well.. I know you all are dying to hear about my trip to Gibraltar. I know I would be... It all begins with me sitting in Ireland saying I want to go to Gibraltar and Julia saying that she wanted to too... and then she got an email from the intercambio group saying they were going.. coincidence? well yes, but ill take it.
So we were set to meet at 7:30 on a saturday morning.. blah. That meant a low key friday.. thats cool. I went to a friends concert. He plays the cello and it was a beautiful symphony and a wonderful night. shoutout Jordi. The next morning of course came wayy too soon. I got there just in time and we boarded the bus and headed on our way. I dont even have to tell you this, but of course, I fell asleep and when I awoke, we were making a pit stop in the middle of nowhere for a restroom/coffee break. We were legit in the middle of nowhere and I LOVED it. I felt like I was in the real deal spain. The place where we stopped was a restaurant/hotel. It was a classic white Spanish building with yellow trim and beautiful bouganvilla vines coving the outside. Indoors it was adorned with a spanish flag, swords, and a bull's head. We are talking stereotypical, making me feel like I was really in the heart of Spain.. where all of my daydreams have taken place. (when I daydream, I dream I am in a little white town straight out of the movies.. I dream Penelope Cruz is down the street and that we will be meeting for coffee after our siesta and that she will teach me how to be Spanish)... its totally normal. Anyways, the place was out of control crowded.. and if you know it or not, you have to be AGGRESSIVE if you want any kind of service... but I am not aggressive, I just try to smile and look pretty to get the server's attention. HA so the guy next to me helped me out a little bit.. I mean we did only want a coffee with milk. Finally, we received and sucked down our coffees before heading back on the road. As we were leaving, I noticed a significant amount of motorcycles and people dressed the part... mind you.. it wasn't Harley Davidson get ups but rather Nascar get ups that the spanish bikers were wearing and I was informed that it was bikers week.. similar to the pilgramage many make to Daytona, this was the Spanish version.. and we know they go alllll out here. It was fascinating I tell you. I am sorry I don't have any pictures to account for it.
Back on the bus, I took in the beautiful Spanish countryside and tried to soak it all up before we reached gibraltar. The rock came into view well before we parked the big bus. I was all giddy as I normally get when seeing something exciting or reaching a new destination.. i was practically jumping up and down in my seat. We had 5 hours at the rock before we headed home and I was going to make the most of it. We disembarked the bus and headed onto the rock and through customs/passport check... it was a joke.. no stamp and barely a glance at the passport all you had to do was have a square the size of a passport and it would have passed.. I was disappointed.
We walked through the airport that was the size of my table and across the runway to get to the city. It was interesting to cross the runway like I was crossing high street... and what if a plane were to land over my head.. would I just duck and hope it missed? ha kiddddding..
So we wandered into the city heading for a tour of the rock. We came across a nice fellow named John, who was our tour guide for the day.. he was full of history and knowledge which was perfect. Our first stop was up the rock to a lookout point. We could see across the Atlantic, obviously to Spain but also to Africa. On our way up to this point we were told the story about how it is believed that Atlantis was under the water there.. or something like that and for that reason Hercules' pillars are there.. I guess I should know the whole story before I start blogging about it? ... moral of the story: it was a gorgeous view.
After looking at where the lost city is.. we headed up to the cave. In the cave are a million stalagmites and a huge open area. They used to hold concerts there because the acoustics are incredible. I don't know about you but I'm not sure I would want to spend a concert in a cave with water dripping on me and damp cold air.. but it is wayyy cool nonetheless. At this point the monkeys started appearing. I was getting excited to actually touch one, although they did freak me out a little bit. Gibraltar is the only spot in Europe where there are wild, non-captive monkeys.. cool right?
As we made our way up the rock.. we saw an incredible view of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Ocean, Spain and Africa. It was a bit surreal.. I liked it. And of course the monkeys were allll over the top of the hill. I will admit I was a little skittish at first but I wanted a monkey on my shoulders. There was a huge one that the guide was going to have jump on me and I was like noo please a baby one. The baby wasnt having it though, he jumped on my shoulders and then jumped off.. so then we got this medium one up there. He smelled.. word to the wise, they are gross.. but you can't pass it up can you? no, I didnt think so either.. so I have had a monkey on my head.. check it off the old bucket list :)
Next we meandered through the tunnels that were carved during world war 2 and used as protection. 13 men build the tunnels in one year.. that is impressive. We also got to watch a plane take off.. You are probably like cool?! but anyways it was different watching it take off from below us and to watch it take off of a runway that led into the ocean.. it isnt every day you get to see that and I just kind of have an obsession with planes, plain and simple. I love them.
That was the end of our tour of the rock. Our stomachs were begging us to fill them so we had a nice lunch of fish and chips and a cold brew (my new favorite thing; I totally understand the love of an afternoon beer). We shopped around a little bit until it was time to leave. The little rock colony was very cool, I was constantly imagining it back in the day as I do with so many of the places that I visit. I like to imagine how they were before they were tourist destinations and how the people of that area live just like you and me... its a fabulous hobby of mine.
This past week has been busy at work. Nothing too grandly exciting.. but I have a few update posts in mind for you. I beached it up yesterday and am now dealing with the consequences of being a horrible sunscreen applicator :( I promise I was being vigilent I just happened to accidentally miss my entire back leg.. I am sure you can imagine... but the beach was lovely, as was the company.
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