Ryan & Cady's Trip Where Everything Went Wrong: Gibraltar & Southern Spain

It's been a while since we have enjoyed a vacation with Ryan and Cady! You may remember these two ventured across the Pacific to join us on a trip of a lifetime in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand in December 2022, where these two got engaged!

With Cady studying abroad in Bath, England, Ryan knew he wanted to come to Europe to join her for her Spring Break abroad. Lucky for us, they wanted to spend part of that Spring Break with Bryan and me!

Friday, March 22: Ryan & Cady Arrive

After a long day of travel, Ryan met up with Cady at Luton Airport and caught a flight down to Sevilla, Spain! On our way to the airport to pick them up, Bryan and I made a date day out of the trip by shopping in Jerez and getting Taco Bell for a late lunch/early dinner. Bryan was excited to get a taste of American fast food, and I was more than happy to get some shopping in!

Then we drove to the Sevilla Airport to pick them up at 8 pm with sandwiches, strawberries, and Cokes to get them fed on our drive home! After all of Ryan's travels, these two were just ready to get to our house!

Happy man at Taco Bell

They made it!

Showered & cuddling with pups!

Saturday, March 23: Flamenco Show

After sleeping in late and allowing Ryan to adjust to the time change, we enjoyed a late lunch, where Bryan grilled out. While the grill was going, we enjoyed plenty of laughs around several rounds of Hearts!

We also took Ryan and Cady down the beach for a nice walk along the Roman Ruins. Since mom made this such a big deal and declared it one of her "favorite parts of Rota," we made sure to add this to their first day's activities!

Tabanco El Pasaje

Our first day may have started pretty chill, but it ended on a high! We drove to Jerez, home to one of the oldest flamenco houses in Andalucia, Spain to witness a traditional flamenco show! We were ready for the performance with a front-row seat, platters full of various tapas, and a few different sherry wines to try!

At 7:30 pm, it was time for the show to start! Packed onto the tiny stage, we enjoyed an hour-long performance by a flamenco dancer, a guitarist, and a traditional flamenco singer. I can't describe the amazing performance we witnessed, so here's a clip of just some of the famous Spanish tradition:

As the show continued, we realized the restaurant was packed! Tons of locals surrounded our tables and stood by the bar watching in awe as the performance continued. Throughout the show, when things were particularly hype, you could hear people shouting ¡Olé! (Bravo!)

After the show, some of the locals even clapped along to their own beat and performed their own flamenco show for the remaining audience! It was such a fun evening!

We all left speechless and eager for another show! Bryan and I agree this will not be the last show we see- there's no way we can ever get enough of this authentic experience in our neighboring small town of Jerez!

Sunday, March 24: Gibraltar Instead of Morocco

Port of Tarifa: Puerto de Tarifa

After last night, we didn't think anything could get us down...and we jinxed ourselves. We were out of the house by 6 am and headed to Tarifa to catch our 9 am ferry to Morocco. We got there at the requested time of 7:30 am to find out the ferry had been postponed due to rough seas... so we waited...

...and waited...

By 10 am, we were informed that all ferries leaving from this port had been canceled for the day. The other northern port (Algeciras) had canceled all ferries until 3 pm, where they would then determine if any of their afternoon ferries left at all. The worker also told me that the ferries tomorrow would only run at 7 am and 9 am because bad weather was expected for the following afternoon as well.

So we had no choice but to cancel our trip to Morocco. After building the hype around visiting 4 continents together (North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa) our dreams came to a quick halt because of some dang ocean waves.

I won't lie. We were all really bummed. But when life hands you lemons, you do your best to make lemonade! Back in the car I made the executive decision, we were off to Gibraltar: a British territory on mainland Spain!

For those who didn't know, Gibraltar is located a short 1.5 hours from our home in Rota, or 2.5 if you drive along the coast with a pit stop in Tarifa for a faked-out ferry ride. Gibraltar is a British territory, meaning it is "owned" by the UK due to its strategic location on the narrow Straight of Gibraltar, the only connecting waterway for the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, where half the world's seaborne trade passes through.

While the Spanish have contended for this tiny peninsula, it remains a heavily fortified British air and naval base that guards the Strait of Gibraltar. Since the 18th century, Gibraltar has been a symbol of British naval strength, and it is commonly known in that context as “the Rock.”

Gibraltar Passport Control Station

With all that information, now it's time to go! We find parking right outside of the Gibraltar border and walk across through their Passport Control Station. After having our passports checked, we headed to the first tour booth we spotted and booked a tour of the famous Gibraltar Rock!

Pillars of Hercules

Our first stop on our tour was The Pillars of Hercules. According to legend, Hercules broke the mountain that had connected Africa and Europe, dividing the contents. With this divide, the famous Greek god set the western limits for the ancient Mediterranean world and created travel through the Mediterranean.

Bryan and I knew of this legend because both Spain's flag and the Andalucia flag contain the famous pillar imagery:

Andelucia Flag

Spain Flag

So after a steep climb up the start of the Gibraltar Rock, we made it to the monument recognizing the southernmost point of mainland Europe from that Herculean legend!

Saint Michael's Cave

The next stop was Saint Michael's Cave! This cave has interested visitors to Gibraltar ever since the days of the Romans. The cave was long believed to be bottomless, leading to the story that the Rock of Gibraltar was linked to the Continent of Africa by a subterranean passage over 15 miles long under the Strait of Gibraltar. The famous Barbary Macaques were said to have come to Gibraltar through this under-sea passage.

During the Second World War, the cave was prepared as an emergency hospital but was never used. In blasting an alternative entrance to the cave - now used as a tourist exit - a further series of deeply descending chambers was discovered now called Lower St Michael's

Cave.

The Main Cavern is now open to visitors and makes a unique auditorium for concerts, dance, and drama, still to this day! With a seating capacity of 400, it has been in use as a

theatre since the early 1960s. Can you imagine seeing a theater performance with this backdrop!?!

Skywalk Gibraltar

We made it to the peak of the Rock! Standing where George Lucas once did at the overlook's grand opening ceremony, the Skywalk Gibraltar's glass bottom viewing platform had Ryan a little queezy!

Another thing that Gibraltar is famous for is the Barbary macaques! This monkey species was introduced into Gibraltar by the Romans or the Moors during ancient times. According to another legend, British dominion over the Rock of Gibraltar will end only when the macaques are gone.

Apes Den

We may have had to "pay" a food toll on our drive around the Rock, but once we arrived at the Apes Den, we were met with the most friendly troop on the island. These Barbary macaques were willing to pose for pictures in trade for a bite of fresh bread!

To say these monkeys were cute is an understatement! We were even lucky to see a few babies too!

Great Siege Tunnels

The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an attempt by France and Spain to capture Gibraltar from Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. Lasting from July 1779 to February 1783, it was the fourteenth and final siege of Gibraltar. During this siege, the British dug tunnels into the side of the Gibraltar Rock by hand to defend this strategic position.

While these tunnels did lead to some good lookout points of the airport runway, it was pretty anti-climatic with the Revolutionary-style mannequins and cheesy displays. Of course, with Bryan and Ryan feeding off each other's energy, we were in for some good laughs though!

With our tour over, it was time to climb down the Rock and explore the town's center. Ryan wasn't a fan of all the stairs, but we assured him, he would rather be coming down than back up them! We might not have made it to Morocco's Blue City, but we laughed at our "blue wall" in Gibraltar that we happened on instead!

Tramonti Ristorante Pizza

By this point Ryan was hangry, so we stumbled upon one of the few restaurants open on Sunday, Tramonti Ristorante Pizza. Nothing like visiting a UK territory and eating Italian, you know what I mean?

The food was delicious though! Cady and I ordered pastas and the boys each enjoyed a personal pizza. We then spent some time wandering the downtown area and realized most of the shops were closed because it was, in fact, a Sunday. I'm telling you, we are hit with disappointment after disappointment!

As we headed back to the border, we snapped a few pictures of Gibraltar's Rock as we crossed the flight line. Yep, when walking across Gibraltar's border, you walk right across the tarmac as planes idle nearby waiting for takeoff! That was definitely a unique experience!

Monday, March 25: Sevilla

Ok, so Gibraltar was cool, but we won't lie- the entire day had a bit of a gloom to it. Between the overcast weather and our sour moods from the canceled trip, we were all determined to make the most of Monday in Sevilla!

Plaza de España

Little did we know that today would be one of the few full-on torrential downpours we have experienced in our first year living in Spain. When I said it rained, I mean it POURED. Nothing prepared us for a day of touring Sevilla with umbrellas, soaked clothes, and drenched souls as we faced another major disappointment!

But we made the most of the poor weather with a walking tour of the city and plenty of laughs along the way! Our tour began in the famous Plaza de España, where we got unique pictures of Ryan and Cady in the normally bright, sunny plaza! I mean, just compare it to the lovely pics from Mom and Dad's visit in January and you can tell the stark difference (and emptiness) of this Star Wars filming location!

Similar to the walking tour I took Mom and Dad on back in January, this tour visited several of the same city highlights like Hotel Alfonso XIII, Catedral de Sevilla, University of Seville, and The Golden Tower. During the brief breaks in the rain, we snapped some pictures and really did enjoy seeing the city despite the weather!

Post tour, it was time for lunch and what better way to rub salt in the wound than to take everyone to my favorite Moroccan restaurant! After being turned away because they were fully booked (lol of course that would happen) the owner asked us to wait a minute and see if he could work some magic. I think the slight hysterical laughs at being turned away made the guy take pity on us, and honestly, I was willing to beg for a table.

Luckily we were seated quickly and then Ryan stared confusingly at the menu wondering where the chicken nuggets were. Thankfully Ryan is engaged to one of the most open-minded people, and she quickly agreed to split a few different dishes so we could try a variety of Moroccan dishes.

I think Ryan, Bryan, and Cady would all agree that this meal was a highlight of the day! The food was mouthwatering and, let's be honest, it was indoors and we finally had a chance to dry off after our 2.5-hour walking tour in the monsoon.

Before leaving the city, we did some souvenir shopping and even stumbled upon an art gallery filled with pottery, jewelry, and one art seller. The paintings were a little pricy for our budgets, but we enjoyed looking through them all the same!

Eventually, we headed back to the car and headed home for a warm meal at the house while continuing our marathon of Hearts competitions around the living room coffee table! So far, our Morocco trip has been canceled, the Gibraltar town center was practically closed for Sunday, and we visited Sevilla on the wettest day of the century. Since the amazing first night in Jerez at the Flamenco show, things have just gone downhill since...

But Ryan and Cady have been troopers. With every bummed-out moment, Ryan cracks a joke or Cady slights Ryan with a brilliant comeback and we are all laughing off the negative moments and left with hilarious memories! I freaking love these two!

...please tell me tomorrow will bring something good!

Tuesday, March 26: Cadiz

After spending Monday night praying for one day of good weather during Ryan and Cady's visit, we wake up to beautiful skies and a clear radar! Praise the LORD!

With Bryan having to return to work, Cady, Ryan, and I hop in the car for a day trip to Cadiz. Now, I was determined to make today successful, so when looking through my Google pins for Cadiz, I remembered a tiny art shop in Old Town Cadiz that had been closed last visit. Their hours showed them being open until 2:30 pm, so I made sure this was our first stop of the day!

El Atelier de Sara Ochoa

We walked into the art shop and were immediately drawn to the colorful, vibrant artwork of Sara Ochoa! The owner and artist showed us her studio and the current pieces she was working on before setting us loose to look at all the local artist's pieces she had for sale in her shop.

I told her I wanted a watercolor of Cadiz, and she took me to the piece below that she had just finished of the James Bond Beach! After sending pictures to Bryan, he agreed it was needed for our watercolor wall in the guest room, so it was mine!

Ryan fell in love with another Cadiz painter's landscape of the Port of Cadiz. The artist painted the piece in thirds back in September during a Gypsy fair in the city. The artists even wrote a short description on the painting explaining the work in Spanish. Ryan was mesmerized and Cady approved of the design for her future home, so it was another sale!

Cady has been collecting postcards during her semester in Bath, so she found two prints of Sara's work on postcards, along with a cute tote bag with the James Bond Beach printed in a different style than my watercolor. Long story short, if you make it to Cadiz, you HAVE to stop by Sara Ochoa's store for original, local artwork! I know I will be back with Bryan for sure!

Now with our hands filled with art, we made a pit stop by the car to drop off our purchases before continuing our unofficial walking tour of the city!

La Caleta

Stop one: the James Bond Beach, better known by its real name, La Caleta! You may remember from previous blogs that this beach was a filming location for the Die Another Day James Bond film with Halle Berry.

While Ryan enjoyed the James Bond vibes, Cady was just happy to see the sunshine and feel some warmth in southern Spain! Finally!

Mercado Central Cádiz

With lunch on our minds, we headed into town to check out the Central Market of Cadiz. This place dates back to Roman times and has been modernized to house fresh fish, meat and produce markets, alongside many restaurants.

We thought that visiting on a Tuesday would be less crowded, but we couldn't find a single open table in the entire place, so we instead opted for a box of fresh cookies that we could take home and enjoy with Bryan this evening!

Restaurante Tiki Taco

But back to lunch. We are still hungry and wandering the streets looking for something good, when Ryan hollers "oh, margaritas!" This man came all the way to Spain and he wants to eat Mexican food. While I've been giving him a hard time all week about his food cravings, tacos did sound good, so this place won us over. And boy did it win us over.

I would argue that these were the best-tasting tacos I have ever had in my life. They were so good I didn't take a single picture of the food or the inside of the restaurant. I have already pinned this place and know I'm bringing Bryan back here for Tacos and more painting shopping at Sara's place. Future weekend planned!

Teatro Romano de Cádiz

With Ryan slightly tipsy from two Strawberry Margs, we head off to the next sightseeing location: the Roman Theater of Cadiz.

As always, this place is a cool historical location that showcases the magnitude of the Roman Empire during its peak. We are pretty far from Rome, but due to Cadiz's strategic location for fishermen, the Romans lived here long ago and brought with them their favorite form of entertainment.

Ryan and Cady enjoyed walking where the Romans walked!

As we finished out our day in Cadiz, I was just beyond thankful for the sunny skies and warm-ish weather. When I asked Ryan and Cady about their favorite part of their visit, they both agreed that this sunny day in Cadiz was one of their favorites! It's pretty awesome that Bryan and I live a short 35-minute drive from such a unique city!

Viveros El Lago

On our way home, we swung by Viveros for some souvenir shopping! This may be my favorite place to plant shop, but it also has the letter tiles at the best price in the area! They also have a nice room filled with Spanish pottery that I knew would catch their attention.

And I was right! Cady got a name sign for her parents and then picked out a beautiful sangria pitcher with a matching serving plate and bowl set to get them started with their future house parties! It's fun to know that many years to come will include a small part of our time together in Spain!

Fuego

For dinner, we enjoyed some American dishes at Fuego, just down the road from our house! Most of us ate like true Americans with the buffalo chicken dip, smash burger, ribs, and a buffalo chicken sandwich. But then there's Cady: she went all out with tuna tar-tar like the classy lady she is!

Cady and Ryan were also able to try our favorite local brewery, Malandar Brewing Co. too! Fuego even has their own special brew that Bryan enjoyed, while Cady and I loved the Malandar Mojito Sour! Ryan was also very happy to try the local Pilsner! This was a great way. to end the day!

Wednesday, March 27: Rota

Our last full day together began with sunny skies and a walk on the Roman Ruins! While it was really windy, we made it all the way around the old fishing walls that we visited a few days earlier.

Candy's Cafe

Then Ryan was ready for breakfast so we tried a new spot, Candy's Cafe just down the road from our house! The coffees were amazing, and Ryan was all smiles when his waffle arrived to the table topped with every sweet topping imaginable!

With the surprisingly sunny afternoon ahead of us, we took off for Rota's Gypsy Market, where Cady and I bought matching shoes for cheap and we picked out some new olives to try! I always love bringing visitors to the Wednesday Gyspy Market because of its unique atmosphere and constantly changing sales!

While here, Cady and I both tried on Feria dresses for sale. While neither of us found our dream dress, it was still fun to try on traditional flamenco dresses!

Cady fell in love with Tinto de Verano during the week, so we were sure to sip some more refreshing wine on the rooftop!

When Bryan got off work, we headed downtown to explore Rota! While we didn't take a ton of photos, I made sure to stop by the Rota sign for a signature pic before enjoying a few drinks at Paddy's Irish Bar. Cady, Ryan, Bryan and I passed some time playing hearts at Paddy's and we were eventually joined by Meghan, one of my good friends here in Rota!

Meghan joined us for Kebab wraps, where it started to pour rain again...so we rushed to the nearby Kenthia bar for margaritas and a dry place to eat our dinner! This rainy weather may try to dampen our evening, but we have gotten good at rolling with the punches!!!

Thursday, March 28: Adios!

With only a few days remaining in Cady's spring break, it was time to get these two back to England! Ryan and Cady caught a flight back to London Thursday afternoon, where they plan to spend a few days together exploring London! While it was a sad goodbye, we know this won't be the last time we see them for fun travels!

At the end of the trip, we can look back and laugh at how we adjusted through all the disappointments and poor weather! While it may not have been the dream trip we thought we were in for, we did create more memories in Spain with these two!

Until next time-

--Katie