Seville,Gibraltar, and the way home

Our final days of the journey were spent in Seville, Spain, and Gibraltar, Gibraltar :)

As mentioned earlier, I had always wanted to travel to Spain, and Seville was the destination of choice. We were able to meet up with a friend of Brett's and her family and enjoy the remarkable beauty of Parque de María Luisa. The gardens around the park are gorgeous, and in the center sits the Plaza de España, a remarkable building situated in an arch, with sections dedicated to each of the provinces of Spain around the exterior of the building.

On our way to supper we passed another small park with a Medieval fair, it was quite charming and I thought the stetting in Spain quite appropriate. This fair had shetland pony rides as well as doughnuts the size of my face. (Unfortunately we did not get to eat one).

    

The next morning we drove to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is an overseas British territory with its own currency (the Gibraltar pound). The predominant feature is of course the rock of Gibraltar. We were able to stand on the beach and see Morocco of northern Africa, as well as indulge in some fish and chips while listening to bagpipes :).





We debated going up the rock, and decided against it as it was a little steep (the rock and the price).
Instead we went AROUND the rock (which was a better option for us as we found a playground, and beach for the children to play at). We enjoyed our time in Gibraltar but were ready to begin the labor of coming home.

We drove through Jaen and 16 million olive trees. Spain is apparently the worlds largest producer of olive oil, and this region leads the production. It was remarkable to drive over a 100 miles and see rows and rows and rows of these powerfully symbolic trees.










 Our last night in Madrid we stayed downtown on the Plaza Mayor. It was a perfect end to our dream holiday. We learned much, and were able to make wonderful new memories with our little family and our friends.