"The ROCK"

For my friends in LA under the shadow of the Hollywood sign, I am not referring to the wrestler/actor, formally known as Dwayne Johnson. In fact, I am referring to the Rock of Gibraltar, which marks the entrance into the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. (Unfortunately, others of you may more easily recognize it as the symbol for Prudential Real Estate) At any rate, this thing is freakin' huge--- 412 meters to be exact.

Anyway, back to the story. The ferry ride across the Strait was a little rough, but the entrance into the port made it all worth while. Seeing the Rock from the water was rather ominous and foreboding. We arrived a little later than expected, so rather than search for a hotel, we decided to head to the top of Gibraltar with our 20 lbs. bags on our backs. We took a cable car to the top where we were immediately greeted by Macaque (the wild monkeys, get your head out of the gutter). Yes, the only wild monkeys in Europe live on the Rock of Gibraltar and these things are NOT shy. They were all over the place and didn't yield to people too much. The views from the top were stunning, and that doesn't do it justice. It was surreal to be above the clouds looking over the water and being able to see three countries at once. (Maybe the pictures do a better job than my description)

After many "Wow, this is incredible"'s, we decided to head to the bottom and find a place to sleep for the night. Fortunately, we found a relatively cheap hotel for about 23 English pounds each. Interesting fact: As mentioned, Gibraltar is owned by the UK and they are proud to be English. So, they operate under the pound, speak English and even have the cool telephone booths! Since it was our "anniversary" ('gag me', yea, I know, Mom) we dressed up a little nicer. Before dinner, we went to Europa Point, which is supposedly the most Southern point of Europe, to watch the sunset. For dinner, we went to this top-dollar restaurant on the marina and ate like kings thanks to Tori's mom and Mickey (I am gonna have to find a way to repay you guys when you come to visit in November). Finally feeling safe after dark, we walked back to the hotel and prepared for our last leg of the trip to Sevilla....