OLA FROM SPAIN

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Well hi all in what could be my penultimate edition!! (Look it up in the dictionary guys)

Since I last blogged we have flown to sunny Spain, starting in Madrid - had 3 days there, very pleasant time really. It´s a pretty city with fountains everywhere and great architecture, both of which are illuminated at night. Shoud tell you we have gotten right into the Spanish way of life, apart from Sangria, we have partaken in the Siesta, great idea, so be warned at work, I´m out of action from 2-6pm!!! Actually it is amazing that it still exists, even though there is a move to abolish it but there´s all sorts of resistance, quite understandable! We did a day trip to Toledo whilst in Madrid and also did a Flamenco show/dinner. From here we got a train to Seville, another interesting city - highlights include an evening cruise and a tour of the Bullring - refused to see a fight!!

From Seville we collected a car and drove south to the Costa del Sol, which literally translates as Sunshine Coast!! Drove to our first nights accommodation at Arcos de la Frontera, a very hot town sitting on the top of a mountain!! Spectacular views from here of the many olive farms below. It was interesting driving to our "digs" as it´s similar to Santorini with tiny lane ways, definitely one way, and sometimes needing both side mirrors turned in to get thru! Fun times!!

From here we took a day trip to......Gibraltar!! Where else and just because we could! What a spin out!! We drove thru Spanish countryside fast approaching a HUGE ROCK!! We had to pass thru border control and were greeted by an officer saying (use a British accent here) "Good morning sir, passports please"! We then drove down the road stopping at a boom gate which is a good idea as it´s also the runway for the airport!!!! So we proceeded across the runway and entered Gibraltar! It was like driving in the "old dart" and mind boggling to see English signs everywhere, roads and streets instead of "Rue, Strasse, Piazza, Calle" etc which we´ve seen for the past 7 weeks. There´s even a Marks and Spencer there! We took the chairlift to the top of the "Rock" which is also amazing as you´re on Gibraltar, looking back to Spain and in the opposite direction the top of Africa, Morocco, is also visible! Gibraltar is also famous for its apes or monkeys which live on the top of the rock. Cheeky fellows they are too, as they jump on the tourists especially if they think you have food, they will pinch your bags for it! Lucky food doesn´t last too long around us so we were spared! We were also told the language spoken there is "Spanglish" - English is the first language taught, then the kids pick up Spanish, but Spanglish has developed, which apparently can´t always be understood in Spain!

When we finished on Gibraltar we continued in a westerly direction and had lunch at a beach called Tarifa, the southern most point of Spain, therefore Europe. The Cafe´s claim to fame was it being the "closest European Restaurant to Africa"! A great day!!

We went from Arcos to Ronda and today arrived in Malaga which is on the Mediterranean. Actually we just had to do lunch, with beer and wines (and salad to ease the conscience) under the palm trees on the beach, then back to the hotel for daily Siesta! Tomorrow it´s Granada for 2 days, and from there we head towards Barcelona, from which we fly home!! In fact we will be airborne a week today as I type!

Hope all is well back in Oz, glad to hear both the Wallabies and Dragons had a win (sorry Kay and Rusty, no only kidding!) if the Blues win on Wednesday we´ll have the trifecta!! Nice to hear from you Marg and Bill, Glenn, Jo and John!!

I hope to do my final Blog from Barcelona. Trev has just arrived and told me it´s 8.30 now therefore "happy hour" so Adios Amigos for now, look forward to seeing you all when we get back. Hope our return journey is smoother than Leonie and Pete´s, what a bummer guys!!

See ya soon, Anne and Trev xx


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