Tarifa is considered the windiest point in Europe. Note the windmills in the background dotting the hillside. Just across the Straits is Africa! We rounded this point with our sails down, anticipating a real blow, but it was a non-event, and we enjoyed the scenery...Tarifa on our port side, Africa on our starboard, and Gibraltar dead ahead!
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The wind suddenly picked up as we approached Gibraltar, and we were screaming along at 9+knots! Gerry and I were screaming, also, as we played dodge ball with all the freighters, ferrys, cruise ships and commercial fishing boats which came at us at all sorts of angles. White knuckles subsided when we tied up at Queensway Quay Marina, and a shot of whisky helped too!
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Looking down from The Rock is our new home at Queensway Quay Marina, where we are Med moored, bow in, to the quay. We are the eighth boat from the bottom left hand side of the picture.
Med mooring was a new experience for us, as we have been spoiled by being side-tied to a berth and gracefully hopping off the boat from either our portside or starboard. In Med mooring, you tie up with either your bow or your stern facing the dock. Then you have to figure how to get off your boat!
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So, this is The Rock, or at least part of it. It is now what we look at from our 'backyard'. The view from our cockpit looks up, and up, and...well, you get the picture.
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Yes, in order to cross over the border from Gibraltar to Spain (or vice versa), you have to drive or walk across Gibraltar's runway. The working runway. The runway they use for the military and commercial flights.Right, you want me to cross from here over to there???? Luckily, they give you plenty of warning before one of those Hornets or Harriers come roaring through!
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we got a little touch of "island fever" while living in Gibraltar, so we took a jaunt to Cordoba and Grenada.
The heart of Cordoba is the old Jewish quarter known as the Juderia. We had a sense as we wandered around its narrow streets that nothing has changed in a thousand years. We saw secluded squares, tiny workshops, wrought iron gates enclosing small courtyards, public fountains, and best of all, no cars!
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Cordoba is known for its interior patios and many residents leave their outer doors open so passersby can peek in
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Women in Andalucia dress beautifully, and have a style of their own. In the summer, many carry fans, and flutter them to stay cool. Fashionable hats are part of their accessorizing. We chanced on a wedding while wandering through the Juderia, and many of the women were wearing hats. This one took my fancy. It looks like it is getting ready to take off, and fly on its own.
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We found these girls barreling up one of Cordoba's narrow streets, shrieking with laughter and sharing some joke between them. Women in Andalucia love the color red, and we see it everywhere...in scarves, handbags, shoes, shawls, hats and dresses.
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The 24th was my birthday, so we went to a flamenco performance complete with dancers, singers, guitarists and lots of hand clapping , castanet clacking, and impossibly precise foot stamping. . Most of these performances start at 10:30, but we had no problem staying up for it, because restaurants here in Spain don''t open until 9 p.m.! The Spanish clock is set on a whole different level than ours! It has taken us some getting use to.
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This was a store we encountered in Cordoba. Not a tourist spot, but a place to buy your costumes. If you are a flamenco dancer, singer or guitar player. And, the people in Cordoba, as many in Andalucia, are very serious about their flamenco!
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We we charmed by the photo of this little miss, all decked out in her flamenco duds!
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A friend of ours from Chicago e-mailed us when he heard that we were going to visit Andalucia. His question was this:
"Why are the Roman bridges in those cities still in use and the bridges on the Edens (major highway in Chicago) practically falling down?" We can apply the same question to San Francisco and New York, too!
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There are 19 of these doors leading into The Mezquita Mosque/Cathedral. Yes, part of the mosque was destroyed to accommodate the cathedral which was started in 1523, after the Moors were evicted from Spain. Was this one of the first concepts in multi-use?
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There are more than 850 columns of granite, jasper and marble. How did they do it? The mosque is dazzling.
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From Cordoba, we tool a train to Granada, specifically to visit the great Moorish palaces of the Alhambra.
The quickest path to the Alhambra is UP! Most civilized people, if they have a car, drive. Or , they take a bus or taxi. Cruisers, however, (grumpily) hike up the path because they like to torture their sea legs. If you walk, do it in the cool of the morning.
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Since the Alhambra is on top of everyone's list, we saw lots of tour groups visiting here. The technology for touring has changed too. Previously, you would have a tour guide toting an umbrella or a flag, and a group would obligingly fall in behind. The guide would stop, and in a loud voice intone the virtues of the site. However, we saw two changes here. Several of the guides spoke quietly into a small headset, and, each member of the tour group wore ear phones, happily listening to their guide. Another innovation we were impressed with was that the station at the entrance gate where, if you had an IPod, Blackberry or IPhone, you could skip hiring a guide, and download an audio tour right then and there. Smart.
We loved these two young tourists getting ready to take the tour.
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Although this was late October, there were still many flowering trees and bushes. We saw roses, heather, lavender, hibiscus, pomegranets, to name a few.
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One of the biggest surprises was the decorative use of water. Ponds, grottos, fountains and small rivulets of water were beautifully incorporated into both the interior courtyards, and the outside gardens.
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Throughout the Alhambra we saw beautiful tile, wood and plaster work. We wondered whether this type of craftsmanship could be found today!
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Restoration work at the Alhambra is a work in progress. With soft brushes, this man is cleaning the ornate detail on one of the many arches.
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This is a view looking uut over Granada. Behind us, the mountains had a light dusting of snow.
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