthmus of San Fernando, with a hello again to the pink flamingos.
We found a place for breakfast on the other side and booked a hotel in Chiclana. Our hotel, Crisol Chiclana, seemed overpriced comparatively at €100 with breakfast, but we saw little other competition. However, it was right on the bike path, very quiet and clean, with a mediocre breakfast and we had a nice spacious bright room. This guy was right outside our hotel
But I did not sleep that night again for the coughing and could tell things were getting worse. Chiclana certainly does not have much going for it, though it has some interesting Phoenician history and the Phoenician deity, Melkart is represented throughout the town by this statue. Maybe the nearby beach resorts have sucked it dry. It was kind of depressing and we were pretty much defeated in trying to find anywhere to eat that night. So we decided the make a push for Puerto de Santa Maria the next day which looked like a better bet for a respite stay.
It was a good ride on country roads, up into the hills a bit through some agricultural land and through some small communities with interested resident livestock.
We encountered another day cyclist who asked where we were going and indicated that part of our planned route was too muddy and told us to follow him - much appreciated!
We went through another pine forest park and then through another part of the Baie de Cádiz Parque salt marshes.
It’s the small comforts that you really appreciate on a bike trip, things that would mean little really if you have the convenience of a car. So after the bridge/ferry/bus disappointment, an uninspiring stay in Chiclana and a unsatisfactory hotel breakfast, we were really happy to come upon a little waterfront cafe in San Fernando, not fat from our destination for the night, where we could order some comfort food from a very pleasant server - toasted ham and cheese croissant sandwiches, big glasses of sweet fresh orange juice and cafes con leche.
Cádiz haunted us the entire ride, never out of our sight and neither was that damn bridge, just across the Bay.
And it started to rain hard just after we arrived at our next destination, Puerto de Santa Maria, riding in on very nice bike paths. There was a monument to the salt industry and to the ship, the Santa Maria that was past of Columbus’ first 2, possibly 3 explorations of the Americas. It belonged to Juan de las Cosa (1450-1510), who was the owner and master of the Santa Maria and a cartographer who designed the earliest European world m which incorporated the territories of the Americas. He took colonists to South America on a 7th voyage, where they fought with indigenous people in Columbia, at the future site of Cartagena. He was killed by poison arrows and then all the inhabitants of the village were killed to avenge his death. His widow was granted all the natives he had in his possession - as slaves in fact, as compensation. The history that haunts. He lived in Puerto de Santa Maria and there is a bust of him.
We had booked the Crisol Monasterio de San Miguel, a 4 star hotel with breakfast in Puerto de Santa Maria in case the weather and my condition meant a stay of a few days. That hotel, same chain, offered us a free room upgrade for €70 a night including breakfast. Go figure!
It turned out to be a very good decision and we will have spent 4 nights, 3 more than planned, in the faded elegance of the huge Crisol Monasterio de San Miguel (164 rooms), actually a 18 C monastery. Fascinating building built around a large central open courtyard, beautiful marble staircases and filled with religious art. Super quiet, a bright room with a balcony and King bed, big buffet breakfast.
Next: my experience with the Spanish medical system!
Our day - 35 km, flat.
This featured blog entry was written by Jenniferklm from the blog De Nuevo a España.
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