Ronda, Africa, Gibraltar, Cordoba

Our friends Tally and Jessie left today. We had so much fun with them while they were here. On Wednesday I showed them the city Ronda - a favorite of ours. This was my third time there since we moved to Spain. It is still as beautiful and impressive as ever. We saw the gorge, the bull ring and the Moorish baths. It's neat to be so close to history.

On Thursday Mike took a day off and we went to Gibraltar. What a unique experience. On the way there we drove through the meandering countryside of Spain and saw numerous wind-mills. Mike also spotted signs advertising kite sailing on the way there, which he definitely wants to go try - can you tell it's windy down there? We finally made it to Gibraltar, after only getting a little lost, where we parked and crossed the border (Gibraltar is actually a British overseas territory, you need your passport to get in!). We caught a taxi-van and drove to all the major tourist spots. First we stopped halfway up the rock to see the view of Africa, which is only 8 miles across at the closest points. We couldn't believe we were actually seeing Africa! It was very exciting. At the stop there was a monument describing the view as the "Pillars of Hercules." In Greek mythology Hercules had to cross the mountain that was once known as Atlas in order to finish one of the twelve labors he was called upon to preform. To save time he decided to split the mountain in half with his club. This resulted in creating a connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean - also known as the Straight of Gibraltar. Gibraltar, therefore, is one of the Pillars of Hercules. The other is Ponte Hacho in Africa. I think Greek mythology is so interesting! It reminds me of the stories of Paul Bunyan creating the Great Lakes and the Grand Canyon. I guess people have always enjoyed such explanations and stories - of course they weren't just stories to the Greeks. Anyway, after stopping here we went on to see St. Michael's caves (interestingly enough, the Greeks believed it to be the entrance to Hades). The caves are pretty impressive, although made to be a little Disneyland-esc with the green lighting and funky background noises. It was neat to see the inside of one of the stalagmites though. Part of the cave is now used for concerts. We were all trying to decide which band we'd like to hear play there. It's definitely a unique concert venue. After seeing the cave we went to the top of the rock where we saw a beautiful view and... monkeys! There are over 1000 monkeys on the rock. They are amazing to see! We were lucky enough to even see some new baby monkeys. They are very friendly and very used to humans. We were able to pet one, although we did it quickly - you never know with wild animals. Jay liked the monkeys the most. He watched them intently the whole time. After seeing the monkeys we went through a man made cave used in battles and then walked through the town's shopping district. I'm definitely glad we don't use the Pound in Spain. We thought the Euro was bad being 33% more than the dollar. At least it's not double! Gibraltar is definitely a cool place to see. It makes you marvel at Heavenly Father and our Savior's creations! What a beautiful world we live in.

On Friday we went to a Spanish party at a friend's house. They had a goodbye party for our LDS American friends, the Scheels. They leave in June and we'll definitely miss them! We had a great time at the party. The outside pateo was decorated beautifully and many people wore feria clothes. The girls danced Sevillana and we ate some good Spanish food. It was fun for Tally and Jessie to see a little of the Spanish culture.

On Saturday we took our last day trip to Cordoba. Cordoba was once the capital of a major Roman province. It changed hands several times and at one time had a population of 500,000 (making it one of the biggest cities in the world at the time). We saw a little of the city and then went to see the the Mosque-Cathedral. The mosque, which dates back to the Muslim period, was converted to a Cathedral when the Christians took over. It is a very impressive site. Our favorite part was seeing what remained of the mosque. It was very different to see the Christian symbols mixed with the very Moorish mosque. We had a great time.

Well, that's all for now! We can't wait to go visit Jessie and Tally in Switzerland. And we also are excited to see their little girl soon.