Rota, Spain

Rota is a lovely little town with several beautiful beaches.  After our 35 minute ferry trip, it wasn't a very long walk to our apartment (thank goodness).  This was a scenic walk along the a very wide and clean promenade next to the coast, with golden sand beach beside it and the Bay of Cadiz beyond.  Our host met us in a small park across the street from the apartment house, let us in, and showed us around.  Amazingly, we have 3 bedrooms, 5 beds, a living room with dining room, bathroom with shower, entry area, large kitchen with washing machine and gas hot water heater, plus a beautiful tile-lined rooftop terrace with table and chairs and lines to dry the washed clothes.  All of the rooms have air conditioning except the kitchen and bathroom, every room has a door, and all the windows have "peek-a-boo" sea views.  You can hear the waves gently breaking at night if you leave the window open.  All of this, an entire apartment, for 45 euros per day in Rota!

Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is not a whole lot to do in Rota, at least after a day and half it appears that way.  There is the gate to the U.S. Naval Base at the top of the main street.  The weather is great, the sun is shining every day, the beach is just gorgeous and there aren't really that many people packing the streets.  Cadiz seemed more interesting, but we came here to relax and what better way to do that than without distractions.  So there has been less walking and more appreciating; less sightseeing and more catching up on our news and take care of some phone business. [Tip: To make wifi calls and not pay 20 cents or more per minute for talk, you can't just find an app that will make wifi calls and use it, you have to actually go into your settings and TURN ON Web calling.  Until Tmobile decided to refund the money, that was a $26 lesson (just once).  I'm told that you have to literally remove your SIM card when you are on a cruise, too.  $7/minute calls have cost people hundreds of dollars in extra charges.  Just sayin']

Here's Rota, so far:

That's our catamaran backing out from the Cadiz dock to head to Rota; actually, it's the trip before ours.

About to land at the terminal in Rota.

There are some lovely stone benches here to watch the world go by.  You see all kinds of human groups, especially families.

More about Rota later, if we can find something new to say about it.  :)  Until then, we will be discussing our next destination.  Steve is all about going back to Cadiz, but I don't know.  If we are rested up enough, why not check out The Algarve (southern coast) in Portugal, or Gibraltar, or head over to France or the island nation of Malta?  Of course, those last two would probably involve traveling through Barcelona, if only at the airport.  

Catalonia is on notice from the PM of Spain that Spain needs clarification of what the leader of Catalonia just said.  Puigdemont appeared to say he wanted to have discussions with Spain about Catalan independence and then he proceeded to sign a declaration of independence in front of his parliament; immediately suspended it, but signed it.  Spain has given the Catalan leader until Monday to clarify whether he declared independence or not - yes or no.  If he did, Spain intends to start the process, Article 155 of the Constitution, to take over Catalonia all together, no more autonomy like the other regions of Spain.  Catalonia would then have 3 more days to reverse that decision.  If they don't, it could get really ugly, really fast.  So, we know we don't want to be there during that time.

Therefore, our travel plans depend on the leader of Catalonia over the next 3 to 6 days.  Portugal is looking better all the time.

Cadiz - sightseeing and political climate

Today, (October 10, 2017) we boarded the Hop-on-Hop Off tour bus and rode it three times around the city, with audio tour guides in our ears.  It was pretty amazing, aside from being the stereotypical tourist thing to do.  But, come on, how else are we going to get an idea of where to go and what to see without walking our feet down to bones?! [Today, I only climbed 6 floors, walked 11,895 steps and walked 5.4 miles.  See how valuable a tour bus can be?  And, apparently, there is one in every city we've visited, but we just didn't realize it.  Head-desk...]

So, today, we took the tour bus (in fact, we road it about 3 times around the circuit) and saw the outside of the Cadiz Cathedral, the beautiful beaches (Caleta in the Old Town, Victoria and Santa Maria beaches), 3 fortresses, the Plaza de Espana, some wonderful waterside parks, some of the 126 watchtowers that are still standing all over Cadiz.  And, we stopped at El Catamaran ticket office and bought our tickets for crossing the bay to Rota on Thursday (10/12) for our next AirBnb apartment.

The entrance to the old city of Cadiz.  These two arches were widened in the 19th century after an accidental explosion. 

Near Victoria and Santa Maria beaches in the new city.

Archaeological site discovered when this spot next to the cathedral was excavated for construction. It's over 2500 years old!

Ironic.  Look close, the upper inscription says "eloquence" on a statue proposed by a Cadiz mayor.  But, a seagull is sitting on top of the statue's head looking more regal then the statue.

Cadiz Cathedral

A smaller chapel next to one of two cathedral towers (the one that you can climb; we made it half way up the tower, don't judge)

I love the way this narrow street suddenly opens up to brilliant sun and the view of the cathedral.

Cadiz Cathedral (Roman Catholic)

The Crypt

The oldest of two pipe organs mounted above the gated choir area

The alter and pulpits

One pulpit and ceiling

There were many small side chapels, funded by various families.  This was one of them.

And, this was the view from our apartment building roof top at the end of the day.

Plaza de San Antonio

The roofs of Cadiz

Also, though we have not see any political/Catalan rallies or demonstrations here in Cadiz, we felt a little trepidation waiting for the Catalan leader, Mr. Puigdemont, to announce his decision to the Catalan parliament.  It was widely expected that he would ask the parliament to vote on Catalan independence within 48 hours and, if the vote was yes, independence would be declared.  Our feeling was, "oh, boy, are we glad we are we will be right next to a U.S. Navy Base."

Puigdemont says, although his people voted for independence, he will ask Madrid for a negotiated solution, stating that he wants to "de-escalate" the tensions and reassure people on all sides who were worried about what would happen next.  Frankly, I felt reassured.  This seemed so much like what happened in Cyprus in the 50s, which ended up in an all out revolution against the Greek and British governments.  That would be scary.

The next day (today, October 11, 2017) there was no other disturbing news about Catalonia.  So, I'm hoping this will be resolved amicably.

We walked among the two large parks along the waterfront, which were very like a botanical garden, and then took the bus to the cathedral to see inside.  The photos from the cathedral are above with the outside views of the cathedral.  Here, below, is what we saw in the parks.

Beautiful Bird of Paradise tree.

Gorgeous red hibiscus, at least 10 bushes of them.

A beautiful walk beside the Bay of Cadiz

Fountain with boy holding fish which is spraying water

Another of those extremely old trees said to have been brought back by Columbus

You have to look close to see the figure with water coming down on her in the fountain.

Tomorrow (October 12, 2017) is the Spanish holiday Fiesta Nacional de Espana or Dia de la Hispanidad.  It commemorates the the day Columbus first set foot in the New World, October 12, 1492.  There will be a big parade in Madrid, with speeches by the Prime Minister and the King and participation by representatives of all the autonomous regions of Spain.  I wonder if Catalonia will be participating this year.  There will be celebrations all over Spain, too.

However, tomorrow is also the day we move to our next accommodation in Rota, Spain.  It's across the Bay of Cadiz from our current location and we are taking a 35 minute catamaran ferry over to Rota at 2:50 pm - the holiday schedule.  It will be interesting to see if we will have anything to eat tomorrow.  Perhaps Rota will roll up the streets and close everything for the celebrations.  It could also be interesting because we have to be out by of this location by 11am, but our Rota place does not open until 6pm (rather late for an AirBnb, we usually can check in after 2 pm).  Maybe they will allow early checkin because of the holiday.  We will see...

Cadiz - but a different part

Yes, we moved to another bnb in Cadiz, about 7 blocks away from the first one.  This was the bnb that we chose originally.  Unfortunately, there was some mechanical issue that had to be resolved, but  now here we are!  This is one of the views from our second-floor (1st floor to the Spanish), corner apartment - Plaza de San Antonio, the site of the Church of San Antonio which is to the left behind a big tree in the first photo.

Plaza de San Antonio

Church of San Antonio.  Yes, the bells ring on the hour and the half-hour all day.  But,  no bells at night!  I love the Spanish.

View of our street from the Plaza

That's our window on the 2nd floor.  We are pretty cozy here and I am particularly delighted.

This apartment is much nicer, smells nicer (no sewer gas, so far) or crumbling plaster dust everywhere, and it is just fun to stand or sit at the window and watch the world go by in the Plaza or on the busy shopping street below.  Oddly, with the shutters closed and the air conditioning on tonight, we don't hear much of the noise from the street.  But, you could participate when the huge windows are wide open and the gentle breeze is floating through the apartment.  It makes me feel just a little like Juliet on the balcony.  (Apparently there has been a cricket problem in the area, which is just gotten under control.  So, we were told to keep the windows closed at night to keep the crickets out.  You can still hear them out there singing, but thank goodness they are not singing inside, too.)

After settling in and washing a load of clothes (everywhere we go, literally, and very few apartments have dryers) and of course participating in the siesta tradition, we ventured out at the dinner hour (8 pm) to find some delicious Spanish food.  This time it was at a sidewalk cafe that had the menu printed in English, German, Swedish, French, and a few other languages - this is a cruise port after all.  The food was wonderful, but we did find ourselves surrounded mainly by English, Germans, Swedes, and French.  

The best part, though, was stumbling upon the Cadiz Cathedral.  It took 116 years (between the 18th and 19th centuries) to build it, so it is part Baroque-style and part neo-classical.  That dome (toward the back) is covered with golden tiles and the whole church backs up to the waterfront.

Tomorrow, we plan to take the very touristy Cadiz hop-on-hop-off bus around the whole peninsula to find out what we have missed.  I want to see some of the 127 watchtowers that are said to still stand in the city.  There were originally over 180 of them and it boggles my mind that 127 are still here after all these hundreds of years.  I mean Americans just don't keep the old buildings around - 20 years, maybe.

More Cadiz photos soon.  Adios.

Cadiz, Spain

We are now in Cadiz (pronounced Cadeeth, sometimes even Ca dee) and we are breathing a sigh of relief.  Cadiz is a port city, a popular docking place for cruise liners.  It is very, very old and we are excited to explore.  But, being persons of a certain age and starting to feel it in our endurance, feet and muscles, we've decided to stay here in Cadiz by the beaches and just relax, put our feet up and contemplate where we've been and where we want to go next.

The ancient city of Cadiz, established around 1104 BC as Gadir by the Phoenicians.  There is an archaeological site open to the public under a new theatre that dates back approx. 2800 years.  It just opened to the public a couple years ago and we hope to see it soon.

The weather is great - 82-90F during the day, down to mid to upper 60s at night.

The entrance to Playa de Caleta and the causeway to  the 18th century Castillo de  San Sebastian, which is situated on an islet that is said to have been the location of the Temple of Kronos.

La Playa de Caleta (Caleta Beach) is on the Ataantic.  Cadiz is northeast of Gibraltar and the water is  cooler than the water I waded in at Alicante on the Mediterranean a couple weeks ago.

There are many of these very old trees in Cadiz.  Local lore says that they were brought over from the new world by Columbus.

There are many more shops and eateries than we expected right here in the Old City.  We discovered why when we watched large groups of tourists come in from this docked cruise vessel.  It's HUGE.

Our first evening and we saw the local procession for the Fiesta of the Virgin of  Rosario Coranada that always happens on October 7th.  That was a full marching band in uniform followed by what looked like representatives of every prominent families of Cadiz, with their banners and sceptres.

The door to our AirBnb apartment, which opens to a typical marble floored hall and a central marble courtyard that is open to the sky.  Our apts in Madrid and Seville were the same way - very old and beautifully done.

Steve on a bench with a paseo gathering behind him all over the  park near our apartment.  There is a boy practicing soccer passes with his father behind and to the left.  This is about 10pm on a Saturday night.  There are large groups of people walking on this sidewalk and sitting in the local cafes.  We could hear the festival fireworks in the background.

We have 3 reservations for AirBnbs for our rest break in the Cadiz area: current one for two nights in one part of Cadiz (near the Cruise ship docks and it's lovely), another reservation for 3 nights in Cadiz near Plaza San Antonio (our first choice which had a mechanical problem that is now fixed) near the beach with great views of the Plaza San Antonio and the Cadiz Cathedral and finally a week in Rota, the beach city on the other side of the U.S. Naval Base from Cadiz.  The Rota apartment (we are renting whole apartments to ourselves now and it's working pretty well) has a roof patio with sea view and several windows with sea views and I'm really, really hoping it will be as great as it looks.

More Cadiz coming.  We haven't seen the Cadiz Cathedral, the San Sebastian Castle, the Roman theatre, the archeological site, or any of the museums yet, not to mention that we haven't been swimming since we arrived in Spain!