Monkey See. Monkey Hear. Monkey...Ate MY TRAIL MIX!

Out of all the excursions in all the world, the only one I refused to miss was the tour of the Rock of Gibraltar. As a young boy growing up on the streets of Valencia (and by streets, of course I mean a nice house on a cul-de-sac), all I ever wanted was a monkey. I didn't want a pony or a fire truck like the other kids. So, when I heard that the top of the Rock (Gibraltar) was the only place in Europe that played host to wild monkeys, I said to myself (and to Mary) numerous times, "I have got to see the monkeys!" "I HAVE GOT to see the monkeys!" "I HAVE GOT TO SEE THE MONKEYS!"

Now, when you hear that there are monkeys, you think zoo. You think cages; you think plexi-glass, you think safety. That would have been fine with me. Afterall, monkeys are monkeys whether in a tree, behind plexi-glass in a cage, or even chasing me down the road for my bag of trail mix. :) My dreams had finally come true. To say that these glorious animals were close would be an understatement. You'll have to see the pictures to believe me when I say that I could have spanked any number of monkeys at any given point in our tour.

From the moment we exited the cable car at the top of the Rock, it was apparent that we were the visitors to their world. They owned the Rock and we were lucky to be allowed up. There were monkeys everywhere walking among the "visitors" looking for food. If no food was visible, then they would push you aside to search elsewhere. If still nothing, sunbathing was their activity of choice. All anyone had to do was ruffle a plastic bag...and the chase was on. Those little suckers were relentless, not giving up until they got what they were after.

We saw older monkeys, younger monkeys, and baby monkeys still hanging on to mama monkey for dear life. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had with wildlife. I think Mary enjoyed it too.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's quickly recap on our adventures in cruising. I last left you on the day we boarded the ship. Here's the update:

May 27: We docked in Livorno, Italy, the gateway to Tuscany. We decided on a walking tour of Florence and Pisa (as if we hadn't done enough walking in Rome). We boarded a bus to Florence and arrived after an hour and a half. The city is absolutely amazing. However, our walking tour quickly turned into a jogging tour as we raced from monument to monument. Mary and I decided we'll definitely have to come back here. Our next stop on the tour was Pisa. For those who haven't been, Pisa's tourist attractions consist of one small area that holds a large church, a large baptistery, and of course, the leaning tower of Pisa. For a still unknown reason, we were given an hour and a half to spend looking at these three attractions which were literally all within spitting distance of each other, but we had to run through Florence as though we had robbed a bank; as if the leaning tower would have fallen if we hadn't gotten there right when we did. Our suggestion, save yourself time and money; look at our pictures; skip Pisa if pressed for time and focus your visit on Florence.

I would be amiss not mention this one nugget of observation. We passed a U.S. military base on our way from Pisa back to the ship. Not only did we pass the base, but we also passed "professional ladies" lining the street opposite the base. This base is out in the middle of nowhere on a very straight and narrow road. Instead of corners, these "professional ladies" had their own trees. It was truly a sight to behold. Each of them wearing high heels and not much else on a dirt road, evenly spaced about every 100 yards. It almost seemed like someone took out a measuring stick to mark the distance between each one. The lazy (or busy) ones even brought folding chairs.

May 28: We docked in Cannes, France, and took a tour of Monte Carlo (an entirely different country). It was pretty, but we spent way too much time there. The Monte Carlo casino was quite a disappointment with only about 6 gaming tables in all. However, Mary won her entrance fee (10 Euros) back on slot machines. To add some excitement to our trip, our bus almost broke down on the trip back to the ship. That's all I have to say about that.

May 29: Today, we docked in Barcelona, Spain. We did a bike tour of the City and we both fell in love with it. We'll definitely come back here.

May 30: Day at sea. Art auction. No purchases.

May 31: Gibraltar. Please read passage above. In addition, we say WWII caves, St. Michael's caves, and the top of the Rock. Oh, did I mention we also saw MONKEYS???

June 1: Casablanca, Morocco. Not exactly like the movie. Everything was closed because it was Sunday. We recommend taking a tour if you visit. We probably won't come back here.

June 2: Cadiz, Spain. We read a lot about Seville which is about an hour outside of Cadiz, but we ended up staying in Cadiz. We took a bus tour of the city on our own and pretty much saw the entire city. We'll definitely do Seville next time as part of our tour of Spain.

June 3: Lisbon, Portugal. Very pretty city. We took another walking tour. They had an earthquake on November 1, 1755 and they're really passionate about St. Anthony, the patron saint of the city. I think I counted 18 mentions of the earthquake and 20 mentions of St. Anthony. St. Anthony wins.

June 4: That brings us to today. We're docked in Vigo, Spain after an extremely bumpy night on the angry Atlantic Ocean. Since we didn't sleep during the night, we chose to sleep once we docked. The city looks nice from the bar and as with all cities in Europe, churches appear to be plentiful.

We have a sea day tomorrow, we're back in France on Friday, and then we travel home on Saturday after a visit to Stonehenge in England. We're having a great time, but I think we're both ready to be back on solid ground.

Ciao - Eric.