Last Friday we took a day trip to Gibraltar. It was interesting. My friend told me to go just to say that I went, but not to expect too much. Well, she was right. It was a 3 or 3.5 hour bus ride each way and we only stayed for a couple hours, which was plenty of time. The region belongs to the UK, but it’s located in southern Spain. It sits at the joining of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Irony played a trick on us as it rained the one day we went to an English territory. When we got there, an Englishman lead us to a bus that looked like a rickety toy. It seemed as if it would roll down the hill at any minute. First, we stopped at a lookout to see the rock. It was really big and looked just like it does in photos. Looking at a big rock became boring after about five minutes, so we got back into the bus, and our very own Indiana Jones ride continued. Second, we stopped at the Apes Den, which wasn’t actually a den. We pulled to the side of the road and tailless monkeys were everywhere. They are known as the Barbary Apes. They climbed on people if you got close enough; I didn’t want rabies.
After we observed the monkeys, we saw St. Michael’s Cave. It was cool to explore this natural grotto. However, they had overly dramatic and theatrical music playing that was just too much. Good lord, I just wanted to enjoy the sound of nature. People used to think that the cave was bottomless so legend was that the monkeys traveled from northern Africa to Gibraltar through this underground tunnel.
After the tour, we had time to wander around the town and get lunch. We found a place to get fish and chips and they were yum yum yummy. I can’t wait to go to London! The town itself was pretty quaint but we didn’t have too much time to explore. We found a little cafe to get milkshakes, but unfortunately, they weren’t real milkshakes. They tasted like shaken chocolate milk. As we were leaving, my friend wanted a real milkshake from a stand on the side of the road – it was the most amazing milkshake I’ve ever tried. It consisted of peanut butter, m and ms and twix crushed up in thick, creamy ice cream. Yeah, that’s right. Then the milkshake lady told us the border was closed and we would be stuck inside Gibraltar for at least 3 hours – thankfully, it wasn’t and we weren’t. I’m still not sure if she actually thought it was closed or if she just enjoyed scaring American tourists.
Friday night was a long and late night of dancing so Saturday consisted of sleeping and relaxing. Saturday night, Sarah and I dressed up and went to a yummy Italian restaurant, called Cosa Nostra, on the other side of the river. Italian food tasted delicious. After dinner we walked around a new neighborhood and realized how many different neighborhoods there are in Sevilla. Then, we went to the BEST gelato place ever. Wow. Have you ever had Crema de Caocao? It’s like Nutella but without the hazelnut flavor. So it’s basically chocolate frosting and they had it as a gelado flavor. There was also Profiterol gelato. I was in heaven. We took a long walk around the city and then came home. Exploring the city at night is one of my favorite things to do because people are out and about all hours of the night.
Sunday, six of us took the bus to Ronda. It was a much needed day of nature and beautiful scenery. The old part and new part of the city is divided by a gorge and beautiful bridge. We hiked down to the bottom of the gorge and found a cool cave and some beautiful turquoise water. Oh, we also found some sort of animal skull. On the way up, we found a spot with a magnificent view to eat our lunch. We stayed there for quite a long time after to rest, sunbathe and do some yoga poses. After our hike, we explored the city. It was quaint and charming but the views were by far the best parts. The rolling hills reminded me of Tuscany and the South of France. Overall, it was a wonderful day.
Un Viaje A Sevilla 