First weekend in Rota

This was our first weekend in Spain, and we wanted to take advantage of the fact that we are living out in town right now (in a hotel). So we started in the city center on Saturday afternoon and walked around looking for Rota's biggest landmarks: the Castle, the Cathedral, the lighthouse, and the ancient doorway. We found them all, plus lots more! First, of course, we had to check out the beach.

 There is a beautiful "boardwalk" along this wide beach on the east side of town. It's very nice, with a playground on the beach, and beautiful waves rolling in. We walked south towards the lighthouse, which is actually incredibly narrow for its height! Down by the point, the beach is much rockier.

 Then we walked up the hill into the center of the old town. The square between the castle and the cathedral was filled with 2 big events: a wedding leaving the church, and a medieval craft fair! The white horses are the famous Andlusian horses, which are bred nearby in Jerez. They were waiting for the wedding party. We had seen flyers for the medieval craft fair and wanted to check it out, but it was mostly modern jewelry and paintings, with a few booths of leatherworkers and candy.

 Then we went down he hill looking for the castle entrance. When we found it, they were just getting ready to close, so we told the kid we would come back another day. It's free, so why not??? But we did find the ancient doors that used to be the city entrance in the 8th century, I believe. If you look past the adorable children, you will see the cathedral in the background. 

So, all in all, a wonderful afternoon in Rota! Looking forward to many more, and lots of exploring with my family! :-) Oh, and if you're wondering why there are no pictures of Alex, it's because he was in the stroller the whole time. But he is having fun, too.