Am I a Tourist?


Am I a Tourist?


Dear Andy


Like many a letter writer I am not sure where to start. Anyway here goes.

I used to come to Spain for over 20 years for my summer holidays and sometimes at Christmas and Easter time with my wife and children when they were all younger. About ten years ago we decided to move more permanently to Spain where I now spend most of my time.

Recently my wife and a couple of friends made a statement that I never go on holiday. Of course I have always been of the mind set that being in Spain was a holiday and I can remember years ago some guy asking me where I was going on holidays that particular year, Miami, California, the Middle east?

I can clearly remember telling him that I had saved most of my working life so that I could settle in Spain and although I have been to many places throughout the World over the years I now live in Spain and do not want to go to other places as in my opinion Spain has as much as I can handle from a Cultural and Sporting point of view.

However the pressure told and we drove off to Chiclana last weekend from Thursday to Sunday. Where´s Chiclana? Well, I have a friend that lives there whom I had met a few times and who asked me to come to Chiclana sometime. This was the opportunity. The wife drove as I am not great at driving. We searched the map and I discovered that it was near Cadiz. It is like a suburb of Cadiz. About 20 minutes by bus to the heart of the old city of Cadiz on the Atlantic ocean. I really knew nothing about Chiclana until I met some of the locals who told me that this year they are celebrating the centenary their defeat of Napoleon´s armies. Now Chiclana is a small town but about7 km. away is their beach which has loats of multi starred hotels and the usual spick and span tourist setups for the rich and famous. The beach is very long and everybody on it was well wrapped up as the wind was high.

A trip to Cadiz also opened the eyes as this town also withstood the invasions by Napoleon at the same time, is or certainly has been a very important port for traders going back yonks. Did you know that Christopher Columbus started his second voyage to the Americas from Cadiz? Did you know that in 2012 the Spanish Constitution will celebrate 200 years having been drafted in Cadiz? Did you know that the Tavira Tower in Cadiz while not the oldest is the highest and houses a camera oscura? More about that another time!

Now! Am I a Tourist or simply a holiday maker?





Roger Cummiskey, Artist.
Mijas Costa.
artrogerpaintings.com

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