España Dia 7

It was our last official day in Spain today, so we decided to spend it at the beach and pool, and just relax.

We stayed at the beach and pool all day, until we finally came in to shower and get ready for dinner. We decided to just eat at our hotel tonight since we have to pack and get up early to go to the airport. The restaurant is nice, and close. We would just like to point out that all the olives here come pitted and sans-pimento (this makes Mike happy) with just a little basil and olive oil on them.

Mike had olive and shrimp pasta, and I had a bacon cheeseburger.

We will do a closing blog tomorrow when we return. We are very sad to go. We are secretly hoping the Iceland volcano erupts tonight so we are trapped here for a few more days :)

Buenos Noches!

España Dia 6

Guess who has the head cold today? Allie is feeling just like I did on Monday. She is taking the special Spanish elixir and should be better soon. She didn’t let it get her down though and another active day is ahead.

We first went to the market that comes to the resort every Thursday in the summer. Local artists bring their goods to sell. There was some very nice handmade jewelry that was tempting, but we ended up getting a nice canvas painting. It’s the one in the bottom right in the following photo. The artist’s husband was selling her artwork and he gave us his business card and asked if we would email him a picture when we hang it up back home.

After shopping at the market, we walked over to the spa for massages. Oh so nice. Sorry no pics of that!

No rest for the weary, so off to Gibraltar. We drove there. It was a little less than a hour and there was no traffic. You can see “The Rock” from the highway and most of the roads leading into the country. We were bummed, that just like in Morocco, we didn't get our passports stamped. They just let us go through. Anyway, total passport stamp count is four, 1 in France and 3 in Spain.

We found a parking garage and then went to the square where we found a little pub for some quick refreshments. We enjoyed beer, bottled water, and ice cream at Lord Nelson Pub. Now up “The Rock”!

We drove ourselves instead of taking the tour. The road is very narrow, straight up, and hugs the cliff. This drive was way scarier than Ronda, and quite difficult with a manual transmission.

Our first stop along our self-guided tour was St. Michael’s Cave. It’s a really interesting natural cave with huge stalagtites and stalagmites. It was first believed the caves went underwater and led to Africa and that’s how the monkeys got to Gibraltar. That’s exactly true. DNA testing proved they are from Algeria and Morocco, but were likely brought there by man as pets. Speaking of monkeys, we saw several. Some were right there on the side of the road. Others were near the various stops along the way. As you can see, you can get really close. They aren’t confined at all. There are about 270 of them that are all micro-chipped and given food daily and cared for by vets.

Okay, back to the Cave. Did you know that it was made into an emergency hospital during WWII? It was never used and eventually turned into a concert hall seen below. Who would have ever thought there would be a concert hall inside the Rock of Gibraltar? Cool stuff, literally. It was a good 20 degrees cooler inside the caves than outside, plus, the ceiling is constantly dripping, sometimes you get hit with the drops of water.

After St. Michael’s Cave, we drove up to the Great Siege Tunnels. The view is spectacular from here. The tunnels were all dug by hand and used to house canons and troops during the Great Siege back in the 1700s. Fighting stopped in 1783 and in 1878, a banquet was held for U.S. general, Ulysses Grant in the St. George’s Hall, which used to be a battery.

The Tunnels are about half way up the Rock of Gibraltar. That’s as far as you are allowed to go. Kind of a bummer that you can't go to the top. It looks like there are observatories up there.

Next stop, the Moorish Castle, built in 1333 after the Moors recaptured Gibraltar from the Spaniards. It’s way cooler from the outside than the inside. The inside is just a bunch of stairs that lead to nothing. Honestly, it was kind of boring, except for the rooftop terrace and the monkey that was there.

We were getting tired and hungry, so we finished at the castle and headed back down to the square for dinner. We ate at the Little Rock Café and drove home.

Allie has been dying to stop at a McDonald’s to check out the menu. Nothing unusual on the menu, except for the McBacon and the NY Crispy. Allie ordered a McFlurry. A fine end to a fine day!

ps....the McAuto sign is for their drive thru.

España Dia 5

After 2 days of excursions, we decided to just take it easy today at the resort. We slept-in and then had some fresh fruit for breakfast that we bought from the roadside fruit stand the other day.

Around noon we took part in Paella and Sangria class taught by Jose and Rozel. Paella is a traditional Spanish dish with rice, meat, and vegetables. It can be just about anything you want, but Jose made ours with peppers, zucchini, squid, prawns, chicken, clams, mussels, and king prawns. It takes about 1/2 hour to make and is quite delicious. We'll send you the recipe when we get back home.

Rozel showed us how to make the traditional Spanish drink Sangria. Basically, soak finely chopped apples, oranges, and peaches overnight in orange liquor and rum(about an 1/8 of an iced tea pitcher).

Next pour in a bottle of red table wine. She said not to use expensive wine because you won't taste it, so don't waste it. After that, you add one glassful of fresh lemon juice, stir, and you are done. It is supposed to be served chilled, but not on ice. It is also acceptable to add a can of 7-Up to dilute the alcohol some. We've tried both ways and they are very tasty.

Now, it's time to eat and drink our wonderful creations!

After Paella and Sangria class, it was off to the beach. The wind was calmer today and it was the warmest day so far, so the cold water felt great. It wasn't as hazy today either, so in the picture below you can see Gibraltar in the distance(middle-right).

We left the beach around 4pm to go back to our room and watch the USA fútbol game. We get a lot of channels here on the tv with a variety of languages. There are 5 BBC channels (english), 2 German channels, and about 30 Spanish channels. Surely we thought one of them would have the game on. Wrong. The England game (which was on at the same time) occupied almost all the channels with sports except one, which was showing tennis). Big thanks to Allie's mom for getting on Skype with us, and turn the computer to face the TV so we could watch the game while she went to Costco...thanks mom.

Then we went to the town of Benahavis for dinner. Benahavis by the way is in the Guiness Book of World Records for most restaurants per square kilometer. We decided this would make a great place for dinner, plus it was only a 10 minute drive.

Very narrow and hilly streets in Benahavis.

We ate dinner at Amigos, a cute little restaurant with Spanish and English menus (importante).

We had variedad de las carnes y pescado skewer for dinner. In other words, a meat platter of chicken, lamb, pork, and sausage and also salmon and cod skewers.

Benahavis is a terrific little mountain town with a lot of charm and very friendly people. Although we are noticing a trend at dinner. It is nearly impossible to get la cuenta (the bill). They never bring it. You always have to ask for it. I guess they don't want to rush you.

Another great day in Espana! El mercado, massages, y Gibraltar manana!