This morning we awoke to a dawn filled by thunder and driving rain. A cruise liner had tied up in the harbour and it’s deck lights twinkled in the showers as they scudded across the headland. We dressed in those waterproofs that I’d forgotten to leave in the car in Bilbao and walked the short distance to La Vaca Atada for breakfast. We found the only empty table and ordered toast, butter, marmalade, orange juice and coffee. The staff here are lovely, the atmosphere warm and the food excellent. It’s become our go to place. The sun had appeared by the time we’d finished so we dropped off the waterproofs at the apartment and set off map in hand.

Today we wanted to visit the Puppet Theatre, not for a performance but the archaeological remains which lie under it. An English tour didn’t begin till noon so we took in a quick walk round the fish market and a cup of coffee in a ‘French’ cafe. They had an impressive display of gateaux, one of which looked a lot like a Bakewell tart but was confusingly labelled, ‘pudding’.

Our tour under the theatre began promptly and we were shown a short film that explained (with English subtitles) how they had determined that the skeleton and buildings that had been uncovered actually predated the Roman occupation and were from a Phoenician settlement dating back to almost 1,000BC. In an effort to make the short introduction more interesting, they’d used a male and female actor who seemed to have leading roles in CSI Cadiz, complete with computer displays thrown into the air by hand. Nevertheless it was informative. We were then left to wander round the remains via a glass walkway. It was a little strange to be walking on top of three thousand year old walls but fascinating and unique all the same.

We’d decided to do a ‘recce’ of the bus station this afternoon, as we were going to travel to Seville on Saturday by coach. However, it’s round the rear of the train station and an executive decision was made to go by train instead. First class travel was booked and we called into Vaca Atada for a chicken salad, a chicken wrap and a couple of cakes to take away.

Tomorrow we go in search of a Roman Theatre…without puppets..