Gibraltar - Thursday May 31st

Headed over to Gibraltar today.  Was nice because we are so close it was only a 30 minute ride.  Trip started out funny we drove over the boarder so had to stop and show our passports, then you go about 100 feet and you have to show it again.  Were like didn't we just show them, he said that was in another country.  :)  guess usually when you take a plane you show it in the departure city then again in the arrival, but driving across is a bit different.

Anyway first thing you notice this year since its 2012 is the Queen of England's face everywhere.  I guess her Diamond Jubilee or her 60th year on the thrown is being celebrated this week.  I didn't think she was that old but i guess she really isn't cause she took the thrown at the age of 21.

The main site in Gibraltar is The Rock and the Monkeys on the Rock.  So we took the Funicular up to the tippy top.  Nice 6 minute ride up, not too bad considering it took us over 3 hours to walk back down.  Anyway as soon as you get to the top, theres a monkey sitting there staring at you thru the window.  You'd be surprised how intimidating they are since i know they are not very nice if they think they can get some food off you.  They are very cute from a safe distance, after taking in the view from the top we started our decent, the first thing you see along the way are monkeys monkeying around.  There were some babes rolling around, we saw some others eating carrots.  Odd thing there is the carrots they would bite and spit out, maybe they use them to brush their teeth.  Who knows.

So the first thing to see on the way down is a natural cave into the mountain.  Its nice but old and kinda drying up.  Having seen many caves in the US it wasn't that impressive.  From the cave you have to walk all the way to the other side of the rock.  I think its a bit over 2 miles or right around that so it took awhile, lots of monkeys along the way.  Quinn had an encounter with one that used him as a jump point, not bad but guess they don't clip their nails cause he had some pretty good marks on his shoulder and was quite freaked out.  Once we hit the other side of the Rock we went into the Tunnels, now these were cool.  Built around 1700 if I recall they had canon wholes for the standoff against the spanish.  The whole thing was very impressive and the stories along they way as the hypothesis about why there is a window not used for a canon, was it a wrong turn or a way to check which way to dig next.  Apparently the tunnels go around much of the Rock now they were expanded for WWI, however they expanded it so quickly that their not that stable so we couldn't check them out.

After the tunnels we saw an old town that the english were stuck in while being barricaded by the spanish, illness killed more of the town than the battles.  We also saw an old castle which was said to be the last stand against the enemy, once lost access to the Rock would be lost.  So once down the hill you'd think you would be done.  Right it was only 6 minutes up, but nope gotta take a ton of stairs to get back down to main street.  Gonna be sore in the morning.

Last thing for the day was the way out, we decided to take the coast road all the way around the Rock before heading to the boarder.  There is a real cool lighthouse on the farthest point, you could see Africa very easily, its amazing how close it is.  The other side of the Rock is very impressive there are a few houses but mostly just shear cliffs.  No wonder they didn't have to defend that side, only insane people would try to take Gibraltar from the back side.

Estepona, Spain

Need I say more :-)

Day 4 - Tangier, Morrocco

We took a tour of Tangier, Morrocco.  Its only 9 miles from Tarifa, Spain accross the strait of Gibralter.  So from Tarifa we caught the boat to Tangier.  It was a comfortable way to see the city but the city was not really that impressive. It was more of a cultural experience.  I've been to a number of spanish cities where they consider the alot of colorful tile work as an moorish archtecture, but in Tangier the only tiles were the quick peaks you got looking into peoples homes while walking down the narrow streets.






Anyway we arrived and they drove around talking about the fact at one point the city had shared ownership by 8 countries.  Each section was a totallly diffrent achictecuture non of it looking very african.  Or at least from my perspective. I did notice the stop signs, although the standard shape it had funny writting on them, but I bet it said stop.

Next on the tour was a couple camels.  But they dont seem like very smart animals one was laying down and pooped and it went right into his legs like a lap.  He didnt even try moving to get it off.  Next we took a short ride to the top of the hill, tangier seems to be on the side of a mountain so its all up hill from the port. 

Here at the top is where they let us off the buss and we started walking around.  First we stopped by a snake show.  It was a cobra and it was fascinating what the snake was doing while the music was playing.  They had another snake that must not have been a cobra because his mission music or not was to get away from his handler, as soon as the guy put him down he hit the pavement slithering as fast as he could.  So the guy just put him back into his box.  From here we started walking along the small streets with little shops that were kinda cool.  They had this one that had spools of silk in vibrant colors, and another with embroidered outfits in beutiful colors and designs.  After a short walk we went for lunch in a morroccan restaurant, they had musicians playing in the background.  Food was interesting, chicken soup kinda stuff, shiskabob, cosco and a very sweat baklava looking desert. 

After lunch we went to a rug merchant who informed us the large rugs that are done by hand and it takes 4 hours a day for two ladies (guys make leather goods and metal only) for 9 months.  Very impressive, but bartering was required so I didnt buy anything.  I never feel like i get the best price.  If they agree to the price I likly could have gone lower so forget it i wont even try.  Anyway next we stopped at a spice merchant, they have natural drugs such as safron for cooking, some pepper like seed to stop snoring, orange oil for helping you sleep, and a bit of hash to make you feel good.  They do remind you that that hash is not suppose to be taken across the border.  The last thing worth mentioning is it feels like mexico with the pushy street merchants trying to sell you stuff, worse yet they use kids.  The bus drive back was nice, that part of the coast isnt overrun with condo sytle apartments its rolling hills.  Much more pleasant coast line.

Day 3 - Marbella & Estepona, Spain

 The area is very flowery, you kind of forget what these places with water look like.  Alot of the houses are white, the beaches are a bit rocky but still very nice.

The beach has a lot of nice bars and lounging areas.  We spent a bit of time in the shade having an afternoon drink at this one.

They have fresh smoked fish which is done by a fire lit in a fishing boat.  We saw most of the beach bars having this.  Kinda neat. 

Day 1 and 2 - Madrid & Toledo

So the trip started rather interesting. The flight from London to Madrid was only about half full. Then when we got there, mind you it was a Friday at 7.30. The place was deserted, I mean not a sole neither employees or travelers. We later found out it was the Spanish cup, in Madrid. The soccer game that compares to our super bowl. Europeans love their soccer.

So we stayed the night in Toledo and the next day took a tour of the Spain military museum in the alcazar of Toledo. Saw some cool stuff and learned a lot of political oddities. Guess one king Marie's off his two daughters to Austria and France or Italy don't recall completely. But then 200 years later grandsons from those lines caused the civil war. 

 Today we're near Marbella. The biggest strange thing here is everyone speaks English and your choice of food is Chinese or English. We had to go up to the next town, esteone to get a Spanish style meal. It was a fish place we ate at an Quinn was gunho about the shrimp on the menu, that is until they came out with heads and legs still attached. It was a classic face.

Spain / France 2012

Happy Birthday to the 9 year old today. He's in for a half day of school and a 9.5 hour flight to London which leaves in about 12 hours. This trip not sure how much new stuff I will get to see but Mr. 9 year old is in for some cool things. We fly direct out of Phoenix to London then off to Madrid. From their we are heading south to Marbella where other than some R&R we hope to go see the monkeys in Gibraltar. After Southern Spain its off to Northern Spain to visit family and then to finish off the trip we will be leaving from Paris so we will go checkout Disneyland.