Cádiz. It’s Good to Live Among Kind People :)

Cádiz. Spain’s Atlantic coast. Cádiz—just about the oldest city in Europe—doesn’t look particularly European in places, stubbornly recalling its Arab past. Yet after even the briefest interaction with the locals, you immediately realise that their attitude to certain things is nothing like the laid-back, couldn’t-care-less approach of the Near and Middle East, but actually quite European :). The seafront. The children are walking along a barrier that ends in a sheer drop down into the Atlantic waters, where, as we later discovered, Baba Yaga lives . They’re walking along nicely, scanning the horizon, joking and speculating about exactly which direction the American continent lies in, and where the Canary Islands are. An elderly gentleman in football boots and wearing headphones jogs past. On seeing this (to our minds) utterly idyllic scene, the man catches our attention and begins gesturing anxiously: “Dear parents, what if your older girl falls off the edge? Oh dear, oh dear!” Just like in Almerimar, people are incredibly overprotective when it comes to children’s safety, you see. To which we reply: “Don’t worry, she’s careful. Thank you!” The gentleman jogs on. We keep walking... Daughter: “Mum, what was he so worried about?” “He was worried you might fall. It’d be an extra headache.” “Well, if she falls, she falls. We’ve still got another one!” Dad replies good-naturedly. “Then hold on tighter to the second one, or they’ll both go tumbling down and we’ll have to find a new child somewhere... an extra headache.” Good thing no one around us understands Russian... 🙂