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(First of 5 countries) 8 week trip.

Europe 2002, Spain

Jvi
2004-09-14 12:54:35

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bar and gave it to the ape. When she went to do it again the ape ignored the piece and grabbed the whole bar. They are friendly but aggresive. We drove back to Arcos along the coast, you could see the Atlas Mountains in Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar. While waiting in line to enter Gibraltar I noticed that there were a lot of free parking on the road going the other way and our line was really going slow. I made a u-turn and parked and we walked the 2 blocks to the border, walked across and took a bus into the city. On the way home we were glad we had parked outside as the line to exit was long and slow. We just walked across the border, got in our car and drove away.

The roads going north towards Arcos from the coast were poorly marked and especially on entering a city, the signs just disappeared. We would keep driving until we saw a sign. There is no room on the side of many roads to pull off and some actually have a ditch, be careful.

One night in Arcos we met Mike, someone we met in Granada, for dinner at the Parador. We had a great time and talked a lot about what we had all learned about Spanish History. Togethre, we were able to remember a lot. Well, on the way out of the restaurant, a man stood up and asked us, "Are you academics?". We said no and he was disappointed. Seems he and his wife were from Harvard, retired chemistry professor and he had heard us and thought we were smart, or something. Anyway, when he found out we were not "academics" he sat down. They were also staying at the convent but we didn't see them again.

The drive through Ronda was through the "White Villages" and Christine both a lot in Umbrique. So much that we had to go into a post office and buy a box, pack it and then ask for some packing tape to seal the box. They were very nice and it seemed like everyone in the post office tried to help. The box arrived safely at home in a few days.

Ronda was a spectacular town but it took us awhile to find out where the locals eat. we had booked at the Parador and I asked for a room with a balcony, they gave us the best room in the house on the top floor, a mini-suite with two doors leading to a balcony on the corner overlooking the New Bridge. The balcony was huge. We had a TV and fridge and the bathroom was larger than the next room we had in Rhodes, Greece. The underground parking lot was always full and the first time I parked there a girl told me to park in a special spot, she had to lower an post in the center of the road and I drove into a nice spot. Since I saw how she lower the post, I parked there all the time and no one said anything. This Parador, like the two others was very nice and expensive. One day we were out walking south of the bridge and we came across this small hotel. We wlaked in and looked around and a man asked if he could help. We said we admired the hotel and would like a brochure. He invited us to have a drink in the courtyard and he brought us 2 glasses of wine, some peanuts and olives and the brochure. When we were leaving I asked him how much and he said "nothing". He owned the hotel and hoped we would come back to stay. Just one example of the nice things that happened to us on our trip.

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