A lovely breath of Europe

Wed. Jan 28th

George, Theresa mueller and I walked all round Cadiz this morning, it is such a beautiful city! Built on cliffs andstone walls along the sea front with a towering cathedral, whose towers I first saw early this morning from out at sea. It is built in the baroque style, quite elaborate on the outside but with towering stone pillars and high, high vaults in the knave. The multitude of figures inside made me feel wicked and facetious because of their VERY expressive faces! As I looked I found myself speaking for them 'Why have you dressed me up like this for God's sake and left me standing here looking ridiculous?' that was Mary. 'This headress is way too heavy, get it off!' Mary again Then there was the tableau with Mary Magdalene, Jesus and Mary (again) looking tired and worried, 'Oh come on give us a break!' The 'sculpting' for want of a better word, was naive in style and they looked like worn out actors....truly.

The rest of this stunning cathedral left me in awe and there were great paintings adorning the vast stone walls, of the Anunciation, the Ascension, the birth of Christ and many of the saints; St Sebastion, St Francis ( not the St Francis), St Pedro (Peter), utterly beautiful.

We were fascinated and surprised that all the candles you pay to light for someone were those the little battery ones we cheat with at Christmas! The Spanish are very religious but even more practical.

We had lunch sitting outside in the bright sunshine but it is winter so there is a coolness in the air and i wore layers and was just warm enough. We ordered 20 Tapas thinking they would be the size served in Canada but they were HUGE and so we grabbed Semester at Sea students as they passed and fed them....they were not too keen on the anchovy so George and I got to eat those. They were delicious.

John Mueller, Theresa's husband who is teaching psychology took his students into the streets and asked them to observe Spanish body language and report on it. I thought that a brilliant idea because he could sit outside in a lovely square with cafes and trees and eat and drink while they did all the foot and brain work but always knew where to find him. I look forward to hearing how it went.

The atmosphere is so relaxed and friendly and this is a busy working city; most people use mopeds and motor bikes in preference to cars which is much more sensible because the streets are narrow and cobbled and very shady.....lovely and cool during the summer months I should think.

Must let George get to his email. We have been to the station (which is ten minutes away walking, not one as they said!) and have our train tickets to leave for Seville at 8.50 am tomorrow morning.