One Day Tour of the Rock of Gibraltar

Our tour started from our vacation resort( Four Seasons Country Club)in Marbella.
The minibus started along the Costa del Sol and ends at La Linea de la Conception, the border of Gibraltar. The tour included a winding minibus drive to the top of the Rock along the Europa Point and the Galleries. The view of the city and the strait from the top was fantastic. Since I had a fear of heights, I did not look down to see the view. Our visit to the St. Michael Caves and Underground Church and the Barbary Apes Reserve were the highlights of this tour. According to our guide they have concerts inside the cave and the sound is stereophonic. At the end of the tour there was plenty of time to do some duty-free shopping in the many duty-free shops.
We had a typical English lunch of Fish and Chips. The lunch for two cost us $19 ( US) dollars. Gibraltar merchants will accept either US dollars ,British pounds, or Spanish pesetas. Good buys are spirits, tobacco, perfumes, gold jewelries and Lladro sculptures.

Gibraltar is a huge rock found to the south of Spain. The region belongs to the United Kingdom. On one side there is the Bay of Algeciras, and on the other the Mediterranean Sea. Gibraltar borders the town of La Linea de la Concepción, part of the county of Cádiz. The Rock of Gibraltar is the most famous rock in the world.
Gibraltar is situated at the southern end of Europe with a land frontier to Spain on its northern front. It sits at the joining of the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea.


The stretch of water that separates Gibraltar from north Africa is called the Strait of Gibraltar and throughout history has played a strategic part in battles fought and won to control the western Mediterranean seaways. In ancient times Gibraltar was one of the Pillars of Hercules. It was known to the Greeks as Mons Calpe, the other pillar being Mons Abyla on the Moroccan side of the Strait. Gibraltar marked the limit to the known world.


Intrinsically linked with the sea, Gibraltar is one of the busiest ports of call in the Mediterranean. It is also a stepping stone for immigrants all over the world through Africa and finally going to Europe.

Note: This is No.3 (Part 2) of a series of articles on places outside the US that Macrine and I had visited since 1960. This vacation was part of our International Interval Exchange Package in the Fall of 2000.

Malaga, Marbella and Costa del Sol and Vicinity, Spain

Marbella Sea Side

Macrine and I visited the Costa del Sol area of Southern Spain, Marbella, Malaga and vicinity in 2000. We spent one week( October 5 to 13) in this coastal area of Spain. This was again through our International Interval Exchange Vacation Package. This is a time sharing experience that beats them all! Not even Cancun, Mexico or San Juan, Puerto Rico could equal the sights, sounds, the history and grandeur of the Costa del Sol area of Southern Spain. Our one week stay at the Four Seasons Resort and Country Club, in Marbella was not enough. We were joined midweek by our daughter Ditas and niece, Ella Lazarte from US. The highlights of our one week stay were the three one day tours that we took as follows:


1. Granada City Tour with Lunch with a visit to the Alhambra Castles and Gardens
This tour included a short driving tour of Malaga and passed by the bull ring staduim. On the way to Granada, we enjoyed the sights of almond and citrus trees and olive plantation. It also included a lunch for two. At that time it cost us 8500 pesetas ( exchange rate at that time was 170 pesetas equals $1). To me this is a bargain, since I do not have to drive or rent a car ($70 per day for car rental). In addition, the tour guide knowledge of the area help you appreciate the tour more. We met another American couple during this tour. Most of the tourists are English or Germans with a few Americans.


2. One Day Tour of Gibraltar, including a winding ride to the Top of the Rock with the Barbary Apes and St. Michael Cave and some free duty shopping (For details see Article No.3)

3. One Day Tour of Tangiers, Morocco, highlighted by shopping and a Moroccan lunch and a ride on a German Hydrofoil yatch across the Gibraltar Strait. (For details see Article No. 4).

The Spaniards were very friendly, and very willing to help and answer questions of tourists. With my knowledge of Spanish, I felt home right away. My maternal ancestry and roots in Spain made me want to return and perhaps stay a little while longer. One week is indeed not enough to really savour the delights of Southern Spain.

The food specially seafoods( paella), wines and pastries were delicious and served promptly with gusto. The resort personnel were very helpful in arranging taxi service, tour planning, tickets confirmation, wake-up calls and other services. Someday, I like to go back to Spain and perhaps visit Seville, Cordoba and Barcelona. Here's a short video about Malaga.



Málaga (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmalaɣa]) is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,305 in 2009, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in the country. This is the southernmost large city in Europe. It lies on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) of the Mediterranean Sea, about 100 km (62.14 mi) east of the Strait of Gibraltar and about 130 km (80.78 mi) north of Africa.
Málaga enjoys a subtropical climate. Here are the warmest winters in Europe, with average temperatures above 17.2 °C (63.0 °F) during the day in the period December to February. The summer's season lasts about 8 months, from April to November, although also in December and March sometimes there are temperature above 20 °C (68.0 °F). Málaga, together with adjacent towns and municipalities such as Rincon de la Victoria, Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola, Alhaurin de la Torre, Mijas and Marbella, forms the Málaga metropolitan area, with a population of 1,046,279 according to 2009 data.

Marbella

Marbella is a city in Andalusia, Spain, by the Mediterranean, situated in the province of Málaga, beneath La Concha mountain. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 circa 135,000.

Marbella and the nearby Puerto Banús are important beach resorts of the Costa del Sol. Marbella is a popular destination for tourists from Northern Europe, including the UK, Ireland and Germany as well as the US.

The area around Marbella is particularly popular with those who like golf. Marbella also hosts a WTA tennis tournament on red clay, the Andalucia Tennis Experience

Would you believe that Marbella and the whole Costa del Sol area is littered with Chinese restaurants? Across the bridge from the Four Seasons are two Chinese restaurants. Ditas and Ella were dying to have chinese food after their two weeks sojourn in the interior of Morocco (Fez). One day, while we were in downtown Marbella, I talked to a Chinese lady. She said there is a labor organization in Spain that imports Chinese waitresses and cooks to serve in 6-months rotation at restaurants in several cities of Spain and Italy. It sounds like the Philippines OFW ( Overseas Filipino Workers) program.

Note: This is No.2 ( Part 2) of a series of articles on places that Macrine and I had visited outside the US since 1960.

Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

This is Part 2 of a series of articles on places that Macrine and I had visited outside the US since 1960. Part 1 (No 1 to 30) were places that we either had resided or visited in the US including the Hawaiian Islands. This article is number 1. The series will include our trips to Spain, Morocco, Rock of Gibraltar, London, Rome, The Vatican Cancun, Puerto Rico, Aruba, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Cuernavaca, Mexico and the Bahamas.

One of the fifteen places that my wife and I have visited outside the US was our trip in August, 2005 to Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler, B.C., Canada. . This was in connection with another Grand Reunion of Marinduque International, Inc- a non-profit organization organized to give free medical missions to Marinduque, Philippines. It was one week of Fun and Relaxation that we will always remember.

British Columbia is on the western coast of Canada. The climate of Vancouver is Mediterranean similar to San Francisco, California. Vancouver is about 2 hours drive north of Seattle, Washington and has also a large Filipino-American community. We enjoyed Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth(Sunken Garden) Park and Exotic China Town. Historic Gas Town and the drive along English Bay Drive was great. We took a sunset dinner cruise along Vancouver Harbor passing through English Bay, False Creek, Burrard Inlet and under the Lions Gate bridge(photos above).


We took a tour of Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia. The tour started from Vancouver via a 90-minute ferry ride across Georgia Strait and the beautiful Gulf Islands. Included in the tour is an admission to the world famous Butchart Garden (photo above). Here's a short video of the Butchart Gardens, one of the most beautiful gardens in the world.

The tour included a 30 minute drive along Beach Drive with views of Juan De Fuca strait and the Olympic Mountains. We also passed by the Upland and Oak Bay Streets residential areas, the Royal Victoria Yatch Club and the University of Victoria ending at the Victoria Harbor. Photo of Victoria Inner Harbor at Night-from thelifeofluxury.com

The next day, we took a one-day tour to Whistler, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The scenic tour started with a relaxing drive up the Sea to Sky Highway which overlooks majestic Howe Sound with its panorama of mountain lakes and glaciers. Along the way we stopped at Shannon Falls, one of North America's waterfalls at the Squamish Forest Reserve.

Oo our way to Whistler, Canada-Photo from www. people.uleth.ca

We highly recommend the above three places in Western Canada for a relaxing and enjoyable vacation.

Note: This No.1 (Part 2) of a series of articles on places that Macrine and I had visited outsice the US since 1960.

Seattle, Washington and Vicinity

The Space Needle
I attended another American Chemical Society (ACS) Meeting in the early 1990's. The main guest speaker was Bill Gates of Microsoft. His topic was of course the Future of Computers. It was a standing room only session and this meeting was one of the most informative meeting that ACS has sponsored for it members. I stayed in a
Victorian downtown hotel (Mayflower Park Hotel) adjacent to a shopping mall(West Lake Center) and of course StarBucks. I eat lunch at the revolving restaurant at the Space Needle and viewed the salmon runs ( Ballard and Chittenden Locks) facilities, went to the fish market(Pike Place) and did a little souvenir shopping in the adjacent mall to my hotel.
Salmon Jumping Upstream to Spawn and Die

Do you know that Seattle is the headquarters of StarBucks and Bill Gates(the riches man in the world) resides in a multi-million mansion in the Seattle suburb of Medina?

Here's a description of Gates residence in Medina, Washington. The world's richest man and family lives in the exclusive suburb of Medina, Washington, in a huge earth-sheltered residence in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington. The residence encompasses more than 66,000 square feet which is equal to 1.5 acres.The major rooms include 7 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, six kitchens, and six fireplaces. The address of the mansion is 1835 73rd Ave NE, Medina, WA 98039.

The Residence is a very modern, 21st century residence in the "Pacific lodge" style, with advanced electronic systems everywhere & great interior design. In one respect though it is more like an 18th or 19th century mansion, It has a large private library with a domed reading room. While it does have a classic flavour, It has many unique qualities. Among the many genius marvels that are integrated into the home for the latest in modern conveniences are revolving works of art.

The floors are pressure sensitive, at any given time family member or security can know who is in the residence by the weight of their footsteps. Lights would automatically come on when you came in. Speakers would be hidden beneath the wallpaper to allow music to follow you from room to room. Portable touch pads would control everything from the TV sets to the temperature and the lights, which would brighten or dim to fit the occasion or to match the outdoor light.

Visitors to the residence are surveyed and given a microchip upon entrance. This small chip sends signals throughout the home, and a given room's temperature and other conditions will change according to preset user preferences. In 2009, property taxes on the home were reported to be US $1.063 million on a total assessed value of US$147.5 million.
Bill Gates Home of the Future
Inside this luxury home plan you will find Swimming pool size 17 × 60 foot (5.1 × 18.2 metre). The 17-by-60-foot swimming pool has an underwater music system and a floor painted in a fossil motif. Swimmers can dive under a glass wall and emerge outdoors by a terrace. Locker room off the pool has four showers and two baths.

Towering Douglas fir beams support the stainless-steel roof and are surrounded by walls of glass, concrete, and stone. While much of the residence is buried into the hillside, windows on the lakefront side provide views of Seattle to the west. There are 84 steps down from the entrance to the ground floor. The vertigo-inclined can take an elevator.

The Theater with apx 20 seat, Size: 1,500 ft. The 20-seat art deco theater is outfitted with plush chairs, couches, and a popcorn machine. The Screen is HDTV capable. The Library, Size: 2,100 sq. ft. The ornate, paneled library has a domed reading room with oculus (light well), fireplace, and two secret pivoting bookcases, one containing a bar. It's the fitting home for Leonardo da Vinci's 16th-century notebook, the Codex Leicester, which Gates bought for $30.8 million.
Aerial View of Bill Gates Residence in Medina, WA
The Formal dining room, Size: 1,000 sq. ft. Up to 24 guests can dine by the fireplace while enjoying the sweeping view from the third level. Nearby commercial-grade kitchen is 39 feet by 23 feet. The Reception hall capacity more than 150 people at a time,Size: 2,300 sq. ft.

Partly below ground, the reception hall can seat 150 people for a sit-down dinner or hold 200 for a cocktail party. A 6-foot-wide fireplace, faced in limestone, commands one wall. Another wall is dominated by a 22-foot-wide video display made up of 24 rear-projection television monitors, each with a 40-inch screen. A second commercial-grade kitchen serves the reception hall.

The Exercise room, Size: 2,500 sq. ft.It includes sauna, steam room, separate men's and women's lockers, and a trampoline room with a 20-foot ceiling.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the median American residence size is slightly more than 2,000 square feet. Microsoft founder residence is more than 30 times that size. Inside the Garage, you'll find a 1999 Porsche 911 Convertible and 1988 Porsche 959 Coupe. Steven Ballmer drives a 1998 Lincoln Continental. In fact, due to the 959’s questionable emissions and unknown crash ratings, it took a federal law signed by President Clinton to legally drive his 959 on American roads.

Its every One's Curiosity to know how world's richest man lives, Having net worth over 57 Billion Dollars.

I would not mind residing in a residence similar to Bill Gates. Just wait, If I win the Lotto, I will built one better than the Gates residence in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines.

Here are two videos on some tourists attraction in the Seattle area.



Note: This is No.30, last of the series of articles on places that Macrine and I had visited in the US since 1960. I hope you enjoy this travel series. Part 2 will be places that we have visited outside the US.

Time of the Year for the Leaves to Fall-Testarossa Winery

Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours raking the leaves from my front and backyard. This reminds me that Fall is here again and at midnight is time to set your clock one hour back for the Daylight Saving Hours Program. This also reminds that tonight Macrine's niece is getting maried in Los Gatos, California. The wedding ceremony will be at the Testarosa Winery which was formerly a Novitiate and Convent. We are leaving in a couple of hours for a 3 hours drive to Cupertino. We are staying overnight at the Cypress Inn in Cupertino, not too far from the wedding venue.

Macrine's sister, the mother of the bride, came all the way from the Philippines to attend this wedding. The wedding is just a civil ceremony. A Catholic Wedding has been scheduled for this Bride in Marinduque next year, the last week of January, so the marriage will be legal in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Note that the Cupertino and Los Gatos areas of the Southern San Francisco Peninsula are where the the rich and computer yuppies reside. The average price of homes (3 BR, 2 bath) in these two towns including Palo Alto, some parts of Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Saratoga is over 1 million dollars currently. So tomorrow, I am looking forward to do some sightseeing or "slumming" in these rich neighborhoods if you compare it to our area where the average price of homes ( 3BR, 2 Bath) is only half a million dollars.
Testarossa Winery Dining and Reeption Room

Also, today as I look at my backyard window( see photo above), the beauty of the maple trees in with its yellow, orange and light red leaves falling, reminds me of the song Autumn Leaves.

There are several interpretations of this song by several musicians, but this video is one of my favorites. Moreover, the autumn scenery in the video is just mesmerizing. Autumn is one of my favorite seasons here in Northern California.

Gettysburg Battlefield Park and National Military Cemetery, Pennsylvania

Macrine and I have visited this historic site a couple of times when we had visitors from the Philippines when we were still residing in Maryland (1990-2002). This is a must see place for history enthusiasts and students. It is only about 75 minutes drive from our residence in Colesville, MD. The drive from Colesvilles, Maryland to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is very scenic with rural farms along the local highway.

Gettysburg Battlefield was the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the county seat of Adams County, which had approximately 2,400 residents at the time. It is now the site of two Federally owned and administered areas: Gettysburg National Military Park and the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District partially overlaps and partially protects other privately held properties.

Gettysburg, home to the Battle of Gettysburg (1863) of the American Civil War, draws in large numbers of tourists every year to visit the historical sites around the small community as well as the battlefield itself. Gettysburg has many activities and tours to offer to vacationers and tourists that are interested in the Gettysburg area and the history of the community and the battle. A narrated tour via double-Decker bus and tours of the Jenny Wade house are two examples. Ghost tours are also popular with tourists, profiling various locations reported to be haunted. One of the most popular times to visit Gettysburg is in the Summer and early Fall months, about June through October.



A popular attraction in Gettysburg is the reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg which is held every summer for the three days around the Fourth of July. Events include tours, ghost stories and reenactments.

The Dobbin House Tavern, which is one of the most famous restaurants in Gettysburg, was once home to Reverend Alexander Dobbin in 1776. The restaurant has since been authentically restored and provides an ambiance that was once present during the historic days of Gettysburg. The Dobbin House is lit by candles while the wait staff serves authentic foods from two centuries ago dressed in Civil War attire. Other historical attractions are the hotels and bed and breakfasts around the borough. The Gettysburg Hotel is a popular destination for tourists because of all the history that the hotel holds. The Gettysburg Hotel is located in the heart of downtown Gettysburg, within walking distance to historical sites, restaurants and shopping.



We drove around the military park and cemetery with a rented cassette from the Parks Office discussing the historical events that took place in that 3 day battle of July 1-3, 1863 during our first visit in the mid 1990's. On the second visit in 2001, we learned that the movie in the Visitor's Center( Birth of a Nation) shown prior to your tour is more informative than the audio cassette.

Note: This is No.29 of a series of articles on places that Macrine and I had visited in the US since 1960.