Trippin thru Europe

The day after our big trip to Africa we were still tired of Spain so we went to the UK for a little day trip. About an hour bus ride from Tarifa we arrived in a city that surronded a very large rock out on an island. The was the rock of Gilbraltor. So at the tip of southern Spain sits Gilbraltor which is home to about 30,000 people and is a UK territory. So here you can ride double-decker buses, drink in english pubs, and unfortunalty the currency is British pounds another way of saying EXTREMLY EXPENSIVE!!! This beautiful little piece of Britain is very famous for the hundreds of monkeys that live up at the top of the Upper Rock. When we arrived we found a little tour van that would show us everything we wanted to see so we took off up to the Upper Rock. First we stopped at the Pillars of Hercules. The Pillars of Hercules is the ancient name given to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. And in mythological times was believed to be the gateway to Hades. It was a foggy day so we could not see Africa but we got some great pictures, very surreal. Next we went St. Michaels Caves, the Cathedral Cave was long believed to be bottomless, probably giving birth to the story that Gibraltar was linked to Africa by a subterranean passage over 15 miles (24 Km) long under the Strait of Gibraltar. The cave consists of an Upper Hall with 5 connecting passages and rocks between 40ft (12.2m) and 150ft (45.7m) to a smaller hall. Beyond this, a series of narrow halls leads to a further succession of chambers, reaching depths of some 250ft (62.5m) below the entrance. Here we began to see some of the monkeys. They just hang around, swing onto cars, hunt for food, and mostly sit around and be cute. What is differnt about this place is there is no regulation of how the people or monkeys interact. I dont even think that someone works their regularly except to feed the monkeys. So you can touch them and play with them, just a note the older and the bigger ones are also the mean ones. Babies monkeys are really fun and sometimes they seem randomly on to people. So next stop was the Great Siege Tunnels, the labyrinth of tunnels inside the Rock of Gibraltar is arguably the most ingenious defense system ever devised. The tunnels were built during the Great Siege from July 1779 to February 1783. The Great Siege Tunnels, 8 square feet (2.4sq m)by 82 feet long (25m) were cut into the Rock by sheer hard work and guts. In just five weeks 18 men equipped with only simple hand tools and gunpowder, achieved this great task. Afterwards we we to the top of the rock to visit the Apes Den. This is where most monkeys can be found lazing around. They were really fun to vist and soo cute. We were up so high in the fog that looking over the edge you could only see white, good pictures soon! So at the end of the tour we were back down on the main street where we looked around at shops which were ridiculousy expensive and then went to a British pub for tea and scones, mom aren´t you proud!!! We went to Safeway so I could get my UK gossip magazines and we were off to Spain. Early nex morning we were off to our next stop, Marbella. This was just a small dot on the map and lonely planet said nothing about the city, but we had to stop somewhere because everywhere else was filled up due to Easter Week. Much to our surprise, Marbella has turned out to be one of the most beautiful cities we have been to. I am very surpised nothing was written about it but could be because it is a very popular resort town. The city is located in a amazingly beautiful valley full of greeness and surronded by sparkling blue waters. This area attracts money from all around the world and the houses here are spectacular as well as the many gorgeous golf resorts that populate the area. So when we arrived early in the morning almost everything was closed but we had a placed book because otherwise another Seville day could have happenend. We shelled out a bit more money than the last few placed and was well worth it. In Tarifa we had stayed in a boring plain room with nothing in it, but here was more like a hotel where everything is much more personal and clean! So this day we would not get our room until 12:30 so I updated the blog for a while and later we went exploring the beautiful coast of Marbella. This was a very relaxing day and did not do much but stroll and then off to sleep.