End of the monkeys?

This is a video from our trip to Spain, featuring the monkeys of Gibraltar:



And this is an article I recently found about the monkeys:
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL153751620080415

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Spinsters

While I realize this trip happened almost two months ago, I haven't had a chance to show/tell all of my family about the trip. So here it is:

The 2008 Spinster Reunion took place in Portugal, Spain and Morocco (or as I collectively called them, Sportugal, by accident when I couldn't remember what country we were in). The trip consisted of:
Becca (we traveled to Thailand in '06 and she had the original idea of going to Spain),
Sarah (also a former traveling companion in Thailand and old roommate)
Megan (former roommate and my slave at ARUP)
Candace (newly inducted into the society and a good friend of mine in Columbus)
We all flew separately and met up in Lisbon. After a day sightseeing in Lisbon, we picked up our car (a van called the Spinstermobile) and headed down to Southern Portugal. Luckily we had a GPS to help us get around (which we called Lia).

A map of our travels beginning in Lisbon and ending in Barcelona
(Blue stars: cities we visited & the green line: journey in the Spinstermobile)

Highlights from the trip:
1. Visiting Portugal, Spain and Morocco
2. Being in Spain during Semana Santa (Holy Week)
3. Reuniting with the spinsters
4. Monkeys attacking our car in Gibraltar
5. Getting creative w/sneaking extra people into hotels and figuring out how to sleep 5 girls in a European hotel room
6. Becoming really confident in driving a manual car

Our happy reunion in Lisbon

Sintra Portugal, just north of Lisbon.

An old castle in Sintra (Pena Palace), with the Atlantic behind me

With our matching shirts by the spinstermobile

The southwest tip of Southern Portugal (Sagres)

Enjoying lunch on the beach in southern Portugal

Picking/stealing oranges off the streets in Seville.
They were bitter and we didn't try this again.

The Rock of Gibraltar and Wee Britain at the base.
Also home of the monkeys.
This is also where I really learned how to drive the car. Look at the height of this rock. You can drive up to the top. After stalling out several times and not freaking out too much, I became the permanent driver.

Tangier, Morocco

Morocco

Snake charmer in Morocco

Ferry ride back to Spain

White Hill Towns region (Andalusia)

Andalusia

Outside Rhonda

Inside the Alhambra

At the Alhambra, overlooking Granada

We got creative when we had to sleep 5 to a room

La Mancha area and Don Quixote windmills

Our typical day: consulting Rick Steves and programming Lia

This castle in Segovia was one of the inspirations for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle

Spinsters in Segovia






The communion wafers tasted like ice cream cones. Too bad we couldn't find any gelato at the time.

Aquaduct in Segovia that ran through the city

The wall that surrounded the city of Avila

If you push two twin beds together you can sleep 4 to a bed. Cozy.

Outside the temple in Madrid

The spinstermobile got a flat the day before Megan and Candace were driving it back to Lisbon. We (mostly) changed it by ourselves.

Royal Palace in Madrid

This is the wardrobe malfunction that led to me changing clothes in the streets of Madrid

Redefining fashion in Madrid

Artery cloggers: churros dunked in melted chocolate
(of course it was delicious).
A special thanks to Rick Steves who recommended this place which lead to us gaining 5 lbs

Sarah and I outside La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
(only 50% complete and only 50 more years to go-hard work pays off)

Overlooking Barcelona

Park Guell

Semana Santa

We planned our trip to Spain not knowing that it was Holy Week. It was a very interesting experience and unlike anything I've seen. There were tons of parades and floats. Unfortunately stores/museums/cathedrals close. They are obsessed with Holy Week; the whole town comes out for the parades. I would recommend going during Holy Week, but not the entire week as we missed out on a few things because of the closures.

This is where it all began. Seville. We thought this was really freaky when we first saw it/him. We later realized he was going to a parade for Holy Week.

A night parade in Granada

The floats were amazing

This was one of the funniest moments on the trip. We were walking down the street and one of the kkk-type parade guys was walking towards us when his cap got stuck in the tree. We tried to help him, but he quickly got it removed and ran away. We ran around the corner and laughed hysterically.

A family affair

Oh, happy day. Another parade! This time in Segovia. This parade had more characters:

Megan and I awaiting another parade with the locals

At first the parades were really cool. It only got annoying by the end of the week when they started blocking off streets for parades and we couldn't drive/walk anywhere. The KKK type costumes/clothing are supposed to represent penance. And in case you're wondering, these robes intentionally served as the basis for the traditional uniform for members of the KKK.