Puzzling in Spain part 2

(Apologies for a late posting.  This was set to be posted 2 weeks ago or so I thought.  Dummy Roxanne can't work out the calendar puzzle.)  

Our puzzling in Spain did not end with our visit to the Berrocal Foundation.  After leaving there, we spent one more night in the hacienda before heading south toward Gibraltar.  One night while we were lying in bed talking we decided that we while were here, we might as well go see a rock. After all, it was only 2  hours away from where we were and we had an extra day.  

As we were driving down there, we kept seeing signs for ferries to Tangiers.  We decided to stop and see what it was all about and as a lark bought ferry tickets for 4 pm that afternoon.  We continued to Gibraltar, found our hotel and dropped off all of our luggage before driving to pick up the ferry.  An hour later we were in Morocco!  Spontaneity has been the theme of our relationship and it hasn’t ended yet.  When we left the ferry, we managed to find a local guide.  You know the kind…the ones who bring you to a 'friends' shop to buy items you are not interested in.  This one was good though, we told him we wanted to buy dates, spices, and puzzles.  

He took us to a market to try some dates, but flew through so fast I was unable to buy any more.  We then were taken to a spice shop with prepackaged spices….Nope.  I didn’t want this.  I wanted the big piles of spices so I could pick my own.  He obliged.  From here he took us to his 'friends' shop selling all kinds of tourist trinkets, clothes, jewelry, and carpets.  We managed to find a nice cedar puzzle box and turned down all offers of everything else.  I’m sure we insulted the shop keeper when we wouldn’t even look at his rugs.  (Our floors are all a beautiful marble and we don’t want them covered.)  I asked after puzzle rings, but I think because of our lack of interest in other items in the shop they were unable to find what we wanted.  A moroccan dinner in a rather empty restaurant and we were on our way to a local bar to try some moroccan wine.  I was uninterested because it would be midnight by the time we got back to the car and I didn’t want to drive with alcohol in my system. Those roads were bad enough sober.  George had a liquor and god knows how many drinks our guide had because the bill was $35! We were returned to the ferry and headed back to our hotel.  It was an adventure.  4 hours in Morocco just because we could.

The next day we awoke, checked out of the hotel and made our way around the rock to the cable car ride to the top.  While driving, I saw the road ended and the rock stuck out over the ocean.  What was I going to do? As it turned out, this was a rather easy puzzle to solve.  The road went through the rock!  We drove on and got lost many times.  I’m sure we drove down every path they have in that city.  We went to the top, had a lovely walk and just enjoyed the views.  Around 1 pm we returned to our car and drove back to Málaga to return the rental car and find Jardines Picasso.  

We ended up taking a cab from the airport to the park.  We were dropped on the side of the road and went about our hunt for the last Berrocal sculpture of the trip.  As we were walking George mentioned that we had found all of the other pieces rather easily and that I shouldn’t be disappointed if we couldn’t find this one.  I wasn’t willing to give up and as we walked past a few rather large trees I squealed with delight. I had found it!  Our mission was complete!  We had found Statue #5!  We had a nice climb on it to take a few photos and made our way back to the apartment we were staying at for the night. Along the way, we passed a building that looks vaguely familiar....

The walk was peaceful, quiet, beautiful.  After about an hour we made it to the apartment where I cooked a very simple dinner before packing for the short walk to the boat.

The next morning we awoke and made our way to the cruise terminal to board our ship home.  One would think our puzzling would end there, but it didn’t.  We brought on board 2 escape the room games and finished one the first sea day we had.  We really enjoy these and bring along a couple on each trip we take. They pack up easily and don’t take up too much room.  When we finish them, they can’t be reused so we have more room for puzzles in the luggage.  This first one we did was a level 2 and it took less than an hour to finish.  The next is a level 3 and I’m sure it will take us much longer. 

Our first port of call was Cadiz, Spain and while we looked for puzzles we were unable to find any that we didn’t already have.  But! We did find some public works of art that reminded us of puzzles.  The first was a lock that has a pen shank.  It was in honor of those who were imprisoned or lost their lives writing about injustices.  The second was a pair of large sculptures with tangram shaped animals around the outer edges.  We took a walk around one of the and realized they weren’t playing with a full set, but rather a mix of pieces.  

After 2 sea days we came to Punta Delgado in the Azores.  Here we hired a private guide along with another couple and drove around the island to see the lakes and some absolutely stunning landscapes.  As it was Sunday, no shops were open and we didn’t expect to find any puzzles.  We didn’t.  Instead we bought a few bottles of liquor and rebounded the ship.  After a late lunch, my lover went to the cabin to take a nap and I wandered back down the dock.  Much to my surprise I stumbled across a board game much like parcheesi called Marralhinha.  The board itself is lovely and it had to come home with us.  We now have 5 sea days to learn how to play it.  Our next stop? Fort Lauderdale and home after a month away.  We are hopeful that all the shelves have been put up so I can continue to put away the boxes that are left and that George’s workshop is finished so he can begin working on puzzles in earnest.  

Update: The shelves are finally all in but the workshop is still a work in progress.  This home building puzzle has been going on two years now. I'm ever hopeful it will be finished soon.