Thursday, March 28: Johnson Parents Arrive
There are no breaks in the Johnson household! After saying goodbye to Ryan and Cady in Sevilla at 2:30 pm, Katie drove back to Rota to pick me up so we could make the journey to Jerez to pick up Mom & Dad.
At 5:30 pm I got a text from Mom saying that they had landed, but their bags had not made it with them. I met them inside at the Iberia Airlines customer service counter where we were informed that their bags were in Madrid and would be delivered to our house sometime tomorrow. Welcome to Spain guys! What a heck of a way to start the trip!
Fortunately, they packed a change of clothes in their backpacks, so they would be good until their luggage arrived. While the lost luggage was a bummer, they were greeted by Hugo and Reynolds as they walked in our house; Mom and Dad hadn't seen them since they dropped us all off at the San Diego airport in June 2021 when we headed to Japan.
Of course, Hugo greeted Dad with the standard barking, growling, and standoffish behavior; Reynolds with full jumps and plenty of licks to last a lifetime. After some time catching up, we enjoyed a dinner of grilled chicken, broccoli, carrots, and Katie's delicious au gratin potatoes.
Friday, March 29: Exploring Rota & Kammala
On Friday morning I had to go to work, but that wasn't too big of a deal since Mom and Dad slept in until 10:30 am. At 11:30, I got off work and met everyone in the parking lot where we did a tour of the dental spaces.
After showing them around the hospital, we did a driving tour of the base and made stops at the NEX and Commissary so Mom and Dad could buy toiletries in case their luggage didn't show up later that afternoon. We finished our tour at Bombers, the Chipotle-style restaurant we have on base.
With the weather looking relatively nice, we decided to go for a short walk to Candy's to get coffee, where we discovered they were closed for siesta; now Mom and Dad know what it's like to be on Spain time. We made our way back to the house where we enjoyed some time playing Hearts and catching up with one another. It was a sweet relief for everyone when Mom and Dad's luggage arrived around 4:30 pm that afternoon.
Restaurante Kammala
After getting changed and grabbing our umbrellas to endure the rainy 15-minute walk into town, we made it for our 7:00 pm reservation at Kammala. The last time Katie and I ate at Kammala was back in August; we had a great experience then and we were looking forward to sharing it with Mom and Dad.
We were seated and welcomed by the owner, who made great wine recommendations to match Mom's tastes. With a great bottle of wine, we shared and devoured our pumpkin salad and gyoza starters. For the main course, Mom got a spiced chicken, Dad got the seabass, and Katie and I got two different pork dishes. Each of them was amazing, but we were sure to save room for dessert.
Katie and I shared the Passion Fruit Kammala (a super tart passion fruit mousse) while Mom and Dad shared the apple tart. The owner recommended a different glass of dessert wine for each of us and even shared with us a glass of very delicious, expensive wine.
The four of us finished our dinner extremely impressed with the food quality and the staff's amazing service. Mom and Dad even bought a bottle of olive oil, a bottle of the wine we had with the dinner, and a bottle of Mom's dessert wine to take home with them. To say we all enjoyed this experience is a serious understatement!
Saturday, March 30: Cadiz Day Trip
Candy's Café
After sleeping in, we started the next day with a great breakfast and coffee at Candy's Cafe. You might be wondering, didn't Katie just take Ryan and Cady to Candy's just a few days ago? You would be correct. Rota isn't a big place and the good (American) breakfast food options are limited, so of course we're going to take visitors to the same place. After enjoying coffee, sandwiches, and pastries, it was time to give the folks their first experience of an authentic European city.
La Caleta
Following breakfast, when the rain finally decided to clear up a little, we made the 35-minute journey down to Cadiz. Of course, as soon as we arrived it decided to start drizzling again, but we weren't going to let a little rain dampen our day. We parked on the north side of the peninsula where we began our tour at La Caleta, aka James Bond Beach.
El atelier de Sara Ochoa
Of course, Katie would want to visit her newly discovered, favorite artist in Cadiz, Sara Ochoa. Fortunately, she was open so Mom and Dad could peruse her work; they walked away with three new paintings to hang in their house!
Restaurante Tiki Taco
Like I said earlier, when Katie and I find something we like, we tend to do it over and over again; we're creatures of habit. Katie took Ryan and Cady to Tiki Taco, a new taco place in Cadiz, earlier this week and came back with rave reviews, so of course I wanted to try this place for myself.
I was impressed! These were some of the best tacos I've ever had. They were so good that the vegetarian zucchini taco was one of the best tacos I've ever had, and I'm not even that big of a fan of zucchini! We devoured our tacos and sucked down our strawberry, lime, and mango margaritas and were ready to explore the rest of town.
Gelateria Cioccolato
As we were making our way towards our first touristy stop at the Roman Theater, we came across Gelateria Cioccolato where we got gelatos to share. Mom and Dad shared the white chocolate Oreo, which I thought sounded amazing so I got the same flavor but got an extra scoop of coffee gelato for Katie.
Teatro Romano de Cádiz
Since we're heading to Paris in a couple of days, where very few Roman artifacts or structures remain, we figured we'd expose Mom and Dad to some ancient artifacts before we make the journey north. Even though Katie and I have visited the Roman Theater numerous times before, it's always cool getting to share this with our visitors, especially since we live just a short drive away from ancient history!
Catedral de la Santa Cruz de Cádiz
Our next stop was a Catedral de la Santa Cruz de Cadiz, where we grabbed a few pictures before we noticed a band preparing for what looked like a small parade. Since Easter is tomorrow, all of Spain has been participating in Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations.
If you look closely you can see a man wearing a purple hooded gown that is very offputting for our American eyes. The Spanish have worn these traditional gowns since the 16th century as a way to mask parade walkers and to take away their individual identity and instead highlight the Catholic statues that are paraded through the streets.
We were hoping to be able to view some of these celebrations, but due to the poor weather, the band disbursed and the parade was canceled...darn it! Katie was most disappointed, but we will have to try again next year and pray for better Easter Weekend weather. So instead we decided it was time to head back to the car before we got wet.
Mercado Central Cádiz
On the way home, we stopped by the Central Cadiz Market to see if anything would be open. Unfortunately, most of the market was closed since it was A) the day before Easter and B) the weather was poor, but fortunately, Capitan Cookie was open so we could grab a box of cookies to share!
And then the sky cleared up just in time for our walk back to the car! See these bright blue skies? Yeah, we won't see those again in Spain for the rest of my parents visit.
Viveros El Lago
On our way back to Rota, while Dad enjoyed a nice nap in the back seat, we stopped by Katie's favorite plant shop for Mom and Dad to have a look around. Viveros also has a great selection of Spanish pottery, so Mom walked away with a new spoon rest, sangria pitcher, and bowl to take home with her.
Mercadona
Before heading home, we stopped at Mercadona so Mom and Dad could check out how awesome and inexpensive our local Spanish grocery store is. They were impressed by the fresh bread and shocked to see the legs of meat hanging from the ceiling next to our open fresh fish case! It was also funny to see their reaction to our shelf-stable milk options!
After getting back home, I took Mom and Dad on a scooter ride around town. They seemed to enjoy getting out of the house now that the weather was nicer.
Utopia Tapas Restaurant
Before heading to France, my parents really wanted to have traditional Spanish tapas, so Katie and I took them to our favorite tapas bar, Utopia! We shared Iberian ham, croquettes, meatballs, and slow-roasted pork sandwiches, and of course, we washed it down with our favorite, Tinto de Verano.
Sunday, March 31: Walking Around Rota
On Sunday morning we woke up a little gloomy. We were supposed to be heading to Arcos de la Frontera to participate in southern Spain's version of Running with the Bulls (the larger more famous one is located in Pamplona in northern Spain). Unfortunately due to the awful weather over the past week, the event was canceled.
We started our day by enjoying a breakfast of scrambled eggs and blueberry biscuits while playing hearts, spades, and euchre. Later in the afternoon, when the weather began to cooperate, Mom, Dad, and I went on a walking tour of downtown Rota. They got to walk along the cobblestone streets to check out our local castle and centuries-old cathedral. Mom and Dad seemed impressed with the history and charm of our small hometown.
As we wrap up three full days in Rota, we look forward to an awesome trip still ahead of us in Paris! Stick around for more!
Salud-
Bryan
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