Looking back, our first week felt a bit like a whirlwind, but compared to our move to Oki, it also seems slow. Our jet lag kicked in big time and we found ourselves sleepy around 4:00 in the afternoon and wide awake at 3:30 in the morning. It was definitely challenging with the kiddos.
Bryan was an awesome sponsor. Not only did he get us all set up in our temporary housing, but he took us all around Rota. Once we had a free day, we set off to check out Rota on foot. The first stop: ice cream, of course!
I took a few quick shots around the city. Truthfully, I was overwhelmed by trying to take it all in, so there's no real order to these; just random scenes from our new city.
This photo (below) is a little deceiving as to what Rota looks like. Yes, there are a lot of scooters/mopeds/motorcycles here, but it's definitely less crowded now. When we walked this street, it was still during the busy tourist season. These days, you only see parking this crowded around the time school lets out.
We had our first official Spanish tapas at one of the small restaurants (often called "bars" even though they are more like a restaurant) on the beach. The Spanish set up these temporary bars that are only open during the summer right on the beach. I also got to enjoy my first glass of Spanish sangria here…yum! Each place makes it differently, so it's fun to try it out wherever you go. Poor Ruby is not in this photo because she's sound asleep in the stroller. She slept through the whole meal! Jet lag is tough!
We got to also relax at Bryan's apartment (and use his wi-fi!). He has an amazing view of Rota's beautiful beach! Oh, and you can see the bar down there that we ate at (white and brown roof).
We also got a little sightseeing in. Bryan took us to visit Arcos de la Frontera, which is the closest "pueblo blanco" or "white village" to Rota (only about 45 minutes away). He also invited another family, the Pierce family (who also have two young girls), to join us.
Arcos is pretty amazing because it's built on a cliff, so it has some amazing views.
It was quite a hike to get to see the views and the streets here are reeeaaalllyyyy narrow. I am still amazed that cars fit down some of these streets! I'm not planning on trying it with our CR-V once it arrives.
See those red tables (below)? We ate lunch there and the cars would drive right next to the table. It. Was. Crazy.
You can see a car in the background of this photo. Yes, that car is driving by.
This was one of our tapas: bread with slices of goat cheese and topped with different jellies and olive oil. It was pretty good.
Santa Maria Church:
Ruby and her new pal, Keira, plan out our walk.
We only got a glimpse of Arcos, but this will probably be a frequent place we'll go to with visitors. I'm excited to check out the shops and maybe get to see the inside of some of the churches.
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