A Weekend in Andalucía (I)

Un semana en Andalucía 

Our extended weekend consisted of four cities:  Granada, Gibraltar, Sevilla, and Cordova.
Ihave to break it up into two posts, but we'll start with the first two. 

Granada

I already talked about Granada in a previous post so I won't spend much time on it here. This time we were able to see, in addition, typical  cave dwellings that many did and some still do live in, Arabic baths, and inside the Alhambra :D Here are some pictures with more to the blog below.

Gibraltar 

Our next stop was Gibraltar, a British colony in the south tip of Spain overseeing Morocco at the Strait of Gibraltar (the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea). The dramatic mountain that occupies the peninsula is breathtaking.

from Google: Gibraltar

The rest of the town is crammed in a little free space. Purposefully, the land is given a British feel.

In its history, Spain tried to re-conquer the land many times to no avail. Thus the people live, speak, and identify as British citizens (many are actually duel citizens of Britain and Spain). As far as currency, they accept Euros but use pounds (making things more expensive if you’re on the euro). The fact that Gibraltar (a strategic and popular port) makes more sense to be Spanish territory, there continues to be distaste. Some Spaniards not of Gibraltar dislike the extra rights and slight pride of Gibraltan people. The government of Spain in return applies strain to the territory and its people by making border crossing a hassle. 

Going into Gibraltar is easy, but returning is like coming over the Mexico border. And once you arrive at the border your passport is barely glanced at. It's Spain's way to express their frustration with the colony.

from google: Gibraltar

For tourists though it offers a unique experience. Drive up the mountain by car or ride the cablecar up to the mountain's view point. From afar you can see Africa; below you can see all of Gibraltar; along the mountain is pure greenery, and inland is the sandy beaches and soft mountain ranges of Spain. What's fun is at the top, you'll encounter hordes of monkeys, roaming freely and jumping from tree to tree. They'll even pile on top of vans to hitch a ride. It's quite a comical site :). Be careful not to fed or touch them (some have been known to attack). For the most part though, they are docile. It's hard to describe the excitement and experience being inches away from an exotic and unpredictable creature. Your adrenaline starts pumping. You are giddy and charmed by the innocence of their appearance, you are captivated by their comical behavior--oddly similar to our own--and thirsty to connect with such a curious creature. 

from google: Gibraltar monkeys

Along the mountain you can take a hike to a run-down look-out point and imagine what it was once like. Monkeys watch you as you make your way along the path. Further down the mountain is another bunker you can a visit giving you another unique perspective of the area. From there it is up to you whether you want to continue to walk down or ride the cable car back to the base. 

Take a walk around to enjoy the crisp air, port life, and other charms of Gibraltar. Just remember to give yourself seem time to cross back over, or make a dance party at your car like we did ;). Makes the time go by faster and everyone gets into it (as they are mainly appreciative to have some sort of entertainment :))

Sevilla and Cordoba 

I'll post more about later. There was too much that happened in this past weekend to stuff it all into one post :) 

Stay on your toes! And be on the lookout for my next post.

Besos xx

Lyndsay