Denia 6/19 - 6/26

Drive to Denia (near Alicante)-just ahead of us a large accident occurred as 2 vehicles were stuck in the side of the guard rail and had. Saw a Lamborghini, which zoomed past us at an absurd speed and then kilometers later was parked alongside the freeway looking at a map, apparently lost I guess.

Then later on we also missed an accident by perhaps 2 minutes. As we were driving along the freeway all the sudden we passed two cars lodged in the metal rail guard. One was facing traffic and we could see the guy in the front see as we passed them. We almost stopped but we realized we were not going to be a lot of assistance with our limited Spanish and no telephone.



We arrived at our hotel after a six hour drive safe and sound. We unloaded our bags and headed back into town to enjoy a dinner out while we still had the rental car. We stopped at what we thought was a nice restaurant. It was anything but. The poor waiter had about 9+ tables on this patio overlooking the Med. Sea and as we tried to order kept informing us that the items we wanted were not available at this time. Of a menu that a wide selection of food a fourth of it was actually available. It took about 20 minutes to get the bill once we were done eating. We were not fans.

Our place




Our rental unit did not have internet, and this we needed desperately as we needed to plan out our next excursions in Valencia, Barcelona, Pamplona, etc. So we walked around looking for a internet café for internet, with no luck. We did however, find an Australian bar with free wifi. Done and done. Called Sambori Bar with a picture of a kangaroo, it was quite comical situation. It was run by 2 Chileans and 1 Argentinean, and had signs for the famous Australian beer Foster’s, but did not even have it, in fact they only had Budweiser on tap! 3 South Americans, in an Australian bar, serving North American beer- amazing!

We quickly made friends with the Argentinean, who worked everyday, as we needed internet everyday and stopped by to watch a world cup match or two. Renè lives in Valencia about 1 hour north of Denia. He was very kind and helpful and gave us a great opportunity to practice more Spanish.


Our bar





Besides from our time using the internet we also went to the beach everyday to enjoy some sun and enjoy the freezing Med Sea. We took the bus into town one day and bought our bus tickets for Valencia and did some shopping. It was a nice change from the Southern part of Spain as there was more Spanish spoken than English and it wasn’t until the 4th or 5th day there that we even really ran into any Brits.

Our beach




Funny sign

Ronda 6/18

This was our last outing with Uncle Tim and his family. :(
We miss you guys!

Ronda is the second to last stronghold to be held by the Moors in Spain (Granada is the first). After visiting the city I see why. It is on a hill perhaps even mountain and can see the entire surrounding valley. This would make it very difficult to assault/attack. Now it makes for incredible views and exceptional history as it provides a glimpse into why the Moors loved Spain so much; it’s beautiful rolling hills, great weather and peaceful landscapes.

Ronda and its bridge








Across the enormous gorge separating the new city from the old city is a gigantic bridge. This bridge has been rebuilt multiple times and even fallen into the gorge itself on an occasion. This 100meter deep gorge “El Tajo” draws many tourists to the city to its ancient design.


While in the city we toured a bull ring. We walked through the training areas for the matadors and bulls, holding cells, bull entrances to the stadium, and the stands of the stadium. We had some self-guided tour devices that played pre-recorded information about bullfighting and the stadium in Ronda. Inside the stadium was a gun collection by one of the Spanish kings and it was quite impressive. There were countless rifles and dueling pistols, some which came with a story about who died with it or who dueled with a specific pair.



Where's Jordan? Hiding from the bull

Bull ring



I don't even own a gun, let alone enough to necessitate an entire gun rack..





Kind of an old gun..



We toured a few different museums, old houses, ancient bathing structures, and the inside of the bridge itself. Saw a large collection of pig legs. The Iberian black pigs of Spain are everywhere, to be eaten that is, and often you find a leg clamped to a bar ready to be sliced for the customers. Delicious.

We restaurant hopped for dinner, eating a little bit of food at one restaurant before heading over to another to get paella, another Spanish delicacy of rice, fish or meat, mixed together with an assortment of vegetables and seasoning. Then of course, snagged some delicious soft-serve ice cream and then headed home again.

Ham! Yum!



Us and the bridge!

Bathing time!


The girls

Ferry from Tarife, Spain to Tanger, Morocco, Africa 6/17

So this was our early morning, we had to be at their hotel at 6:30am to head out soon on our 1.5 hour journey to Tarife, Spain (the southern most tip of Europe). Along this early morning, Uncle Tim saved us yet again with his driving as a Semi Truck decided he wanted to drive in 2 lanes at the same time, while we were next to him. Tim deftly maneuvered into the median and dodged the Semi! Thanks Uncle Tim!
Ferry

Us in Africa!


After that we had to catch our ferry across the Mediteranean sea for about 40 minutes. When we landed in Tanger, Morocco in Africa, we met our guide Aziz and got into our van and headed out on our tour. We drove through the newer part of Tanger with all of the kings and rich houses. Then we went to the north-western most point of Africa and were able to look out over the Mediteranean sea and Atlantic ocean.

Us with our tour guide Aziz


This is a house of one of the princes of Saudi Arabia

This little burro is what brought Anna out of her nap on the tour bus



After that we headed down the coast a little ways and stopped to ride a camel. The Saviano girls (Katie, Maddie, and Anna) and I (Krystle) all rode our own camel, while Jordan, Uncle Tim, and Aunt Denise watched, took some pictures, and got to enjoy the beautiful view of the ocean. This is where Africa stole my jacket. We got back in the car later and it was gone, we stopped back at the same place, but of course it was not there. I am currently in the process of finding a new jacket, because you know me, I am always cold!

Camels







After the camels, we headed down the coast to stop at the famous Caves of Hercules on the shores of the Atlantic. We had this guide that showed us “Africa” carved out of the rock. That was neat, but then he proceeded to tell us that the whole cave had similar carvings and it just started to get a little too much. But that’s ok, we got some good pictures and it was pretty interesting.

Cave of Hercules. (It looks like the African continent backwards)


We then headed back up to our starting point to go on a walk of the old part of town in Morocco, Medina. We went into some shops and got some demonstrations in the rug store and pottery store. We went into the farmacie and had a little talk about herbs and what they sold, while Krystle and Anna both got a 1Euro massage with some special muscle cream (it smelled just like Bengay). But I felt so good, and it was nice for my hurting lower back. After this we headed for some typical Moroccon food. We all got either chicken or lamb and couscous, which was tasty. During lunch we got to enjoy a group of men playing their instruments, and Anna and I went up and played with them. Then we had some mint tea (famous in Morocco) and pastries. After this we headed back to the port to catch our ferry back to Spain. We had a great day in Africa, but were very glad to be back in Europe, and head back to our hotels to relax.





This tower does the call of prayer for muslims

Lunch entertainment

Muslim cultural clothing





Bonus material:

Obi Wan Kenobi evading the Imperial Stormtroopers

Gibraltar 6/16

After making sure we all had our passports, we headed out for the 1 hour drive to a town (and apparently a separate country/territory owned by the Brits) called Gibraltar. This is home of the famous Rock of Gibraltar – in the commercials for Prudential Financial.




After crossing the border, we started to see London’s famous telephone booths and the rubbish bins of London. We felt like we were in London, it was pretty interesting. We saw the port with a cruise ship parked and many boats in the harbor.




After driving around for a little bit, we parked the car and walked down the shopping area. Once we got tired of that, we decided to take the cable car up the famous rock to see the famous Apes. Maddie is scared of heights and didn’t like this part, but she persevered through it!










Right when we landed on the top, we could see the apes, these are the only wild apes in Europe. We were told to watch our bags, because these guys like to grab plastic bags, so Aunt Denise put her plastic bag of cookies and candy into another bag and gave it to Uncle Tim. We listened to the information about the rock and the country on our self guided tour recording. We got many pictures of the apes, since they were so close. They sure were not afraid of humans! The day was somewhat cloudy, so we were unable to see the tip of Africa, but we still got some good pictures and had some great views.
We were getting ready to head down, and UT handed the bag to Aunt Denise so he could return all of our self guided tour listening things. Aunt Denise sat down next to Maddie, and next thing we know an ape comes out of nowhere! Anna yells “Mom watch out!” I see the ape grabbing her bag, and instead of realizing that this thing could hurt me, I lunge forward for the bag. I grabbed the bag and the ape ripped the plastic bag and got the outside of our cookies. Don’t worry, I saved the cookies and everything else in the bag, and the ape got nothing except the box. It was a pretty scary but very funny experience. We sure have a story to tell about the Rock of Gibraltar.





After heading back to the hotel to wash up and relax a little bit, we headed out for dinner in a town called Benahavis for dinner. This town is known for having the most restaurants in a small area, not quite sure the exact area. This was a very small town with very narrow roads, props to Uncle Tim for his great driving skills. We had a delicious dinner of tapas and wine for the adults.

In Spain, a bottle of wine with dinner is about the same price as each person ordering a soda, so of course we went with the wine. You would all be so proud of me too, I am actually drinking wine. I have been trying to like it since marrying Jordan because he really likes it, and it didn’t work up until my first sip of wine in Spain. Anyway, after dinner we headed back home and called it a night since we were going to be getting up very early in the morning.