Roaming Around Andalusia

The Husband and I have kept a running list when we travel. We've entitled this list, "The Most Overrated Tourist Attractions in The World." In order to make the list, the attraction must be extraordinarily well-know; have ridiculous amounts of chachkas emblazoned with its visage; have crazy tourists all with selfie sticks straining for the perfect shot; and most likely, a very expensive entry fee. Vying for top prize on our list, in no particular order are:

• The Mona Lisa
• Loch Ness
• The Little Mermaid Statue in Copenhagen
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Did you know it leans?)
• Gondolas in Venice

You get the point. Feel free to add your own if you see fit.

When planning this trip, we knew that we wanted to explore La Frontera in Andalusia heading south from Sevilla. When Twin Son suggested that we go to Gibraltar, I will admit to a healthy dose of skepticism. Did I really need to add a big-ass rock to my list? He seemed fairly keen on the idea, so we agreed, provided that we stop in some of the beautiful little villages along the way. We had hoped to spend a few hours in Cadiz and Jerez, but since it was Sunday, both towns were closed up tight. It is a bit unfortunate, but such is the nature of travel. My cousin suggested that we hit up Vejer de la Frontera, or the White Village. The town is situated on a low hill and overlooks the Straits of Gibralter. The narrow streets and beautiful stone white buildings, are surrounded orchards and orange groves. The Moorish architechture was the perfect backdrop for a stroll through the mercados on a sunny Sunday afternoon. 

I was still dreading our inevitable destination of Gibraltar. What kind of tourist visits a rock? Not only that, I had a cold coming on and the road into Linea (the Spanish side of the Rock) was winding and nausea-inducing. 

I couldn't have been more wrong. Chalk this one up to Twin Son and his need to see weird shit. We crossed the border on foot. We were told that car traffic backs up because of workers moving between the two countries. The walk was a breeze and I even have a new stamp in my passport from Gibraltar. While the territory is under British protection, the Spanish have laid a claim to the city. There were very few people walking the crossing on a late Sunday afternoon, so we had a chance to kibbitz with the Spanish border guards. They made very sure that we were enjoying the Spanish part of our trip way more than the British. We took a bus through town to the foot of the rock and ascended via cable car. 

This is a site worth seeing. The views of The Atlantic Ocean and The Mediterranean Ocean are simply breathtaking. We could actually see the tip of Morocco. There is a place on the top of the rock where if you spread your legs wide enough, you could actually be in two places at the same time. How cool is that? But, the highlight of the day was the Barnaby macaque apes that roam wild on the rock. These are not tame little monkeys. These creatures are highly conditioned to their human visitors and know exactly how to play them. We saw one grab a woman's backpack and almost make off with it. Whenever The Husband tried to photograph one, he slyly turned his head away as if to say, "not today, dude. I've had it with you lot." We were definitely in their space as visitors. I love experiences like this. It reminds me that we are just sharing this earth with all sorts of creatures, great and small. 

We did five separate locales on this day and given my lovely travel virus, it felt like a long slog, but the Rock will never make it onto our list. That makes for a good day.

Some random thoughts:

• The British certainly are civilized. They sold Diet Coke in a market. Score.
• I kept thinking of the Harry Chapin song, "The Rock". Check it out at the bottom of the post.
• The small towns in the mountains are simply lovely. I will talk more about this in the next installment.
• We met a Lithuanian family who wanted to talk to us about superheroes and Jonas Valanciunas. The Raptors travel well.
• We are driving a Kia Sorrento and I have to admit it is testing the skills of Twin Son. The narrow streets and crazy-assed parking garages are off-the-wall. He is a road warrior.
• Even with a cold, I am still enamoured with the smells of Andalusia. The scents of spices mixed with wild flowers, oranges, olives, and almonds is off the charts.

All photos today are from The Husband. The one of the monkey makes me look cute.

The white buildings of Vejer

Now that's a rock

He did not want to pose

Make of this as you will

That's the Rock.

Sunset over Gibraltar