We made it through a weekend of a 5-a-side football tournament for Nathan and an elaborate ballet production for Alyssa. Here are a few pictures of events...
I remember hearing when I was little that if you washed your car, then it would make it rain. I must admit that the superstition stuck and even as an adult I dared not wash my bike the day before a bike race. However, I am starting to wonder if I should wash my bike now. After a week of endless rain and flooding, I looked at the forecast today hoping to see the end of this miserable weather. What I found instead is another week of rain. Even the kids were talking about how they don't ever get to go outside during break at school with all the rain. Alyssa optimistically told Nathan this morning on our way to school that next week they would be playing out again. I don't have the heart to tell her what I have read today.
The Rock of Gibralter towers over the coast of Spain that touches it on each side. We drove there from our rental apartment in Calahonda, Spain in a steady rain. The low hanging clouds allowed little site seeing, but it did not stop the towering rock from darking the sky a bit more.
department stores to choose from. 
It was strange meeting up with a monkey outside of the zoo. It just did not seem natural, but we found many more monkeys during our walk that day. There were all shapes and sizes. Some looked like they were going to grab us around the legs if we got too close, others looked like they wanted to play. We were advised by a lot of signs that the monkeys did bite, so we tried to keep our distance.
We always make sure to get a little Iberian Ham when we are in Spain. We learned about it on our first trip last year. It has a very distinctive flavor and can be very expensive. We tried a little portion this time that cost 60 euruos a kilo. The thing that amazes me is that there is so much of it to buy. Everywhere we go, you can find a corner of a store filled like our picture here. There seems to be an endless supply of it in Spain, yet they cans still sell it for high prices. I suppose the cost is supported by what needs to be done to produce it. I won't even attempt to explain Iberian ham, but I will supply you with the Wikipedia definition. This is much better than my limited knowledge of it and as I researched it I learned a little more about it too. 
Our first outing in the south of Spain was a drive to Ronda. We turned north from the beaches of Marbella and started our ascent to one of the most breathtaking towns I have ever seen. The road to Ronda was a very winding two lane road plagued by slow moving dump trucks and fast moving cars passing the trucks on the inside of every turn up the mountain. The road had random stretches of guardrails and short stonewalls, but nearly every one had a missing section or was seriously damaged. Neither this nor the steady rain seemed to put any concern into the minds of the 
passing drivers. The fact that we were traveling up a steeply graded road did not seem to slow anyone but us. Perhaps it was chorus of whimpers from his three passengers that made Dale slow to a crawling speed. I would have taken pity on the fact that Dale had to crawl along the mountain roads, obviously wanting to go faster, if I had not been so nervous myself!
We arrived to a village perched on the side of a cliff. The view was amazing. From the edge of the village you look down on crumbling walls, dirt roads, olive groves and abandoned stone ruins that made you imagine times past. We wandered the streets in the steady rain taking stock of the beautiful doors that decorated every building and home. There were no doors put on buildings simply for use. They all were strong, heavy beautifully made doors beautifully carved and nearly all carefully tended. The doors are one of my favorite things to look at in Spain.
Ronda is well known for the impressive bull ring built at the edge of town. Within the complex is a small museum and horse training center. We saw people working with horses, the bull ring and all the gates and ropes used on the day of a bullfight. To see a bullfight must be a statement to society as well because the cheapest tickets to be had were 50 euros per person. We had to settle for sitting in an empty bullring, but even that was fun.
