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For our 2nd Anniversary, Joe and I wanted to spend some quality "couple time" in lots of sunshine, sand and ocean for our second "mini-honeymoon". We were lucky to find a 3 bedroom condo for rent in Rota, located on the southern tip of Spain. What we didn't realize was that Rota was a very friendly, family oriented beach haven for the Spanish!
It was our 1st time away from our little guy....needless to say, I was a little nervous being away from Chance for 3 1/2 days even though I knew he was in good hands. He stayed with our friend, Linda, whose 2 boys, Austin and Colin, and dog named Jayze kept him quite busy! Chance was on his best behavior and got so spoiled! Colin was sad to see him go since he liked having a "little brother" for the weekend. He even gave Chance some hot wheel cars to take home with him! Anyway, I'm digressing....
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We flew Friday morning with Ryan Air and picked up our rental, a red 5 speed Kia which Joe had fun driving! Rota was about a 45 minute drive from Jerez airport, so on the way, we saw vineyards and tons of fields of sunflowers! Our condo turned out to be a two story, very well decorated, COZY haven in a secluded section of town (away from the noisy streets but minutes to the beach, cafes, restaurants and stores by foot). Three bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a bar and a sunroom to dine in was more than accomodating for the both of us! We absolutely LOVED it!
As soon as we settled in and ate some quick grub, we hit the beach. It was late Friday afternoon and not too crowded. The sun was still scorching hot so we placed our sleep deprived bodies on our beach chairs. We ended up both a little red from the sun when we returned to our condo. After grocery shopping (only store opened), we decided to take a siesta and renew ourselves for the evening events. Well, our plan didn't exactly pan out! We woke up around 4 am and realized we had slept the night away!
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We slept in till about 9 am Saturday morning...it was amazing to get up on our own free will! Joe claimed he had never slept better and felt that he had caught up on 17 months of sleep deprivation! We went for a jog on the beach boardwalk and discovered the historical section of Rota where the renovated castle and old church stood. We haven't jogged like that in ages! It's different not having to push the baby jogger and worry about a smooth running path.
We were forewarned that the Spanish day starts and lasts later than ours...stores & restaurants open at 10 am and lunch is about 2-4 pm during which time many stores close from 2-6 pm. By the time we hit the beach at 1 pm, it was crowded with families! We've never seen so many kids and babies on the beach like this before. We were hungry so we ate paella at one of the boardwalk restaurants for lunch. We leisurely watched the beach scene from our table as we devoured our heavy delicious meal! Spanish kids are so cute and friendly! Watching them with their families made us miss Chance even more, so we vowed to bring him and his little sibling to Rota after Joe returns from his deployment. Joe and I being Asians stood out from the crowd unlike in Germany where we tended to blend in.
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Dinner at the earliest starts around 9 pm and goes until 1 am! The nightlife really gets going around midnight. We just followed the crowd and discovered Rota's shopping center area that we had missed earlier on. Many of the bars and restaurants were packed with families and their children. There were tons of pizzerias and a popular Ben & Jerry's store where we indulged for dessert. I was in awe to see so many kids and babies in strollers out at 1 am! Spaniards definitely have a different perception of time! We found an open souvenir store at 1 am in the morning and bought a Rota tee for Chance. That night, Spain won some kind of soccor tournament, so we saw some very enthusiastic revelers and local fireworks celebrating the victory.
Since most Spaniards take their traditional midday rest, the late evening hubbub lingers on till daybreak, but Joe and I retired to our comfy bed by 2:30 am.
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On Sunday, we took another morning jog through town and the boardwalk...very refreshing and exhilarating! I was thrilled that I could still jog at a good pace at 5 months pregnant! We were successful in finding a few small stores that were open on a Sunday. After a quick bite for lunch, we headed to the beach and laid out for 2 hours. We walked the entire length of the beach barefooted and took some last minute photos on our last day. That night we ate several different kinds of fried fish and a bowl of clams at a local restaurant. We called it an early night since everything seemed to close around 1 am. We were sad to leave this beach haven the next day but looking forward to seeing Chance! Joe and I had a great, relaxing time as a couple and our tans prove it! We definitely plan to return with the whole family.
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