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Tim Lynette Wilkins
Tim Lynette Wilkins

Tim Lynette Wilkins

traveled in 12 countries Read more
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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsEmily's second birthdayTraveler

    Party day!

    May 4, 2019 in England ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    Today was party day, even though the birthday itself is tomorrow. The day started at 8 a.m. With the arrival of a huge bouncy castle to go into the garden, and a party inside and outside for Emily's friends from 10 to one. Even though the weather was really variable with sunshine and showers all day, some of really heavy, everyone had a great day. The cake was a big hit, and Emily managed to smear great chunks of it in and around her mouth!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Singing group
    Lights in our street

    Carnival

    February 28, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Carnival officially started at lunchtime today. In some bars you come across the singing groups that will compete for best in various categories. They are very popular and it's a shame we have no idea what they are singing about. This evening they turned on the carnival lights and nearly every street has pretty lights strung across. Not sorry we are leaving before the hard partying starts. Already the town is much fuller and noisier than earlier in the week.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Sunshine and the beach - really didnt need the coat!
    Causeway out to the fortOur streetParkHappy carnival!Park

    Leaving Cadiz

    February 28, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    It's been a beautiful day here, 20c with a slight breeze, and at home it's 11c, cloudy with overnight rain. Hohum! Tomorrow we get a taxi from here to Jerez airport for the flight home, and if everything works ok we should be home late afternoon. It's Andulcia day here today, a public holiday, and the bars and plazas are full of people, families, and kids having a good day in the sun, and this weekend is the start of carnival, the biggest carnival in Spain and the city is full, people come in from Jerez and further for festivities and the hotels and rooms are all full - apparently the trains to Jerez first thing in the morning are packed with partying people going home from all-nighters. This morning we walked out along the causeway to one of the forts, and then to through one of the parks along the shore. This evening I think a last tapas bar crawl!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Catamaran
    Tim on top deckThe new bridgeCadiz cathedral from the port side

    Catamaran

    February 27, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    After lunch the catamaran was running again so we were able to get it back to Cadiz. It only takes 35 mins and is very pleasant in good weather but the bus is faster now with the new bridge opened last year. We have watched it being built over the years we have been coming here and today we travelled over it.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    In the bodega
    The sherry tastingLunch in the sunThe bodega on the quayside

    El Puerto de St Maria

    February 27, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Well the plan was to get the catamaran across the bay to El Puerto but it was still not running despite the wind being much lighter so we had to go on the substitute bus. El Puerto de Santa Maria is one of the towns that forms the sherry triangle along with Jerez and Sanlucar. It only has 5 bodega still producing sherry from 50 in the last century but one of them is our favourite. Gutierrez Colosia is small and family run and their sherry is delicious. We did the tour before the tasting and it is amazing that you learn new things every time. After the tasting we had lunch in the sun a few doors away at the tapas bar run by Carmen, the daughter of the family who did our tour 4 years ago - she was just planing to open a tapas bar then and now it is open and very good.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Old cathedral
    Old cathedralOratoryFresco of the last supper

    Tuesday

    February 26, 2019 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

    It's been very windy here yesterday and today so we have stayed visiting indoor places. First the old cathedral, much more church-like than the barn next to it, and then to an oratory with some frescoes by Goya. Tomorrow we are going on a day trip to el Puerto de Santa Maria, just 35 minutes across the bay from Cadiz by catamaran. There we can visit our favourite sherry bodega and have a tasting, a visit to the small local museum, and lunch in the sun on the waterfront before getting a boat back. I hope the wind dies down a bit or it could be a bit bouncy!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler

    Roman theatre

    February 25, 2019 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    After the cathedral we looked at the remains of the Roman theatre which was big enough for 20,000 people, and walked round to the old gates and bastions of the city.

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Atlantic seafront and cathedral
    CathedralCircular cryptView from the bell towerView over CadizCathedral square

    Cadiz cathedral

    February 25, 2019 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Yesterday morning we went to Cadiz cathedral, which is absolutely HUGE, it's one of the biggest churches in Spain , and Spain has a lot of churches! It's described as being austere, but that's in comparison to what Spanish churches are usually like. It's a bit of a barn, but has a very unusual circular crypt, and from the top of the 130ft bell towers you can get views all over Cadiz and out across the bay to Rota and El Puerto de Santa Maria on the other side of the estuary of the river Guadelete.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Ceiling of the oratorio
    Tree outside the oratorioPhoencian head 8c bcPhoencian ring of gold of a base of silver and a rock crystal stonePhoencian necklace, but with egyptian figures

    Cadiz museum

    February 24, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We seemed to spend most of the day in Cadiz museum, which is a really fine museum on the ground floor and classical and contemporary art on the two floors above. We also had a quick at the oratorio next door, where Spain's 1812 government, the Cortez, agreed the countries liberal constitution , whilst still at war with Napoleon.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Phoencian pots
    Roman garum pitPhoencian ovensAncient phoenicanCourtyard of cloister of one of the churchesDetail of a sculpture on a pillar on the corner of a street

    Phoencian Cadiz

    February 23, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Yesterday morning we wandered around a bit and went to the central market. It's not as atmospheric as the one in Jerez but has a huge section of fresh fish of all types and especially of shellfish. Sadly I don't think we are going to get time to cook any of them ourselves but the restaurants are certainly full of things we haven't tried before. Then we found a building that houses a new archaeological excavation that wasn't here the last time we came. About ten years ago they were digging in the old roman salting pits, where the Romans used to make their favourite salty sauce, called garum, from decaying fish innards. ( don't think I'll be trying that!), and underneath they found phoencian houses that were much older, and these are now on display. It's easy to make out the remains of the house walls, still covered in red clay, and lots of tandor-like ovens, and clay pots.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Carnival music group

    Cadiz carnival

    February 23, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Last night we went out for dinner to a recommended restaurant where the specialty is ortaguillas- sea anemones. They are small black lumps fried in batter and were edible, not unpleasant but not very interesting. The best dish was a whole tentacle of octopus draped across yummy potatoes. The octopus was grilled or griddled, not stewed but was so tasty and tender. On the way home we passed one of the music groups that take part in Carnival - all dressed in costume and later they were on local tv singing on stage. The groups make up topical songs and compete for most funny and satirical.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    New apartment
    Roof terrace of apartmentsLunch round the cornerBeach at the end of the roadSanta Catalina fort at one end of the beachSan Sebastian fort at the other end of the beach

    Arrival in Cadiz

    February 22, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    The transfer to Cadiz went very smoothly and our apartment was ready so we were able to move straight in. It's not the apartment we originally booked which was in an old look out tower up 4 flights of stairs with no lift. As Tim has been suffering with gout off and on we thought it prudent to change to one accessible by lift, though he has been fine for nearly 2 weeks now. This couldn't be more different. It is one of several new apartments in a modern building but in the centre of the old town with many traditional tapas bars around. We had a lovely lunch in the sunshine and later went for a walk along the sea front. There is a beach at the end on the road and today was warm enough for people sunbathing in bikinis!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Tasting at Dios Baco
    Tasting room at Dios BacoThe tabanco (sherry bar on the corner of our street)The plaza next to our street at night

    Leaving Jerez

    February 21, 2019 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    So tomorrow we are leaving. I can't believe the time has gone so quickly, but then it always does. We get a train from Jerez to Cadiz and we should arrive at our apartment in Cadiz around midday, but we may need to wait before we can get into the apartment - sounds like an excuse for lunch in the sun somewhere! I haven't heard the storks clacking at all this week so maybe the young ones are all grown up and left home. I don't know what they do - do they go off and build another nest somewhere, or migrate? Normally storks arrive here from North Africa in late winter and then nest here, but apparently many of them now stay here all winter anyway. So do they then migrate further ? - I would think not - north of here is extramadura, which renowned for being arid, barren and very hot in summer, whereas the stretch of Andulcia from Sevilla-Jerez-Cadiz has lots of marshy wetlands full of food like frogs and lizards.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler

    Wednesday

    February 20, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today we went to a small family-owned bodega, Dios Baco, named after Bacchus the God of wine, and owned and run by a man and his five daughters. The daughter who showed us round was "Lupe", short for "Guadalupe". I much prefer the small bodegas to the big conglomerates like Harvey's or Fundador where we were yesterday. The visit ended with a tasting of course, and the sherries we really enjoyed. One of their brand names is "Old Oxford 1970" and they let me sign one of the barrels of it. We are going to have a weight problem with our cases when we go home so rather than buying some heavy bottles Lupe said we could go back tomorrow with some plastic water bottles and she will fill them up for us. Nice people!

    Starting to think about leaving Jerez, hence the thoughts about reducing weight. It's sad but we leave on Friday, and it feels like we only just got here. Still, we won't be going home just yet as on Friday morning we will get the train to Cadiz and stay there for a week.

    The picture of the bird is of one that has been chirping sitting on our television aerial while we have been sitting on the roof all the time we have been here.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Posh restaurant
    12c islamic bowl from the excavations last year12c islamic green glazed potsLunch!The bodega courtyard

    Tuesday

    February 19, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Last night we went to the posh restaurant that Andy and Natalie had been to the night before and indulged in some really good food and a series of fine sherries, most of which we hadn't tried before. Slept well last night! This morning we walked over to the archaeological museum, which I love going to every time we come here. It's quite small but well laid out and has artefacts from every period of Jerez history, from stone-age, Roman, Visigoths, Islamic and Christian periods. Last year a large square in the middle of the city was dug up and being renovated, and this year there lots of items on display in the museum that had been in the building work, especially some very fine Islamic period pottery. On the way home afterwards we passed one of the sherry bodegas and saw that they had put tables out in the sunshine in their courtyard and were running it as a tapas restaurant. We couldn't resist, and the food was as good as last night so a real find!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Waiting for the taxi to the airport

    Kids going home

    February 18, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    This morning we had to get Finlay and Emily up and out to meet Natalie and Andy to go back home. They seem to have really enjoyed their weekend in Spain and we certainly love to spend time with them. They are just such good children and such fun to be with, and the weekend has gone so quickly. Last night Andy and Natalie went out for a meal in good restaurant and said it was very good, and we have booked to go to the same place tonight to cheer us up a bit!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler
    Ice cream again!
    Emily on the busFinlay on the busFinlay on the busLunchFinlay emily and natalie on the balcony of our apartment

    Sunday

    February 17, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After breakfast and walking down to buy a Sunday paper, we thought that the kids would like to go for a ride in the horse carriages that ply the tourist trade, but Finlay was adamant that he didn't want to - I think he wanted nothing to do with horses! So we went to their favourite central square where there is a huge fountain that they love, surrounded by wide open spaces for running and chasing and kicking balls. After that we took a bus ride to go around the centre of Jerez and out into the southern suburbs before coming back and meeting Natalie and Andy for lunch.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2019Traveler

    Sunny saturday

    February 16, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We all met up at a cafe in the market square for a breakfast of churros and chocolate then wandered around in the sun till lunch time. The kids enjoyed kicking a ball around in the main square and we enjoyed a good lunch in the sun!Read more

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