Andres is out.]]> Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=190519 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=610294 0 36.7333333 -3.8666667 Gibraltar is it's own country, but is still, for the most part, a part of Britain, and this flag is a good example of that. It's the Gibraltar flag on the UK flag.

Then we left the caves for the highlight of the tour; MONKEYS! We got to be very up close with them and took lots of pictures.

Nobody is exactly sure how the monkeys originally got to Gibraltar, but one General thought that if the monkeys stayed the british would stay and brought tons of monkeys from Africa to Gibraltar and now there are more than 150.

Then we visited the American memorial for the collaboration between the American and British forces in World War 1 and 2.

Then we walked along Main Street for a dose of British culture and it was very fun. I liked the people's accents and we got some fish and chips. Tasty

After that it was time for the three hour bus ride back to Malaga. Gibraltar was our last travel spot and I enjoyed it a lot.]]> Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=190519 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=609095 0 36.1333333 -5.35

We also walked around town a bit and took some pics along the way.
We walked to a market where we saw a huge pile of cherries and we also saw many street performers along the way, muscicians, costumed people etc. but these two people were one of the coolest.

The second day we went to the Palacio Real, (Royal Palace) where the Spanish royalty have all lived. We weren't allowed to take many pictures inside, but I got some anyway ;) This is the palace.

The first room we went into was the royal pharmacy which kept everything used for making medicine a long time ago. There were hundred of jars of roots, etc filling entire walls. There was even an Alchemist's room where the mixing took place.

Inside the palace there were many grand rooms with large chandeliers and paintings on every ceiling.

In most of the other rooms there were guards and I couldn't sneak any pictures, but there were multiple throne rooms, and a huge dining room that was probably as big as my house or bigger.

Afterwards we rode the metro (first time ever for my sister and I) to Gran Villa, a street with many old buildings and shops kind of like 5th Avenue in New York. Here are some of the buildings.

The third day we went to two art museums. The first one we went to was the Reina Sofia named after the current Queen of Spain. It's a modern art museum, and we saw some very bizarre things (just google James Coleman) among them a whole room that you have to go down to the basement to enter, that is completely dark and loud booming noises are emitted from. It's a creepy atmosphere, but once you get completely into the room all it is is clips of boxing on a tv. Throughout a lot of the museum I was completely confused. But the highlight of the museum was Pablo Picasso's masterpiece illustrating the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, Guernica. It was probably the largest painting I've ever seen.

After that we went to The Prado, an art museum with more traditional artwork, including many works about the Bible and Greek mythology. But the highlight of this one was Las Meninas painted by Diego Velazquez, and was one of the more famous paintings in the museum.

At the end of the day we went on a cable car ride across a large park in Madrid, and we could see most of the city from it.

And that was it in Madrid, a great stop on our trip. We have only a week left in Spain and we are going to try to go to some more places before we leave.]]> Sun, 22 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=190519 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=608271 0 40.4 -3.6833333

Here is the Alhambra from the outside:

But the Interior was the neat part with numerous courtyards, and the spanish/moorish architecture used in many of the palaces we've visited. Here is one of the more famous sections of the Alhambra, el patio de los leonares, featuring a Fountain surronded by lions which spray water from their mouths.

We stayed at the site for a good 4 and a half hours and here are the pictures we took.

The Alhambra is the most popular tourist destination in Spain and it isn't hard to see why. It was easily the grandest palace we've visited and one of the overall coolest period.

On our final day in Granada we visited the poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca's House. He was a socialist and a homosexual during Franco's regime and he was assasinated for his ideals in 1936. We were not allowed to take pictures inside.

And that was it for Granada, a neat stop on our trip.]]> Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?tripID=190519 http://www.blogabond.com/CommentView.aspx?commentID=607406 0 37.1833333 -3.6 Story Tower called the Giralada, built wide enough for the moors to ride a horse up it. The Tower is the only thing that the Spanish kept from the old mosque.

Then we visited a flamenco show that we unfortunately have no pictures of, but was very fun and the guitar player was really good.
Then we walked around Sevilla and found a little plaza where merchants sold their goods, but one gypsy was not very kind to mom. It was a building with a large Tower and Fountain.

Then we visited the Alcasar, a palace built in the 14th century by Pedro the 1st, featuring moorish and christian architecture called Mudejar style. It's a very large palace with huge grounds and a large garden that make it even bigger.

But then it was time to go back to Malaga and we said adios to Sevilla.