Catherine and Sally attempted to enlist as extras, but surprisingly, no travelling English sailors were required in the programme schedule – I think drugs baron moles were perhaps more what they were looking for.  Over breakfast, we watched as the various RIBs and other boats set off to film at sea, leaving a vast production crew ashore to await the crucial day’s footage.  

We set off in to town after breakfast, quite a long walk from the marina – this stop on our journey will certainly be good for the step-count. Cadiz is essentially a very long island connected to the mainland by a huge suspension bridge. The island and its settlement here, has been in existence for millennia and used variously by the Phoenicians, Romans and the kingdoms of Spain over its history. The old walls still exist, many built in what’s know as oyster rock, a feature of the prehistoric compression, over millions of years, of shells (including oyster and other shells) and sand, then quarried locally to build the many impressive buildings in old Cadiz.

Exploring the old town, we discovered a fort that during the second world war was home to some 300 Jehovah’s witness who the Republican leader, General Franco imprisoned for their pacifist (non-combatant) beliefs. Also, a museum on the site depicts the great explosion and resulting disaster from August 18th 1947, when a naval armament depot, through a combination of neglect and mismanagement, exploded with the equivalent explosive force of 200 tons of TNT. 1565 underwater mines, 596 depth charges and 41 torpedoes went up that day. The shockwave completely destroyed the naval base, shipyards, railway station, childrens’ hospice and the working-class neighbourhood of San Severiano. It resulted in some 10,000 casualties, including 150 fatalities. The official report, not published until 2009, showed that the ignition point of the blast was likely to be 50 German-made depth charges, not made of TNT, but highly volatile gun-cotton.  

On our second day in Cadiz, our first order of duty was, it turned out, not strictly cultural. Sally had identified some beautiful shoes in a designer shoe shop on our promenade of the previous day. She’d clearly mused overnight on whether these could be justified under the usual terms of ‘really useful or truly beautiful’, and satisfied that these criteria were equally met, we set off directly to the store yesterday. Some sixty minutes later (you can’t rush these things!), Sally and Catherine were proud possessors, between them, of three pairs of lovely shoes.

After the initial shopping Exped was completed, we continued our tour with a visit to the city’s Cathedral. An excellent audio tour in English gave us the opportunity to understand a little more about the amazing architecture, art and ornaments. The two enormous organs in the choir, one from the original cathedral and another from the last century, must make a tremendous sound during services. A huge silver Monstrance, at 5.5m tall, was amazing – I would not have wanted to polish it - just one of the artefacts on view. Ornate altars and side chapels completed the experience.

After the cultural tour, we found a lovely tapas restaurant for lunch. Some beer and wine were enjoyed to accompany lunch. We returned, perhaps inevitably, via the shoe shop, and yet another shoe purchase - that’s what a couple of glasses of wine and some delicious tapas does for your resistance – then library time and dinner onboard.  

While by no means hot, the sun is out, the sky is blue, mostly. Light winds mean we’re here for at least another day before we head west for Lagos in Portugal.  

Simon