This weekend some friends and I took our first trip outside of Spain! Although Gibraltar is part of mainland Spain, it is technically a British colony. We left Friday after class, went on a four hour bus ride, and arrived in La Linea, Spain (right outside Gibraltar) where we spent the night in a hostel. It was actually very nice and was more like an apartment-- complete with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and sitting room with a television (all for 12 euros a night per person!).
We woke up super early Saturday morning and crossed the border into Gibraltar just in time to see the sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea. It was absolutely breathtaking to be standing underneath the Rock of Gibraltar watching the sun come up over the ocean. After this, we walked around for a while and ended up in the only open cafe to warm up and get hot chocolate and coffee. It was such a change of pace to be able to fully understand everything on the menu and to order in English (having our waiter say "cheers!" to us afterwards... Love those British accents).
After a while of wandering down the main street, we stopped in a Sports Bar to ask for directions to the cable cars that take visitors to the top of the Rock. The man there told us about vans that go up and stop at several cool sites for the same price as the cables. We went with this and were taken up by Gibraltar native Michael who was very knowledgable about the country's history. We first stopped at a spot partway up the Rock from where is visible Morocco, Spain, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Strait of Gibraltar. It was a beautiful view and so crazy to think about the combination of cultures right there from that spot. After this, we went to a very cool cave inside the Rock. We felt as though we were in the Mines of Moria and Emma played a song from Lord of the Rings from her phone and we dashed through the cave like Legolas, Aragon, Gimli and Gandalf. It was one of the highlights of my time in Spain :). After this, we went up to the top of the rock and saw so many monkeys! Michael knew how to make the monkeys comfortable and showed us how to approach them correctly. There was one monkey he got to sit on top of our heads, as well as an adorable baby monkey who loved to play with our rings and hair. It was a really cool experience and we stayed with the monkeys right near the highest point of the Rock for a while. Finally we made it to our last stop with Michael: an old tunnel that was completely man-made.
After this, the four of us walked back down, stopping at an old Moorish castle and a fortress that had withstood 14 sieges. Once we got all the way back to the town, we ate lunch (I had to get fish and chips--I was in the UK after all!) and then walked around for a bit. We left late afternoon and returned to La Linea, making our way to the beach near our hostel (yes, the very same 12 euros/night one!) where we spent a couple hours with our toes in the sand and the ocean and Rock of Gibraltar ahead of us. It was a wonderful first outside excursion and I can't wait to travel more! There is so much to see in this world of ours and I am infinitely grateful for the opportunities I have had to see pieces of it.
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| Sunrise over the Mediterranean |
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| Rock of Gibraltar |
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| Morocco to the left, Spain to the right! Amazing! |
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| Jana, Emma and I in St. Michael's Cave |
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| Josiah and I on the roof of the Moorish castle |
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| Monkey friend |
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| "Mono" means "monkey" and "cute" in Spanish... How fitting! |
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| On the beach! |
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| The beach and Rock of Gibraltar in background |
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1:9
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