Gib and Andalusia - March 16, 2010

Finally we were on the last day of our 3 day adventure. This day was really windy - 27 mph. It was just what we had been hoping for. The reason we wanted to go bird watching in this area is because it is the closest place to North Africa and hence the raptors migrate by soaring above the Mediterranean each Spring and Autumn. Even though the wind was strong, the raptors didn't make the journey that day.

Instead, we spent the day exploring again. This time we made it Medina-Sidona where there is a cool castle and wonderful food! This time we ate at a little place in the town square. Cheri had a wild boar stew and John had a meat platter. Yummy!!

We turned back to Algecrias and returned the car. We decided to take the ferry over to Gib, but the wind was making the seas/waves too rough, and so we cabbed back. Once in Gib, we found a nice cab driver who took us one last time to visit the macques! What a way to end the trip!

Enjoy!
John & Cheri

Gib and Andalusia - March 15, 2010

We awoke to another fine day and decided to go exploring again. This time we got up past Cadiz. It was very relaxing to poke through the little towns and see the country side. Again the food was outstanding. We stopped in El Puerto Sainta Maria and ate at Romerijo (www.romerijo.com) right on the sea side. The abundance of seafood left us both full and very content! We ate outside with the sun shinning on us.

We passed back through the mountain region and found some red-legged partridges. They sure did run fast!! Very pretty birds. John kept asking, "Can you eat these?". We were looking for raptors, but only saw a hand full of vultures.

We headed back to Gib again at the end of the day for more fun with the tail-less monkeys! Each day they got to know us a bit more. At one point John was leaning on the stone railing, when the alpha-male decided he needed to pass. So the alpha, pushed John's lens out of the way and ran right on past!

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

Gib and Andalusia - March 14, 2010

The next morning we slept until we woke and then grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel. Great coffee!

We struck off to the Hertz office to pick up our 6 speed BMW and roared off into the country side. We elected to explore the coast before heading in-land. North Africa is clearly visible from the coast, even though there was mist in the air above the sea. We were pretty lucky that we had sun all three days. Up until that weekend it had rained since Christmas!

There is lots of renewable energy in this region and we saw windmills all over and solar panels in a few places. Being power engineers...they were beautiful to us!

Towards the end of the day, we made our way to Gib to commune with the Barbary Macques. They are really something; what personalities!! We arrived around 4 so we could get the good light. Fun!!

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

Mary Fuller visits London! March 5-7, 2010

How lucky was I?? My friend Mary Fuller came to visit whilst John was off in Greenville.

On Friday night when she arrived we had dinner with Ellen at the Fishworks. Yummy dover sole!

On Staurday, we had a blast running all over London...into Leicester Square to buy theatre tickets, Into the Strand to see the office, down the Thames to Greenwich, into the Painted Gallery, up to the GMT prime meridian, tasty Indian for lunch, back into central London, tried to get into St. Paul's but just missed the last entrance time, over to Buckingham Palace, up to Digaon Alley, a tasty bite of Italian, before seeing Hairspray! Whew - what a day!

Sunday morning she was back to the States.

Enjoy!
Cheri

Gibraltar & Andalusia March 13, 2010

We headed to Heathrow for a quick 3 hour flight to Gibraltar in the afternoon. We had both been working like crazy with John in Greenville and Cheri delivering a conference for the top 60 leadership team. A little R&R was just what we needed.

Gib is a small place with the main road running right through the airport. Traffic literally stops while planes land! When we landed we literally walked across the border with our bags and hopped into a cab.

We elected to stay in Andalusia in a town named Algecrias. It was a very good choice! The AC Algecrias is a very comfortable hotel and they recommended this wonderful tapas restaurant. It was so yummy we ate there all three nights. You can check it out at www.laposadademillan.com.

Enjoy!Cheri & John

John goes to Greenville - March 1-11, 2010

John headed off to Greenville for 10 days of work. On the weekend he was lucky enough to have a visit with his cousins - Joe, Sandy, Ann, Tommy and Stephen. It was Joe's birthday and John got to spend it with him. Joe is an accomplished pilot and has a really cool little ultralight airplane. After much deliberation, the two engineers decided that the plane could withstand the weight of the two of them and up they went! What a rush!

They had a yummy breakfast of grits and sausage.

Joe is also into trains and has built quite a track. He is also into cars and has won trophy's for his mustang! A good time was had by all.