Spring Break, Spain, and Moriah is now 13!

 We took a night flight to Madrid--a new, clean airport with refreshingly cool air; bathrooms with toilet paper and water fountains that are safe to drink from!  We had some brekky at Mackers (as the Aussie's would say) :) and then got on another flight for Malaga, in the south part of Spain. 

We stayed here in a two bedroom apartment that we swapped out for our timeshare. After dropping our bags off  we checked out the grounds and tried out a few of the activities.

We spent a day in Gibralter, which is in the very south part of Spain but it belongs to the British. Since 1704 they have ruled here so all the signs are in English but the population is 90 percent Spanish so it's not exactly England. They still drive on the right and they speak a mix of Spanglish.=)  They apparently tried for a time to switch the driving to the left but there was so much confusion and chaos they just gave it up. 

We learned that the Rock of Gibralter is full of holes and is home to Macaque Monkeys. Churchill had over 23 miles of tunnel dug through the mountain during WWII when they were fighting the Germans. It also has a few big caves. So instead being a solid mass of rock it's more like a huge block of swiss cheese. The monkeys live protected in a reserve with their own hospital. These Macaques were brought over by the Arabs pre 1700s as pets from Africa. According to our guide, the reason they take such good care of these monkeys is because there is a belief there that if the monkeys die off, so will the people. 

The Rock of Gibralter

This is the original gate into the city.

From here it is only 10 miles to Africa! You can see mountains across the water from here (although no in this pic).

Our driver zipped through here barely fitting by inches but didn't seem to notice. I guess once you've driven through a few hundred times..

Can you find Quinn, Otto, Moriah and Jenna in the cavern?

Macaque Monkey

The view from The Rock 

These guys were marching by for the changing of the guard ceremony in front of the Mayors house just as we happened by.

Bobby keeping the peace with his legendary hat and stick (instead of a firearm).

picture moment

We visited Bioparc where animals are in their "natural environment" instead of a cage...

Hanging out

I wonder what he's going to do with that paper?

Looking pretty bored and wishing he was somewhere else

Pacing back and forth in his 'natural environment' space

Cool tree (but made of cement).

Picture moment

Shocked and stunned by us =)

Close encounter

Pretty trees like this one are everywhere.

We sat outside here and had some paella for lunch. Yum!

We found the church with no help from google! We asked a few passers by if they could help us find the street. The third couple who we stopped (and who were neatly dressed) happened to be going to the same place! So we parked our car and followed them around the block and up to the church!

We visited the Alhambra in the city of Granada. It's a muslim palace and a fortress that has been the home of several different rulers over the past couple of hundred years and has gone through much renovation.

Very detailed carvings cover the walls.

Twelve lions hold up this little fountain. Hmm, sounds familiar..

Listening to the guided tour 'stick'.

The city of Granada below

Pretty farm land above the castle

Graffiti tree

Fields of olive trees on our ride home.

We attended an interesting bird show in our little community one morning.

Good catch Jenna!




The girls decided they wanted to try out the water slide even though the outdoor pool isn't heated.

Jenna plunging into the icy cold water!

Brrrrrrrr!

Warming up in the indoor pools

"Much better!"

These orange trees line the streets in many of the towns and the streets are so beautiful with their potted flowers and stucco. We enjoyed a pastry (a daily thing here) and a walk around the town.

We celebrated Moriah's birthday at Selwo Marina where she and Jenna got to spend some time after the show with the dolphins and trainers and get up close.

The sea lion pretends to sing into the mic. It was so funny the way he jiggled his mouth as if singing!

Pretty impressive how they popped this guy up out of the water!

They learned some trainer hand motions that signal the dolphins,

It lasted a good 30 min or more and they got to see the dolphins up close and touch them several times. The girls just wished they could get in and swim with them. Maybe in the future...