Carnaval in Cádiz!

CÁDIZ. was. (and here I go using this word again)…AMAZING. Not only was Cádiz a gorgeous city to begin with that decided to bless us with fantastic weather on a weekend where it was originally supposed to rain, but the Carnaval festival that brought us to Cádiz in February in the first place was an unreal experience in itself.

View from side of our 'lower terrace':)

Carnaval celebrations, or what we call Mardi Gras back home, take place in different parts of Spain and all over the world but Cádiz is arguably the most popular celebration destination in Spain (next to Tenerife in the Canary Islands) and it is also well-known all around the world. To top it off, the majority of the Carnval festivities in Cádiz take place in Plaza de San Antonio where we happened to land a fabulous ‘tower’/apartment for the weekend with nine other people that included THREE terraces, all of which overlooked the infamous plaza and all of the festivities that came with it…not to mention an ocean-view on all four sides of the top terrace (..somebody seriously pinch me!). To give an idea of just how lucky we were in terms of our location, part of the show on Saturday night was ON our terrace!! Wow. Just wow. We thought we were in trouble when two policemen showed up but oh...don’t worry…they just wanted to warn us in advance about the flashing spotlights and excessive amounts of noise that were about to take place outside of our door. Great, thanks officer! It seriously could not have been a more perfect location, to say the least.

Our view of Plaza de San Antonio:)

Okay let’s start from the beginning. Every great day begins with mimosas (is that a quote already..?), so after some mimosas on the terrace in the morning we decided to walk around town and take in the costumes and the scenery. This eventually landed us at the beach with some tinto de veranos in hand (aka bottled wine mixed with carbonated water/lemonade and an ever-so-worth-it sugar headache), the sunshine on our skin, and three hours of heavenly ocean views. Hellooooo, February! Tons of people of all ages were lounging on the beach and walking around town all day in costume…the atmosphere throughout the city was just buzzing with energy the entire time we were there and it was so cool to see. Later that night we ended up at an Argentinean restaurant right off of the main plaza because my coworker Maria knew the owner from a previous trip to Cádiz…he remembered her because she ate so much food when she was there last (HA). So naturally, we over-indulged in delicious Argentinean cuisine while in matching pirate costumes and enjoyed good company before heading out for the night.

Pirates, Pirates, Pirates!

Next chapter. A popular trend in Spain is called having a ‘Botellón’, which essentially means a large gathering of people/friends outside drinking together. In sum…this is the meaning of Carnaval in Cádiz. There were so many people in Plaza de San Antonio that we could barely walk in most areas. Once we found some open space we cracked open our bottles, made conversation with people in crazy costumes, wandered down different side streets and to different plazas for a change of scenery, and stared in awe at all of the madness through it all. Welcome to the rest of our night. And for many people, the celebrations don’t stop until morning (I mean when the sun comes up)…when we walked out our door the next morning to catch our train people were still out from the night before, although much of the party had been replaced by excessive amounts of trash. Lovely!;)

Overall, Carnaval in Cádiz was an incredible and unique experience that I will never forget. The people, the weather, our location, the atmosphere, the costumes, the beach, and a world-famous festival were all crucial ingredients that made for a fabulous weekend. Next stop: Tenerife in the Canary Islands for another delightful dose of Vitamin D. Hastaaaaaa luego!:)