Goodson’s Travel Photos

Last week a friend of mine took me on a walking tour of Rota to familiarize me with the town. We parked the car at the Marina and then walked all thru the town. We went to various specialty shops, bought some chocolate olives,  (made out of chocolate, not chocolate covered). We saw an old castle, church and lighthouse. The tile work that is on the outside walls of buildings, in the entrance of homes, and on the floors everywhere is amazing. Everything is so bright and colorful. We also walked thru a Mercado Publico-public market. The gentleman behind the fish counter wanted us to take his “photo” with his fish! We ended up our tour by walking on the beach looking for sea glass -broken bits of glass that has been rolled over in the water for years and is now worn and softer looking. Many collect this glass (can find it in white, brown, blue and green) and display it in vases or jars.

or Three Kings- is a Spanish festival for the entire family. It is the celebration of the arrival of the Wise Men-and also an occasion to shower attention and affection on their children-which are greatly treasured in the Spanish culture.

The Christmas Season begins with a Carta de Reyes, a letter that children pick up at the post office, fill it out, and mail free of charge to the Three Wise Men. The climax is with a parade or ‘Cabalgata’. On Friday evening, as is customary on 5 January, the eve of Three Kings Day, thousands of excited children and their parents will gather along streets of virtually every city and village in Spain in anticipation of the arrival of the Three Kings. One of them, Baltazar, is an anachronism: reflecting the long time Muslim presence in Spain, he appears as a Moor and an African. He is a favorite of the children since, until recently, black Africans were a rarity in Spain. He is accompanied by the other Magi, Melchior and Gaspar, and together they toss candy into the crowds that line the streets.

Before the children go to bed,they prepare three items that they will leave by the door for the Wise Men: a dish of water and hay or straw for their camels; rich turrón made of honey and almonds and a glass of wine or sherry for the Kings. They also leave a pair of shoes in which they hope the Kings will deposit a gift.

Unfortunately, American culture has managed to creep into their culture and some observe “American Christmas” - Santa Clauses can be seen hanging onto their terraces and balconies. So some observe two Christmases- Twice as many presents they say!

We had a wonderful time at the parade. We watched the parade from one area in town- the streets were so crowded, as everyone wanted to be able to catch the candy that was being thrown from the floats. To our surprise it wasn’t just the kids that were jumping and grabbing- it was the adults! After the parade passed us, we and everyone else, or should I say we followed (walked) everyone else to another area deeper in Rota to watch the parade again as it passed on another street. It was quite an experience and we came home with pocketfuls of candy.