After our venture into Alhambra, and meeting Salli and our friends from the wedding, we are determined to head out of the city and see something a little different. We had planned to head from Granada to Malaga. But after spending more time in the city, we decided we wanted to see a smaller part of the country. So we decided to drive straight through Malaga and head toward Estepona, a small beach town on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. While driving, we were talking and thought it might be fun to drive past Estepona and head all the way to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is a little UK alcove on the south Spanish coast. It's famous for it's rock, it's the Prudential insurance logo for what it's worth.
So we drove straight through Malaga, and I think we are both glad that we did. The coastal drive was beautiful, but the big industrial city we were driving through really didn't peak our interest. So on to Gibraltar we went....
It's kind of funny to drive up, because there is a huge border crossing right there. Think when you go to Mexico from California. It's really nuts. So we parked on the Spanish side and walked across. The line to drive in was about a mile long. Funny to see the flags showing each side of the border. We walked through, showed our passports and actually got another stamp. And walked through...
First thing you come across is a runway, they actually stop road traffic and pedestrian traffic to let planes land and take off. It's pretty funny to have a cross walk on a run way. But once you do, you find yourself in a very distinctly British town.
They even take pounds and we had Fish and Chips for lunch. Then off to the main part of what we came to see... The Rock. We jumped in the cable car and took off up the hill, about 400 meters up. It's quite a trip and once you get to the top, you are greeted by a very unexpected group of welcomers... Monkeys!!
if you look closely at the wheel thing about 2 o'clock you can see Morocco through the haze.
We had a blast with the monkeys. They are really used to having people around so they don't mind you at all, in fact they will jump right on your shoulder or take stuff out of your pockets if you aren't careful. Also, it's illegal to feed them, since when people used to, they became so dependent on food from people they actually would come down from the rock and raid the town for food. But after we had fun with our new friends the monkeys we took off.
And crossed the border again.
We then went and met up with our new friends from the Wedding, again. In Estepona, We joined them for a drink and a walk on the beach. Then we headed to our own hotel, it was the last time we would meet up with new friends for a while.
After waking up and having breakfast, we took off to a town that Sarah was super excited to see Ronda. It's well known for it's bridge, and it's up in the mountains. So we drove a while away from the shore to find the new town.
It's a lot bigger than either of us were expecting, but it's a nice mountain town.
It was pretty windy at the top so Sarah had quite a few Marilyn Monroe moments.
From there we ventured back down the hills to a small town that is known for it's festivals. It basically exists to host festivals. It's called El Rocio and it's in the middle of the Donanas National Park. It's kind of a neat town, all dirt roads and a flamingo sanctuary right next to it. It also houses a huge chapel in the middle of town.
It was great fun being in Spain for the week. Now we're off to Portugal... Excited to be on the beach and see what Portugal has to offer. Here's an update to the map for where we have been so far...
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