Post to come

Here are some pictures of the big G...

The “G”

We took the city bus to La Linea- the Spanish town bordering Gibraltar. The rock is impressive to say the least. There were signs everywhere warning us to take our passports to enter Gibraltar- as if it were a big deal. However when we got to the border crossing, we merely flashed them- we didn’t even open them, the guard said nothing to us and didn’t even look at our passports. Sad to say, no stamp. After the border you have to walk across the landing strip for the airport/military airfield. Then you are really in Gibraltar. My first impression of the city was its strong military influence in the architecture and street names. Apartment blocks looked similar to military barracks- very plain with no balconies...no design element. A lot of the city looked old- some of it restored and some in a state of crumble. There were a couple of newer high rises near the water and  considering the limited amount of land in Gibraltar, I imagine they would cost a lot of money! We made our way to the main street and it was a nice break to read signs and information in English. We found many monuments and historical sites in Spain have write-ups in Spanish and not in English, so while we look at things we have no idea what its for or why its there...Gibraltar is full of history- and its everywhere. We walked through a cemetery from the mid 1700’s where the headstones were carved in stone and still legible. We didn’t see a single headstone with anyone who had passed away over the age of 26!

Our original plan was to cheap out and just walk up the rock...when we realized it would be a four hour hike similar to the Grouse Grind we changed our plan jumped on the cable car. The cost of the cable car included access to the sites on the rock. We almost didn’t get to go up the cable car because the wind picked up...they decided to let us go up but they wouldn’t be taking anyone else down (which was fine because our ticket was one way). It was a little scary in the wind- the cart was swaying away- Steve said “oh this is fine, the car is made in Switzerland...we’ll be fine”. At the top we immediately saw an ape! They are actually tailless monkey’s but they call them apes...he just glared at us. The rock was pretty much empty- we saw very few people- maybe they were blown off the edge by the wind :) The views from the top were awesome, but the broken down WW2 buildings and army junk was not expected. In some areas this stuff was neat- and in others it was a mess and surrounded by barbed wire- apparently a german invasion was ‘imminent’ here and so the people fled and 30 000 soldiers were posted in Gibraltar during the war. The British had trained 6 soldiers who would live inside secret siege tunnels if the Germans took the rock- from the tunnels they would monitor radio comms. Military buffs would love this place. We toured the original siege tunnels dating back to the 1700’s- Gibraltar has been under siege 14 times. We also saw a display detailing what life and death was like while under siege, some sieges lasted years. 

Back to the MONKEYS!!! They were very tame. A couple would come up to us to try for food, however we didn’t risk the 500 pound fine for feeding them. I didn’t want one to touch me for my fear of lice, fleas, and biting. It was cool to see a monkey on the side of the street or riding on the roof of a cab. Two monkeys started to fight so I grabbed my camera and tried to get a shot of it, but the fight lead to a pornographic episode, and my picture unintentionally became a hilarious love making scene with a mediterranean back drop...I will post it when the connection is strong enough.

While on the rock we visited St. Michael's Cave. Its an amazing cavern and I don’t know how to explain such a place- stalagmites, stalactites- water dripping, darkness, the air is still...parts of the cave were lit up so you could see its amazing size, and in the background classical music played...in WW2 the cave was set up as a hospital- however it was never needed. In the past and today there are concerts in the cave- one portion is like a theatre and I think the acoustics would be amazing.

We ate some lunch in Gibraltar, I had fish and chips and Steve had fish and a ‘jacket potato’ aka ‘baked potato’. By the end of the day we were exhausted so we headed back to our slummy hostel room that smelled like stale cigarette smoke. The first night in the room I had a panic attack about bedbugs, so Steve being the wonderful man that he is, googled about bedbugs in an effort to ease my tension. It didn’t really help because all we learned was how to detect them (and I wasn’t going to start picking at the mattress seam to inspect for their poo) and that they are visible to the naked eye but not usually seen due to their nocturnal nature. So, I put on my merino woolies and got in my sleeping bag which caused me to overheat several times through the night. I woke up frantic from numerous nightmares, I think falling asleep in a state of fear causes frightening dreams. We stayed at the dinge pit another night because we didn’t want to spend time searching for a new place- happy to report I slept soundly on night two :) Overall, we found Algecerias to be somewhat of a dirty port city but on a good note, we had fantastic tapas there! We went to a place where waiters were continuously bringing various tapas for us to choose from- when we finished the waiter counted our toothpicks to tally the bill. It was fun and we tried many different and exciting tapas. 

Here Horsey Horsey Horsey...

We made it to the horse farm a few days ago. Its not really a farm- more like a community living society for horses. Each horse, donkey, or pony has an issue- most were found abandoned or stray...or hit by a car (coche). They are not like Chris and Ashley´s horses...they are difficult to say the least. The ponies bite. The donkeys are stubborn. Many of the horses are pretty wild. We are being very careful around them and have decided not to ride any of them. The farm is out in the country which is beautiful-olive trees, orange and lemon trees, almond trees and mountains. We mostly groom and feed the animals-and steve shovels thier poo's. Our clothes reek of horse pee. We are staying in a small casa on the property...it has issues too, but we have been in much worse conditions. We have come up with a slogan and we use it almost everyday- 'oh well, India will be worse' hahahaha....the weather has been ok, somedays warm and somedays are cool. We plan to leave the farm on Friday (after we wash our clothes)...
We walked 6km to town to use the internet and we forgot our junk drive with a detailed posting, we will post that later with some photos!
Also, we have recieved some sad news, Steve´s uncle Don has suddenly passed away...our thoughts and prayers are with family during this difficult time.
LOVE LOVE
Steve & BJ

Granada

We took the bus from Madrid to Granada. Granada is much smaller than Madrid, but there are many narrow and twisty streets with tall buildings, so it is easy to loose direction. Our mission for day one was to find the laundromat- not an easy task!! We finally found it and left our tiny load in the hands of an old gentleman...we were to come back at 1930 that evening- 7 hours to do a load of laundry!! Yikes, and it cost 10euro (approx $17!) While we were having our laundry done we walked around the city. We walked through the “Albaicin” region (a world heritage site) where we had amazing views of the “Alhambra” and Granada. We were approached by some old women holding some kind of plants. They forced the plants in our palms and started telling our fortunes- of course we couldn’t understand anything they were saying and we were trying to get away but they were holding our hands- I gave the lady some coins and she said “quinto” and I said NO! I grabbed Steve and we took off...we think they were gypsies...

Today we went to the Alhambra- one of the most visited sites in Spain. It is a fortress and Palace built by the Sultans in the 1300’s and was the last Moorish hold to be conquered by the Christians. One of the rooms we visited was where Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand gave their support to Christopher Columbus to sail to the new world! The gardens, views, and architecture were amazing- unfortunately it is impossible to catch the beauty of it all in a picture..but I will post some anyway - considering I took 157 photos there:) The mountains behind us are the Sierra Nevada's...

Tomorrow we head to a town near Malaga- we are getting away from the city and volunteering at a horse rescue facility...we will let you know how it goes!

Adios Madrid

On our last day in Madrid, we signed up for a city tour (the legal one!) It was very interesting- I will just sum up my favorite part...Madrid was built on natural springs and the walls that surrounded the city were made of flint. Because of this they have a slogan "Fui sobre agua edificada; mis muros de fuego son" which means: "I was built on water; my walls are made of fire"...I love that!

After the tour we decided to get something to eat so we would have energy for the Royal Palace...we went to a little shop and got a ham & cheese baguette, a bag of cheesies, and what we thought was a no-name bottle of cola...we walk to the park bench and I notice the coke is kind of purpley, “Steve I think this is grape coke”....we crack er open only to find out our coke is actually some kind of carbonated red wine in a pop bottle! Lesson Learned: pay more attention to labels. The label said “tinto” and “4.8% alcohol”.

The Palace was awesome! We took a tour through it with a guide- however no photos allowed...the palace is still a working palace- the King does not live there but he conducts official business there and a portion of the castle is his private area.

Bullfight

Steve has always wanted to see a bullfight, and what better place to see one than Madrid! The bull fighting stadium is a mere 10 minute walk from our hostal- and we went for the Sunday event. I expected to see some PETA action outside the gates but there was not a protester in sight (got to go to the Cloverdale rodeo for that too!) The stadium was beautiful inside and out. There were huge line ups to get tickets...so when the scalpers came up to us Steve was all excited and I got mad- we don’t know if scalping is legal in Spain and I wasn’t about to find out. Also, the tix were in spanish- so how would we know if they were still valid or even real? We stood in line. We upgraded to sit in the second section and in the shade- well worth the 5euros! It was exciting when the first bull came out...we read up on some bull fighting prior to the show. During an event there are 3 teams (troupes?) that kill 2 bulls, most experienced matador/team goes first. Each team has members that play different roles. Stop reading if you love bulls (Jeremy, Nuria)

Here is how it goes:

-Bull runs out- angry bull- lookin to cause some damage.

-Team of 4 come out to test the bulls strength/demeanor 

-Horns blow

-Horseman comes out with javalon type spear

-When the bull charges the horse the rider jabs the bull with the spear in the neck- this will happen twice -sometimes the bull would lift the horse right off the ground! The horse was soo well trained and blindfolded that it just took that bull’s shit (hahahaha)

-Horns blow 

-The dart jabber guys come out. The matador (gold costume) appears to direct the bull while the jabbers run up to it and plunge sharp sticks into the neck of the bull

-Horns blow

-Matador takes off his hat and gets his red cape and sword (not the killing sword)- he assess the bulls strength after the running/charging/blood loss. The matador is a performer and there is alot of showmanship- he gyrates and poses- he makes noises and shuffles around- he flicks his head- its like a theatre act. 

-Matador changes swords 

-When the bull is in position (head lowered due to exhaustion from massive blood loss and soft tissue damage from being jabbered) the matador aims and thrusts his sword all the way into the bulls neck- it is supposed to hit the bulls heart. 

-Three donkeys come and drag the bull away

-Butcher buys bull but we don’t know where his shop is- only see ham. 

Now, we are rookie bull fight watching tourists and didn’t know and still don’t know the details of the show...however, we learned what a good fight is vs. a not so good fight. One matador could not kill the bull- it was horrible, he kept trying to get the sword in, at one point it went in but the tip came out the side of the bull! Poor bull. It took about ten minutes for the matador to kill the bull- the crowd was yelling. We saw this same matador in his second fight get his butt kicked by the bull- he got some big air and a horn on the backside! It appears that when the matador bites the dust he does a roll move- similar to stop drop and roll- just more rolling or you get trampled by the bull. The experienced matador would wave his cape to the bull while kneeling! It was an interesting event, it is what it is...6 bulls slowly put to death...tortured. Would I recommend seeing this- yes, would I go again- no. 

El Rastro

I was soooo excited for Sunday- it was El Rastro day in Madrid! El Rastro is a flea market that has been going on for centuries. I had read about it online and was so psyched for it! We got up early and walked to the “Plaza Mayor” where we thought the market was held. We got there and saw tables set up- my pulse was racing- I love junk. I pretty much ran to the first table setting- it was neat- medieval coins and some rings. I thought ok lets keep going. Next table, more coins. Table after that- stamps. What the hell?? It was ALL coins and stamps- and bottle caps!! I was almost in tears. Could have gone to Cloverdale- where was the junk??? We decided to go to tourist information cause something wasn’t right- were we too early? too late? were we off season?? We learned that El Rastro was in the El Rastro area outside of the Plaza- the tourist lady circled the streets that shut down for the market- I was happy again and on the go. We entered the chaos of El Rastro- we could hardly move among the crowds. There were stalls full of junk :) Each street had a different theme- one was clothes/purses/fashion, another was antiques, one was just for pets, there were streets for tools, electronics, Everything was there! Food, flowers, saddles, zebra hides! Gas masks and trumpets. There was some pretty random stuff- like giant keys and cobbler supplies. It was so cool- we have footage and some photos we will share...I only bought a pair of shorts- I wanted the MC hammer edition but I bought something less crazy- ones I can wear when we head south as it will only get hotter!

“Free Tour” of Madrid- too good to be true...

Upon arriving at our Hostal, we picked up a brochure advertising a “free tour of Madrid”. Being ever so budget conscious we thought “great!!” and planned to join the tour on Saturday afternoon. With some difficulty we found the meeting spot for the tour, we were rushing thinking we would be late- we kept asking for directions. I’ll add in something about the language barrier here, Steve and I seem to have developed a pattern of communication. Usually goes like this: 

-We need help (ie directions, ordering food, asking questions etc)

-Together and with our phrase book we put together the question

-I have to ask the questions

-The reply is in spanish, with the accent, and fast

-Steve pretends to know or assumes the reply 

-We walk away guessing at what the answer really is- I will say that Steve is really good with understanding numbers and money- probably because he is so cheap! :)

So, after asking directions we found the meeting spot. The guides for this company wear red shirts however they were hard to spot through the crowd of protesters and camera crew. Hmmm...what is going? The protestors turned out to be licensed tour guides in Mardrid. They were holding signs that said “Illegal tours!”, “tourist trap!” & “stop intruders!” The red shirt guide told us to ignore them and that they were mad because they didn’t like the competition. So, on with the tour we went (starting late) with about 20 other tourists and the camera crew and the protesters. The tour guide was entertaining and we found the protestors presence annoying. However, we soon realized that the spanish public were supportive of the protesters- they would shout out at the guide and several old dudes would get in arguments with the him- one gave him the “ok” sign in a way we can only presume held negative meaning. So we decided to get the other side of the story (they were very nice to the tourists as this had nothing to do with us). The protester licensed guide we spoke to explained that in Spain you must go to school and become certified to be a guide- whereas the ‘free’ guide was not licensed- and the tour is in fact not free- you are required to tip and also that he would take us to bars that pay him for our patronage. At this point Steve and I left “free tour”- it just didn’t feel right, and to top it all off we found out that the legal tours only cost 3 euro! 

We explored the area for a bit on our own...we were walking up a busy street that didn’t allow cars and began to notice a significant number of prostitutes standing in doorways along the street. They didn’t look like hookers at home...more upscale- its hard to explain. This is the only place we saw them...anyways, we were starving so we ate some pizza and pasta- both very bland and overpriced. Some observations on food:

-Not so much spice- Colombus went the wrong way :)

-There is ham EVERYWHERE!! There are Jamon stores on every street displaying the Ham. Its hanging in windows and from the ceiling. Everywhere we eat has Jamon con Quesa (ham and cheese) baguettes, croissants, stuffed buns, even grilled cheese sandwhiches have the jamon so lovingly stuffed into them. 

-When you think you have escaped the ham invasion, you realize you are once again eating it- just cured differently and called something else!

-Groceries are cheap- and the ham too.

-We have eaten ham every day since being in Madrid.

Tapas!!

We had our first experience with tapas this evening...we went to a little cafe down the street from the hostal (cafe’s here serve alcoholic bev’s and food). It was on a corner and called “corner cafe”- english name but no english menu. We sat at the bar and the bartender was nice and patient with us. Steve ordered a big glass of cervasa and I had a nice glass of vino blanco. With the beer the bartender brought us our first ever tapa!!! It was a plate of 3 mussels covered in vegetables and olive oil (similar to bruschetta)- we looked at eachother, Steve went first. Surprisingly, the were pretty good! After my mussel, I was still hungry so we searched out some words on the menu and decided to try “champinion con jambon” aka “mushrooms with ham”. I placed my order in spanish and was proud of myself for that. As we waited Steve and I imagined what this little tapa would be...pictures of bacon stuffed mushroom caps floated through our canadian minds...we were wrong. It was a hot bowl of canned sliced mushrooms floating in olive oil with bits of european ham and garlic. It came with a little loaf of bread. It was ok- but I’ve learned something- the first ingredient is primarily what the dish is made of (we will test this rule some more on our next tapa adventure). 

Earlier in the day we walked to the Prado museum where we saw works by Goya, Rembrandt and Raphael. It was awesome- we also saw a roman statue display full of statues from before Christ- so amazing! On the way to the museum we walked through some fancy shopping district with Jimmy Choo, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Hermes, Chanel, etc. People watching in Madrid is interesting- it was 23 degrees today and people were bundled up in sweaters, scarves, and leather jackets (there is a lot of leather here). I’ve also noticed 1) many girls wearing nylons with shorts. 2) most little girls wear dresses. 3) girls wearing MC Hammer pants with crotches at the knees and tight rolled up ankles.4) lots of dogs here- mostly little ones. 5) robin hood boots and ballet shoes. 6) no beggars yet.

Ola from Madrid!

We have made it to Madrid! This first leg of the journey was very long, but went rather smoothly. We left the Oliver’s house at 0530 to catch a bus to Seattle. The bus broke down as soon as we crossed the border :) This wasn’t as bad as the bus breaking down in the middle of the Mexican desert though! So we got cozy and waited. Now, I have to send out a huge thank you to B’ner for the travel pillow!! Its awesome!! I just fluffed that thing up and slept while a new bus came to get us- then I slept with it at airports and then on the planes- its the BEST! 

Our flight to Frankfurt on Lufthansa was very nice. We got to choose from 12 movies to watch- however about 4 hours from landing I was pretty sure I was getting a pressure sore and was incredibly uncomfortable...Steve managed to sleep. We sat in Frankfurt for 3 hours and then were on our connection to Madrid. We think we saw the Pyrenees out the plane window. At this point we were both so tired we could hardly stay awake. Couldn’t tell if we were hungry, motion sick, tired, or all of the above. We landed in Madrid, found the metro, and took the underground to the city center. Our first sight of Madrid was coming up from the underground metro and on to a city street lined with beautiful stone buildings and very narrow streets. It is warm and humid here. It took us a few minutes to find the street signs which are on the corner buildings and not on street poles. We found our hostal with no problems. Its in a stone building and has big windows that swing open- they are like princess windows. The hostal is like an apartment with five private rooms, a living room, and two bathrooms- oh and a fridge :) We think we are the only ones here at the moment. We walked to the supermarket and bought some yogurt, juice, muffins, and apples. 

Going to bed now...

Viva Le Mexico!

We had a wonderful cruise to Mexico! The ship was unbelievable- like a small floating city. The weather was perfect and the wedding was beautiful.

The first port was Cabos San Lucas and this is where M&V were married by the ocean. V, Dave (the photographer) and I left the ship in the morning- we were to meet the wedding coordinator on the pier, and after a few tense moments we located her...V and I  went to a local salon to have our hair done.

..the owner reminded me of Cruella Deville as she sternly ordered her minions around- none of whom spoke english :) The wedding was sooo nice and we are very happy to have been a part of it all! The tequila following the wedding inspired several purchases on the pier...the 10lbs viking helmet with real horns, the “Santa Chez” tree ornament, and more tequila...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Back to ship...next port Mazatlan.               

We got off the ship, greeted by the mexicali military and their automatic weapons, and started walking to town. I think we were heading a little in the wrong direction and were slowly getting to the slums of Mazatlan...thankfully we crossed paths with some other tourists who redirected our group (there were 8 of us). We ended up in a market that appeared to be heavily used by locals and lightly used by tourists. Lots of nick nacky stuff to buy... along with a variety of foods. There was a meat section in this market, it wasn’t the flies procreating all over the meat that bothered me, it was the carving of cow head at center stage that caught my attention. The cow was smiling still- big white chicklit teeth, no skin or fur (do cows have fur or hair?), just a skull with a little raw meat left- and the EYES!! Ewww! Steve and I separated from the group and poked around some other areas in Mazatlan. We went to the historic quarter where they were cleaning up after a week of carnival celebrations. There were some pretty streets, cute buildings, and random mexican dogs. We found a beach and walked along it back to the ship.

The final port was Peurto Vallarta, from here we took a catamaran to an island for an afternoon of snorkeling and kayaking. On the boat ride we were lucky to see humpback whales!!! It was amazing!! They were massive and beautiful- we even saw one breach! After the tour I went to a mall and bought some tequila inspired jeans...:)

The rest of the trip was obviously spent on the ship. We sat in the sun and read books, mini-golfed, played on the rock wall, and even ice skated!! We also ate and ate and ate...there was so much food. The best part was the fine dining where we tried all kinds of foods that we wouldn’t normally try. I enjoyed all the seafood and deserts :)

So, thats about it. We like mexico, had a great va

cation, and wish M&V all the best!