Hotel Rural Casares

... winning again, 900 euro to be exact) or playing golf. Perfect!

One of our day´s we drove to Gibraltar, which is only about 1.5 hours drive away, but actually a part of England(?). I absolutely loved it, not because of the English-ness (Marks and Sparks, etc) but because of the MONKEYS!! I LOVE MONKEYS!! We drove up the side of the "rock" and visited a cave (pretty cool, but nowhere near as good as the ones down south ...

The adventure has begun! I met up with my new Canadian friends Katy, Dan and Sarah in London, Gatwick for 1 night at the Gatwick Belmont Guest House. The plan was to all shares a quad room but we were offered two doubles instead which worked out quite nice, we just shared a bathroom. All of us did the "getting to know strangers" celebratory beer… that turned into 6 or 7. J Some of us were hurting pretty badly in the morning for the flight but it ...

... No words or pictures could fully capture the essence of this city, you just have to be there to fully experience its beauty. I then explored the city, going to places that are not commonly visited by tourists, I did some shopping, had a beer and tapas at a small restaurant and then walked through the park. Unfortunately, the day was cut short due to time restrictions and I did not have the chance to do everything I wanted to do but I will definitely be back.

... patches it up but never makes a good job of it. After Casares the road smooths out and winds on up through the hills to Ronda...an historic town perched above the 100 meter deep El Tajo canyon.

Its gone 11 by the time I arrive. My parents greet me warmly...this is going to be my new base for the next couple of months. Looking out from the Finca enclosed by the steep rocky hillsides I can see out towards the strait of Gibraltar and Africa, and much ...

... the high street was just like you'd find anywhere in England, with all the high street shops, banks & proper pubs - it was so exciting (oh the little things eh!)! I had already decided what we should eat for lunch - it had to be fish & chips of course - yum yum, but that was after our visit to see the famous Apes of Gibraltar. We headed to the Cable Car, via all the shops on our way & sneaking a peak of the tax free prices -excellent on electrical items ...

... me in a protective stance. We jog down the valley, cross streams and climb back up until we are close to the village. We say goodbye to Rubio and head back with the horses for a cold beer. The dogs greet Antonio affectionately he is exhausted and has to work in three hours. I make a mental note to take my cycling shorts to Argentina...I will be bruised and marked for several days but I don't care ...

Gribralter, ěmposing and impressive landmark! We stayed in La Linea, Spain which borders Gibraltar as it is much cheaper for accommodations. La Linea provided us quick access to Gibralter by a 15 minute walk to the border. The airport runway intersects the border crossing. On our return from Gibralter we were detained to allow a jet to take-off at which time we were able to continue our walk across the runway back to Spain. We had a very good day in Gibraltar. It is very multi ...

... were definitely the best part of Gibraltar, so if you go, DO NOT MISS THEM! To finish our tour, we got a view of the airport from the top of the rock, which was great. As we were leaving Gibraltar, about to cross the runway, we got lucky again, and arrived just in time to see another BAW jet, taking off this time, as well as a Monarch jet, and what I seriously think was a DA42 landing! A great way to end a great day!

... Rock of Gibraltar. I walked down to the border (or Frontier as it's called), attempted to flash my passport but they just waved me through... they had all the set up to do x-rays of baggage and full passport checks but they didn't. I didn't know where my hostel was and the guy running it had said the easiest way was to catch a taxi so I jumped in a taxi which pulled out into traffic and stopped. We had to wait in traffic for about 10 mins while 2 planes took off. Yep ...

... time I went, Spain had banned direct flights to Gibraltar, so you had to either fly in from the UK or drive in from Spain. Driving in is an experience all in itself, as to get into Gibraltar you have to actually cross the runway. Luckily enough there are a handful of flights a day, but its still quite scary when you're walking across and you notice the lights start to flash, and a dot on the horizon start to gain shape as an Aeroplane. Once in the place, you ...