The first day saw a trip to Gibralter which was a really cool city on a rock. Our Spanish tour guide told us about the animosity the citizens of Gibralter and Spain have for each other. Spain wants the strategic territory returned to them by the British, and the inhabitants of Gibralter want independence if they have to stop being a crown colony of the UK. The city had a very international flavor, with quarters for Italians, British and a few more. The rock was taken as part of a war in the Spanish Succesion. The British took the territory with the aid of allies during the war were the French were trying to put a Bourbon on the the throne of Spain and hopefully unite France and Spain under one crown. This attempt failed with the war, because the French signed a treaty that would never allow the crowns to be merged. The French Bourbons ended in disaster with the French Revolution and Napolean, but the Spanish Bourbons held the throne until the Spanish Civil War. The Bourbons were restored to the crown through Juan Carlos I, the eventual successor to Franco. But enough about the history of Gibralter and the Spanish crown, we were lead on a bus tour by a Gibralter woman who married a Spanish man. They even have arguments on whether Gibralter should revert back to Spain. She took us all around the rock and we got to see a mosque in Gibralter. We also could look out from a point and see the African continent just a short distance from Gibralter.
We then got back in the bus and she took us up on the actual rock. This rock is the home of some barbary monkeys; these monkeys are not native to Gibralter they were imported by various means from North Africa. During World War II, a tradition was started that Gibralter would be held by the British as long as the Rock of Gibralter had monkeys. During the war, Churchill had monkeys imported to bolster the moral of the soldiers in the crown colony. Well during our excursion on the rock, we had monkeys jump on the bus, plus we were allowed to get out of the bus and feed the monkeys. It was a very cool little area. After the tour we were released to tour on our own and buy souveniers. My group of people decided to try out British cuisine. I had fish and chips. It was alright, but then again I liked fish and french fries anyway. We then went to buy stuff. I bought a few things including a shirt that says "Top of the Rock" I also learned the hard lesson that British pounds are the only currency stronger than the US dollar. I did get a free sign for my trouble and it currently resides in the Chill Bar and proclaims "Fiesta!"
We returned to the bus to find that the weird photographer that took our pictures as we got off the bus, took our pictures to give us souveniers. They were pictures of each of us under glass in the form of ashtrays or keychains. I really wish I had got an ashtray with Brooke's picture. After we all got back to the bus, we left for customs to go back to Spain. Well being American tourists really spared us much trouble. Our Spanish tour guide was not so lucky. She had her purse searched and was detained just for being Spanish. On our trip back she explained the touchiness that each set of customs has. The Spanish side detains Gibralter citizens and Gibralter detains Spanish citizens. She also explained why she would not be going to Tangiers with us. First of all Tangiers has a lot of slow burearacy. So if we had to go through customs and keep our passports, it would take us most of the afternoon to get into the country, but if we surrendered our passport we could get in and not be detained that long. The passports would be returned when we came back to travel to Spain. Apparently the last time she went to Tangiers, the customs officer took a liking to her and did not give her back her passport. He said I like you; you stay with me. She had to do some quick actions to get him to give back her passport so she could get back to Spain.
On the second day we travelled back to Gibralter to take the ferry across the Straits of Gibralter and arrived in Tangiers. We took a bus tour around the city that had a large international flare. The city was at one point divided into different quarters: American, Spanish, French and British. The city was an international mandate of the League of Nations. We also got to try a real authentic dinner with mint tea. The tea was awesome. We then went to a carpet seller and an herb seller. The carpet sellers were a bit overly agressive when it came to sales which kept me looking for something that I would want. This is the other regret from my trip to Spain. I did not buy a carpet that was handmade from Tangiers. I also got some mint tea that over my last two years were jokingly mistaken for pot!
On the second to last night, we went out for the last time as a big group. The bar was really cool. This was the closest I came to being drunk in front of the group. I had two rome and cokes in quick succession and got a little tipsy. I stopped myself, but the dancing was cool and it was a great last hurrah for our trip. On the very last night, I went to see the sun set while I was on the beach. It was only a short walk from our hotel. I collected shells that I still have to this day. I also spent the evening getting my last few souveniers. So ended the touring in Spain, in a picturesque beach town on the Mediterranean coast. A location that I fell in love with. It is quite possibly the most beautiful location in the world. The Mediterranean Coast all along the European side of the sea. It has great Greek and Roman ruins as well as the cultures and histories of Europes modern countries. What a beautiful collection of countries.