Thomas Jefferson, through author and now good friend Derek Baxter, advises American travelers to Europe to go to the highest point in the city, whether it is a tower or a hill, to get a full lay of the land.
(Derek’s book, “In Pursuit of Jefferson” is well worth reading for both travel buffs and history buffs. It’s a really interesting read, so much so that I reached out to him, and Carol and I hosted a book party for him that drew around 70 people. We’ve gotten together socially several times a year since.)
It is the Torre Tavira, a watchtower built in 1730 that affords wonderful views all over Cadiz, a small chunk of the Atlantic Ocean, and Cadiz Bay/the ports and more. It’s 173 steps to the top. There is a Camera Obscura, but we didn’t want to wait 45 minutes for the next show(?), so we bought the cheaper ticket to just ascent the tower.
It was built to be a lookout tower, but was also part of a palace house.
When we reached the top, there were fewer than ten people up there. By the end of our relatively brief visit to the top, it was just Carol and I.
We then took a late afternoon walk on the promenade by the beach by Park Genoves. It’s a very pleasant walk, with the park on one side, the ocean on the other, and some of those walled guard huts like you see in Old San Juan.
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