Málaga: Animal Parks and the Beach

The last two days of our vacation in Málaga were less active than the previous two, although; we did add some last minute leisure.  Both of us got a little too much sun while on the Rock of Gibraltar, limiting our motivation to sit on the beach for a prolonged period of time.  Instead, we decided to visit local animal parks during the day and would watch the sun set on the cool evenings.  On Saturday, we went to Bioparc Fuengirola, while we toured Selwo Marina on Sunday before heading to the airport to catch our flight home.

Sunset on the beach

Another sunset

Fish won't see me coming at night

The Bioparc featured mostly terrestrial species exhibits, with the best feature being, "Lemur Island."  During scheduled times, a guide brought a group of patrons inside the habitation for a (relatively) close encounter with the docile animals.  We decided to go twice because the first time our group was too large to get a good view of the baby lemur, but the second round proved to be a more successful venture.

Lemur Island

Noisy humans dare disturb my slumber

Bundle of Lemurs

Baby has been spotted

On Sunday, we drove to Selwo Marina, a slightly difficult task for our GPS, but not nearly as bad as our experience trying to find Cueva de la Pileta.  The marina is certainly the smaller of the parks, but admission includes a bird and dolphin show.  The Aves display was as advertised, birds from around the world flew overhead while characteristics and cocktail information were described over the loud speakers.  Emphasis on the "loud!"  I am not sure who did the sound check, but for an area the size of an above ground pool doesn't need 15 speakers turned up to eleven (it wasn't a Spinal Tap* concert).

To throw more sand or not to throw more sand

Really loud bird

Inside the bird cage

Where are the birds?

The dolphin show was situated behind the bird stadium and proved to be a much quieter experience - after the ringing in our ears subsided.  A sea lion and trainer provided the opening act, followed by the entertainment of six dolphins and four trainers.  The show was good, but the real fun started after the performance.  During "free" time, the trainers threw exercise balls into the dolphin pools (all gates were open through the four pools).  The pod took turns either kicking or poking the ball around, interacting with the gathering audience.  We enjoyed our visits to both parks and were a great way to get some more animal encounters while avoiding the sun during the hottest parts of the day.  We spent late Saturday afternoon walking the promenade along the beach and enjoyed the sunset while sitting in the sand by the ocean.

Dolphin time

Recreational exercise

Tail kick...?

Adios

Our return to Germany was a pleasant surprise, the weather wasn't nearly as hot as the 30-degree weather we left, but the sun has made a prolonged appearance.  The temperature is rising and the flowers are blooming.  The best part, it's almost Spargelzeit - the season for white asparagus.  The delicious vegetable will be on every menu for the next few months.  Not sure what it is about Spargel, but we are compelled to order any and all variety of dishes it is featured.

*Spinal Tap goes to 11

Gibraltar: A Large Rock and a Ton of Monkeys

On our second day in Spain, we drove to the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula - where we would temporarily leave the country.  Our destination, Gibraltar, a self-governing British territory with elected officials, but defers to British Imperialism for complex affairs (foreign relations).  To get there, we found a parking garage in La Linea (Spain) and proceeded to walk another 800 meters across the border into Gibraltar.

Getting off the cable car

Looking west

First monkey spotted

As we strolled through the pedestrian zone, the streets were very representative of Britain, occasionally passing red telephone booths and pillar boxes.  After the shopping district, we made our way to the cable car that would take us to the "top of the rock."  The line was long, but not long enough where we would be hounded by the peddlers trying to pitch their van tours.  We only had to wait thirty minutes from the time we got in line to the time we reached Upper Rock Nature Preserve.  It was less than sixty seconds from the time we left the cable car until our first monkey encounter.  There was a feeding frenzy near the beginning of the path, starting the stimulus overload.

Julie with Frick... or Frack

Frick and Frack

Watching the humans

Bailing after an unsuccessful sunglasses swipe

We walked around the main part of the rock several times, observing the behaviors of each niche of monkeys.  After our third lap, we found two adolescent monkeys playing on the path barrier with reckless abandon.  Frick and Frack were a curious and gregarious duo, first climbing on Julie and then attempted to steal my sunglasses.  Luckily, the crowds hadn't amassed and we were fortunate enough to enjoy the company of these two.   Encounters with the animals is at your own risk, but feeding them is strictly forbidden and carries a hefty fine.

Family grooming time

Pondering life's complexities

Learning the proper technique

Leave us alone already guy with camera

However, monkeys are wild and people are stupid.  There was a British couple that seemed to have sparked an interest in a larger monkey.  Moments later, we saw them tossing food for the privileged experience.  At one point, they even got a little aggressive because the monkey stole the woman's hair clip, which they initially thought was a riot.  They proceeded to lure the monkey with more food, then aggressively grappled with the animal for the stupid hair clip.  Sadly, their ignorance went unpunished - financially and/or physically.

Loungin'

Prison cell near Moorish Castle

The Rock of Gibraltar

Morocco in the distance

We spent a few hours walking around the Upper Rock Nature Preserve and it never seemed to get old despite seeing the same groups of monkeys.  Having gotten our primate fix, we walked towards the Moorish Castle to explore the southern part of the park.  Further down the pass, the clouds in the distance (finally) broke apart and we caught our first glimpse of Morocco.  We meandered a little longer and took one final lap around the dense monkey area before returning to sea level.  Back in the pedestrian zone, we indulged ourselves with some English comfort foods at the oldest bar in Gibraltar (Star Bar).  When we arrived back in Málaga, the sun was setting - a perfect time for us to enjoy a stroll on the beach under the pastel sky.

On our last lap

Guard post on path

Downtown

Ronda: Historic Bridge and Prehistoric Cave Paintings

It's officially Spring and as temperatures increase - so will our travel frequency.  The new season started with a trip to Spain; in addition, we planned extracurricular adventures in Ronda and Gibraltar.  The reaming half of our vacation would be dedicated to relaxing on the beaches of Málaga.  Unfortunately, we got off to an unsettling start, arriving at the airport 32 minutes early.  Narrowly making it in time for Ryan Air's (strict) 30 minute boarding cutoff.  Fortunately, there were zero people in the security line.  During boarding, I realized I didn't have my wallet after passing through the metal detector.  When I went to ask the security agents about my wallet, they were confused as to its whereabouts.  Turns out, it never made it all the way through the baggage X-ray machine - an embarrassing realization for all parties involved.  The rest of our journey was without errors and went relatively smoothly - sans some intermittent turbulence throughout the flight (I suppose we had to fly through the permacloud to find sunshine).

Panoramic from el Balcon de la Alameda del Tajo

Before checking into the hotel, we stopped at a local Lidl (grocery store) to purchase some wine.  Walking through the aisles was sweet music to our palates and wallets - wine averaged €2.50 a bottle (as cheap as €0.99 for champagne).  After grabbing what our arms could carry, we continued to the hotel.  It was early morning and the exceptionally rude front desk employees declared it an impossibility to check-in to the hotel for another three hours.  Given the waiting time, we thought it'd be best to head to our first extracurricular activity, tour the city of Ronda.  There was a the possibility of adding a visit to Cueva de la Pileta, but our information was limited to Julie's note, "cave with old drawings."

Gazebo on Alameda del Tajo

Puente Nuevo

East side of bridge

After a two-hour drive, we arrived in Ronda, a quaint town in the Andalucia community of southern Spain overlooking El Tajo Canyon.  We started our tour by walking through Alameda del Tajo, a cliff-side balcony above the valley.  We briefly enjoyed a free harp concert by the gazebo, but mostly enjoyed the view.  Around the corner, we made our way to Puente Nuevo - the "new" bridge, and main attraction of the beautiful village.

West side of bridge

Opposite El Tajo Canyon

That's a huge bridge

It was mid-afternoon and we decided to grab a quick lunch, but the restaurant had atrocious service - even after flagging the waiter - twice.  He seemed more adamant about cleaning old tables and rummaging aimlessly around the two balconies on the east side of the bridge.  Our patience wore thin and we decided to head to another establishment.  We settled on a restaurant on the opposite side of the bridge - a location where we had an entire balcony to ourselves (with the better view, side with the waterfall).  With our remaining time in Ronda, we went down a path to get another vantage point of the top attraction, perused some souvenir shops, and walked around Plaza de Toros, the bull fighting arena.  The city was a pleasant surprise, plus, we still had enough time to investigate these "old cave drawings."

Street of Ronda

Horse carriage going over Puente Nuevo

Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Mercad

We plugged the address into the GPS and started making our way to Benaoján, a small community about twenty minutes from Ronda.  While driving through the town, we came across an area where the road turned into a cobble stone pathway, nearly unfit for one-way traffic - unless you were on a golf cart.  Leaving our fate in the hands of technology, we continued with the dictated directions.  Eventually, I took an incredibly sharp right-hand turn onto a "street" where I obstinately refused to go any farther.  Our rental car was small enough for most of the alleyways, but we had been funneled deep into this constricting maze of a town.  Our problem, how were we to get our car around this small 90-degree turn in reverse, with approximately 10 centimeters clearance on all sides of the car - which had no rental insurance.

Made that right-hand turn. Honk Honk!

Roadside goats grazing

Fluffy Cloud

Adding to the pressure, a car full of people that stopped and repeatedly honked their car horn while vigorously wagging their fingers at us.  Clearly, we realized our mistake and were trying to turn around, but the incessant honkers and finger waggers didn't seem to understand. At one point, we switched drivers as stress levels continued to rise.  Then, a second car came-along, a-honking and a-wagging their fingers at us.  The hilarity continued as a third finger-wagger came out of her home and expressed her dissatisfaction from her balcony.  Finally, we made the exit - no damage to the car - only our ears.  Luckily, a gentleman approached from a third vehicle, presumably to ask us what the hell we were doing.  I asked him if he knew where Cueva de la Pileta could be found.  He told us to follow his car as he would lead us in the correct direction - assisting us until the final kilometer (he will never read this, but we are absolutely grateful for his help).

Cave entrance

Starting our tour

Two of the many paintings inside

The parking lot at the cave was empty, with exception to the one car we assumed belonged to the employee working.  Shortly after our arrival, another couple was going to join our group, but backed out at the last minute due to poor footwear decisions - heels and caves don't bode well for ankles.  We have visited one cave before while on vacation in Sardinia, Neptunes Grotto, but that was sufficiently illuminated and had acoustics throughout for guided tours. Cueva de la Pileta a far different experience.  Aside from the light in front of us provided by our three flashlights (including our guide), the darkness engulfed everything else.  Our guide provided excellent detail of the features used by the prehistoric denizens and explained the paintings and their estimated age.  It was incredible how well the paintings have been preserved knowing they range in date from 10,000 to 25,000 years old.  When we left, we bought two postcards with pictures of (some) the paintings we saw.

Visiting Ronda and Cueva de la Pileta made for a most enjoyably day, adequately covering the three hour waiting period for our hotel room to be ready.  Upon our return to the hotel, the front desk staff was still a nightmare to deal with, but the service staff in the restaurant was the polar opposite.  We called in early evening in anticipation of our drive to another country the following day, a territory under British Imperialism and full of monkeys.

Basel: The Sun and a Bird Conundrum

On the final day of our weekend in Switzerland, we drove north to Basel, a city nestled between the French and German boarders.  Leaving Zürich, we typed the parking garage's address into our GPS and would reach Basel in forty-five minutes.  The smooth ride turned into confusion when the navigation system continuously got lost within the city.  Eventually, we were directed to pull into the wrong garage (must obey technology...) - one that had a 1.50 CHF fare per quarter-hour.  Further difficulties were faced when two validation meters wouldn't accept cash nor credit; forcing us to find a human-based cashier.  Another twenty minutes would pass before we found the correct destination without the help of our disoriented GPS.  Our unexpected detour did have one upside, we passed the Spalentor, the city gate which is an attraction we would have had to skip due to the isolated location.

Mittlere Brücke

Courtyard we found

Martinskirchplatz

Having found parking, we started our tour of Basel - heading towards the river and Mittlere Brücke.  We continued on a pedestrian path along the Rhine and took an alleyway to Martinskirchplatz.  On the same street we found the Blaues und Weißes Haus, a pair of buildings currently used for government practices (Commerce, Social Affairs, and Environment).  Across from the houses was an open courtyard with a entryway to an unknown area.

Rathaus

Balcony above inner courtyard

Sensory overload all over Town Hall

Rathaus from Marktplatz

Statue

Inner courtyard

The doors were unlocked, so we continued into the building - soon realizing we had entered the upper level of the Rathaus opposite Marktplatz, and were on the balcony above the inner courtyard of Town Hall.  To get the ground-level perspective, we took a pathway down to the Marktplatz and entered the Rathaus from the street.  Little did we know, but The Great Bird Dilemma of 2015 would soon commence.  Julie found a semi-responsive finch (Mush) sitting on a bench in the shade and wanted to know what was wrong.  Mush's general indifference to humans wan't alarming, but the apathy for free food and water was abnormal.  Julie asked if there was something we could do, but unfortunately, I said that there really isn't anything more we could do at this point.

Basel Münster

Inside

Altar

We left the Rathaus under the agreement that we would return to see if Mush had made any attempt at survival.  Walking south along the Rhine, we made our way to Baseler Münster, a Romanesque building whose colorful tiled roof reminded us of Matthias Church in Budapest.  Behind the church is the Pfalz, a small park overlooking the river, although; the view of Mittlere Brücke is somewhat tarnished by the smokestacks of the Novartis campus.  Afternoon approached, and we determined the final two attractions we intended to visit were not worth the effort.  The decision to end our visit a little early was mostly due to the anticipation of the long drive home.

Nave

Mittlere Brücke overlooking Rhine

View of Rhytaxi from Pfalz

Before returning to the car, we made one final attempt to rescue a helpless bird.  Julie was determined to find a way to save the poor animal, and hatched a most elaborate plan.  She would find two cups to temporarily trap and transport Mush back to Germany.  Of course, this is assuming the bird would make no attempt to escape during our four hour (plus) drive home. Because the last thing we want in this situation is a bird flapping around the inside of our car - slamming into every window.  Hypothetically, once the bird was "secured" and survived the long drive home, we would take Mush to the emergency vet to see if they could do anything.  However, when words were put into action, Mush had little interest in the cup idea - scattering about and fluttering to the Rathaus gate.  Julie made a few last ditch efforts, but alas, no luck.  That was the our last sighting of Mush, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

And now... your bird related Public Service Announcement:  Roughly 13.7 million birds die daily in the United States alone.  That's a whole lot of bird death. The more you know.  Knowledge is Power!!!

This one is for you, Mush.

Our quick tour of Basel