Gibraltar

 

Last weekend, I went on a last minute trip to Gibraltar. We decided on Thursday afternoon that we were going to Gibraltar... the very next day! Another group of 5 people was going and had already bought their bus tickets, reserved hotels, etc., so we just did what they did (we = Erika, Brooke, Tyler, and me).

On Friday, at 5:30pm, we loaded onto a bus at the Prado de San Sebastian (the bus station in Sevilla) and headed for the town of La Línea de la Concepción. That is the town directly across the border from Gibraltar on the Spanish side. Little did we know that our hotel was not exactly in La Línea. Turns out that the guy who planned the trip didn't read the map correctly to see that the apartment complex we were staying at was 20 min away from Gibraltar by car. Here's a map for you. The pink pin was our hotel.


View Gibraltar Trip in a larger map

We ended up taking taxis to our hotel, which cost us ~19 euro one way. We had to take two taxis because there were 5 of us (the aforementioned 4 plus Jesse, who had been in the original group of 5), making the taxis quite the expense. At any rate, we got to the hotel. It was a very nice hotel, which was actually an apartment complex. It is apparently very common to rent apartments in Europe for the weekend because there is more space and a full kitchen, so you can save money on food. We thought that we would be able to stop at a mercado (grocery store) to buy food before heading up to the hotel, but we didn't get a chance. Everyone else in their group had asked their señoras to pack them bocadillos (sub sandwiches) to have for dinner that night. Brooke and I felt it was rude to ask (I'm not really sure why we thought that, but we did) so we didn't have a real dinner. We ended up eating some pechuga de pavo (turkey breast) on some galletas (cookies) that Tyler's señora had given him. It actually wasn't that bad. We spent the rest of the night just hanging out, playing cards, and getting to know each other.



The ladies in the back of Stuart's van


The next day, we headed down to Gibraltar (another 25 euro trip per taxi) and went exploring. Almost immediately when we crossed the border, through the most lax security I have ever seen, an elderly gentlemen named Stuart, convinced us to take his tour up to the top of the rock. It was a little pricey, but definitely worth it.  With Stuart, we went all the way around the peninsula and up into the nature reserve on top of the rock. I don't think my heart would have made it up the rock any other way!

The first place we went in the nature park was St. Michael's Cave. The cave was huge, with stalagmites and -tites everywhere. It is supposedly millions of years old and they use part of it as an auditorium for concerts, etc. It would be so awesome to see a concert there. Sorry - no good pics from in there because it was so dark.

Monos outside of St. Michael's Cave

Next we headed up to the top of the rock to take pictures of Africa and the monos (monkeys). Yes, there are barbary macaques (which are actually apes) everywhere on the rock. They were a lot on fun to interact with, mostly being interested in food. Probably the best part of the trip up the rock was taking pictures with monkeys on our heads. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Totally worth it. Especially when my roommate, Brooke, got a monkey that grabbed her nose, almost putting his fingers up it. Priceless.



On top of the rock with a monkey and Africa!

Brooke with the monkey


















We also went to the Great Siege Tunnels, huge tunnels dug during WWII, and Moorish Castle, the oldest builing on Gibraltar, while we were up on the rock. Stuart was telling us all about the history of Gibraltar and said there was over 60 miles of tunnels inside the rock and that during WWII they were used to house people, food, and even a hospital. Gibraltar is pretty impenetrable.



Yum!

After Stuart dropped us off in the town center at the end of the trip, we went to the grocery store in Gibraltar to buy some lunch. BEST IDEA EVER. Gibraltar is British territory. That means BRITISH FOOD. I was in heaven.

After lunch and a little bit more exploring, we decided we would grab some food for dinner and head back to our hotel. We were still kind of annoyed about the costs of the taxis. We saw that there were car rental places, so we stopped in to check the price, found out it would be about 1/2 the cost of taxis, and rented a car! Jesse and I, being almost the oldest and most responsible looking went in to sign the paper work, and Erika, who has only ever driven stick shift (thank the Lord), drove us.



Me, Jesse, Brooke, Tyler on the beach with the rock



Erika

Since we had a car, that meant that we could stop by the beach on the way home. We stopped at the beach just as the sun was setting so that we would have a chance to touch the Mediterranean Sea and take some awesome pics.
We went back to our hotel and had another fun night playing cards and watching the stars (which were super clear near the ocean). It was a great night.

We left in the morning on the 11:30am bus, after returning our rented car, saying goodbye to Gibraltar. Definitely the best weekend I've had since I've been here. It was so much fun and I absolutely love the people I was with.

I can't wait to travel more! There are tentative plans for a road trip around Spain and a trip to the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. But first, I have to get through my first round of exams, which are happening at the end of this week. Prayers for clarity of thought and writing (in Spanish!) would be appreciated.

¡Hasta luego!




Me on the beach with the rock at sunset :)