On May 3, 2002, Kenny and myself, along with two of our closest friends, Marti and Jim, headed on out to Spain, via London to Malaga. We stayed just outside of Marbella, on the southern coast of Spain, along the Mediterranean. This region is called the Costa del Sol.
Spain was unbelievably beautiful and, since we were smart enough to rent a car, we really got to see a great deal of it (thanks to Marti's driving!).
Our first day trip was to Malaga. We climbed (and climbed) our way up to an old, Muslim castle, Gibralfaro, and got some breathtaking views of this large city and its enormous bull ring. Afterwards, we visited the cathedral and wandered through the small, tight alleyways and streets that make up the city. The architecture was incredible and we even found a gay tapas bar in one of the many squares we visited. Picasso was born in Malaga and we visited his boyhood home.
Day two, we headed off to Ronda. This city is famous for its Puente Nuevo, a 200 year old bridge that seperates the old city from the new. The views were spectacular and dizzying from the top. We even toured one of Spain's largest bullrings while we were there. Ole. Ronda was incredibly serene and beautiful.
Day three was Gibraltar. Gibraltar is actually a rather small piece of land that juts off the coast and is owned by Britain. We parked our car in La Linea, Spain, and walked across the border, over the runway, and through the very British looking town, to make our way to the cable cars that took us to the top of The Rock of Gibraltar. Wow! We could see the whole town from up there and Africa off in the distance, across the Straits of Gibraltar. After we ate and played with the first of the many Barbary Macaques we were to run across, we headed to St. Michaels Cave, The Apes Den, The Great Siege Tunnels, The Jews Gate, and a Moorish castle. Yes, our feet were tired by the time we criss-crossed our way around and down The Rock, but the hours we spent playing with the apes made it well worth it.
Day four we rested and tried to enjoy the beach and the Mediterranean a bit. Unfortunatley for us, it was rather chilly and then very rainy. We still had fun, though.
Day five was on to Granada, the home of the world famous Alhambra, the Sultan's palace, which you need advance tickets to go see. Nope, we didn't have those, so we spent the day touring the old and new city. We went up and down many hills and saw some really awesome views of Granada and the surrounding countryside. The cathedral was truly spectacular and the old city offered us a view into the past as well as some really cheap and tasty baked goods.
Our last full day in Spain was spent in Tangier, Morocco. We got their from Gibraltar on a sleek hydrofoil. Landing in Africa was certainly a highlight of our trip. Though Tangier is a bit run-down and the street vendors are like moths to a flame, to put it mildly, we did enjoy a great tour around the city and got to see the king's summer digs and Marti rode a camel. Our traditional Moroccan meal was awesome as were the many gifts we all bought.
Since we connected in London on our way home, we decided to spend a day there with Jim's friend Dave. Dave very graciously gave us a whirlwind tour. The London Eye was incredible. This huge ferriswheel, which sits on the Thames catty-corner to Big Ben, afforded us an immense view of the entire city. From there we visited, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus, The Parliament Building, Trafalgar Square and Soho, where we ate an amazing Indian meal before we were off to a much needed sleep.
The pictures below and to the right are just a samlping of the hundreds of pictures we took and don't even almost accurately represent all the beautiful sites we saw. Spain is amazing, affordable, gracious, historical and truly glorious to visit. Go and enjoy!
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