Carnaval in Rota

The Spanish like many in Europe and Louisiana realized that the Lenten season is coming. In order to properly prepare for Lent, they hold Carnaval which is a week long celebration with festivities, drinking (lots of drinking) and a parade. We went to Rota's children's parade which is the tamest event of the festival. The people here dress up for the Carnaval parade like we do for Halloween. We went to the Toys R Us at the mall the day before the parade and the costume aisle looked like the Halloween aisle at Target the day of Halloween. Parents and kids frantically grabbing their last minute costumes to be ready for the celebration. We decided to take it easy this year and go see the festivities in Rota as it is the smallest town around here. We had heard the neighboring towns' Carnaval festivities were pretty crazy, packed and not a good place for young kids. Imagine Mardi Gras with no beads.

O and I await the parade to start in the main plaza. The towns people literally just gathered in the plaza and then walked the pedestrian streets to another plaza. That was the parade. Where were the marching bands, Shriners in their motorized cars and the Jesse White Tumblers?

Had to take pictures of the family all dressed up as vikings. Even the kids were dressed up.

The town had obviously held a pageant for Carnaval and these girls were the winners? We could not read their sashes so I am not sure. But they looked so pretty in their medieval costumes.

These guys killed us. They were dressed up as wounded matadors. If you look closely, you can see their fake blood and bandages.

Valentine's Day in Cordoba

About a week ago we traveled to the town of Cordoba. It is about 2 1/2 hours to the northeast of Rota and a nice place for an overnight trip. We ended up being there on Valentine's Day which surprisingly the Spanish celebrate as well! The big highlight in Cordoba is the Unesco World Heritage site La Mezquita which is an old Muslim mosque built in the 8th century during the time of Muslim rule in Spain. The Christians eventually kicked the Muslims out of Spain and planted a cathedral in the middle of the mosque. The cathedral is so-so but the mosque was absolutely cavernous and soo beautiful. Across from the cathedral is a 2000 year old Roman bridge that has been reconstructed but the foundations are authentic. O was in the midst of a cold so she was crabby and not happy in any of the pics.

Olivia and I in just a small section of the Mezquita. The pillars in the background were everywhere inside and so ornate. In fact they are referred to as the "Pillar Forest". It was also pretty dark and cold inside.


Justin and O on the Roman bridge.


O and I posed on the other side of the bridge. La Mezquita is in the background behind the river.

The next day we traveled to a neighboring town where there is an old restored castle on a hill. Here O is posed in the entrance of the castle.

New House -- 960 Huelva

We moved into our "new" house this week after a stay in the base temporary lodging. We held out a little longer than most in order to get a specific house. 960 Huelva has a nice big yard, several mature palm trees and a view of the ocean. Of course it's not really new, only 1000 sq/ft and has a slightly obstructed view of the ocean, but overall it's a pretty nice little place to live. See a few pictures below.


The back yard is plenty big with lots of room for O to run. It also has a large patio with a retractable awning. Look for O next to the tree wearing pink.


Heather and O look out at the Ocean from behind our obstruction. Oh well, it is a military installation after all. We can't complain too much, it's a free ocean view.


O lets you know what she thinks of the view...


... and all the running space.

Arcos de la Frontera

Our friends on base took us on a nice day trip to Arcos de la Frontera last weekend. Arcos is an old cliff town and was fought over for many years between the christians and the moors. Many towns in the southern part of Spain are called "... de la Frontera" because the towns were on the frontier in the fights against the moors. We explored the town, toured the cathedral and enjoyed a pleasant lunch of tapas. Here are some pictures of our trip.

Heather and O at one of the town gates with one of the town churches in background. European town: old church - check.

Inside the gothic cathedral. Heavy ornamentation - check.

Heather and O in front of the the remains of a local saint (not sure which one) encased in glass and dressed for the display. Creepy old bones - check.


A view down a side street. Windy, tiny medieval streets - check.

After all the fun O and her new friend Helena play at the tapas resturant. Relaxing lunch - check. Looks like we hit all the wickets for a successful trip to an old and historic Spanish town.

First pics from Espana

Hi all! We are done with the first week in our new home. We have all pretty much recovered from the jet lag and the nasty rotavirus is now behind us. O is eating and drinking to her heart's content again. We have been busy checking out the neighboring towns of Jerez, Rota and Cadiz. We have even managed to conquer two malls as well! Much to my happiness. We had a command function the other night and found out after we got here that it was a formal event. We, of course, had not packed for such an occasion and had to do some quick shopping. Justin was grumbling but I was delighted that I could pick up some Euro fashions immediately. Many have requested pictures so we have taken a few and have posted them. Not the best of pics but they are a good start. Enjoy!


O standing in front of our rental car. Yes it really is that small. A 5 speed as well. I love that cars in Europe can be picked up and carried rather than driven. The temporary base housing is in the background. Hopefully we won't be living here for too much longer...



This is a picture from our trip over to Cadiz yesterday. We decided to make the 20 minute drive over to the "big city" near us. This is a picture of me and O at a little fountain. She was not happy about being stuck in the stroller.


O and I overlooking the Bay of Cadiz and the Atlantic Ocean. We asked her to smile for the camera and she decided to pitch a fit instead. Maybe a career in modeling is not in her future. Rota is the white to the left in the distance behind us. The base is dead center of the picture behind us.

O and I dressed to the 9's and ready for the command function. We were the only ones who brought a child to it. She was a hit though. And a trooper-she lasted until 10pm.