18 April 2024 - Touring White Villages along the Cadiz Shore
We took a tour along the coast of Cadiz to visit two “white” villages and get a view of the Cape of Trafalgar, where Lord Nelson defeated Napolean’s Navy. The day started out cloudy but then cleared to a beautiful warmish day. There are a number of these white villages scattered around the Andalusian area and they are popular places to visit. Very quaint villages with narrow winding roads and some with amazing views from the mountaintops.
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| There is little land available for gardens and yards, so the locals put their gardens on walls. |
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| The village of Vejer de la Frontera is situated on a hilltop which gave its residents protection from invading forces, they could see them coming from miles away. The Moors ruled the village from 700 until 1218 when the Spaniards took over. |
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| Streets are narrow and steep. Residents can drive their car (if it is small enough) to their residence, but must park them on a lot on the perimeter of the village. |
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| Streets are all cobblestone and are barely bicycle lane wide. |
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| One of the original Moor gateways into the village. |
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| The women in this village would dress in an outfit that included a full outer skirt. To protect herself from unwanted men’s attention, a woman would pull the outer skirt up over her head and cover all but one eye. Moors and Christian women would all wear this. |
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| A church that was converted from a Moorish mosque after the Spaniards took over. We had lunch at the small cafe right on the corner of the square.. |
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| Arcos de la Juderia. |
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| Many of the residences have interior patios. This particular resident had their home open for a view. The plants were familiar to me as I saw them often in Southern California. |
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| Orange trees lined the main plaza area. |
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| Some of the original Moor fortifications are still visible. |
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| The central plaza had a beautiful Seville tiled water fountain, with frogs as the central theme. Frogs were an important symbol in Moorish culture. |
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| We enjoyed a break in the plaza. Cerveza was especially tasty on this warm day. |
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| The local area breeds fighting bulls and there is an annual running of the bulls. |
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| On our way out to the Cape of Trafalgar, the guide pointed out these unique rounded pine trees. They are Stone Pines and the pine nuts are an ingredient in many Mediterranean foods. |
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| Beautiful wide beaches at the Cape of Trafalgar. The lighthouse was built in 1862 |
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| Lord Nelson defeated Napolean’s combined French and Spanish navy here in 1805. It established British naval supremacy for over 100 years. |
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| The second village we visited, Conil de la Frontera, is a fishing village that attracts lots of families looking for a beach vacation in the summer. |
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| The town is very small, really just one street of businesses (tourist shops) with a wide harbor section full of restaurants. |
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| The village church dates from the 15th century. |
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| Torre de Guzman is a medieval tower, built for protection. |
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| Our ship passed through the Straits of Gilbraltar about 2 in the morning. Russ got up and got a picture of the Tangier side (a bit blurry because of the ship movement). I didn’t get up. |
