It was time to buy train tickets for when we leave on Saturday. After weeks of changing our lodgings every night, it is great to just stop in one place to wind down, get back into my exercise routine and take the opportunity to get a feel for a place. It also means there is time to make bookings for events that need to be arranged ahead of time.
We thought we had plenty of time to book to see a famous classical guitarist but there were only concrete block seats and 2 hours of that would be very painful. We went for a coffee and decided we would book one for me because I love classical guitar. Corrie told the ticket person that it would be difficult but her husband would like a ticket anyway – but it did not matter because 2 up front tickets had just been cancelled.
On the way back I kept going into porticos and taking photos of the varying types and designs of patios after yesterday’s discovery. I felt a little guilty about invasion of privacy but when I was spotted by an owner they said: “No hay problema”.
We arrived home, about 30 patio peeks later, and had coffee in our patio with our young Dutch receptionist. After 18 months in Cadiz she now speaks fluent Spanish and is as diligent in learning their culture as she is with learning their language. I told her about our patio adventure and she said that if the door is open you are free to come in, a step even further than I was willing to take. We talked about the influence of the Moors with this type of architecture, and after a little googling traced it back to Roman times, along with the flat concrete useable roofs and the tiles.
We left Rome and came back to Spain and its language. When Corrie mentioned that she found the only way she was going to learn another language was to live in another country, they found something else in common. Venezuela was the country of choice or by accident for both of them, and Corrie was 27 (her age) when she learnt it. The bell rings and it is time for Aniek to return to work and practice her favourite language – Spanish.
Tonight after dinner we will continue our evening ritual and watch the sun once more dip below the warm waters in the gulf of Cadiz between the cooling Atlantic Ocean and the very warm Mediterranean Sea.
