Flamenco, Fiesta, Siesta: A Spanish Adventure: Day trip to Gibraltar

Hey everyone! I hope you all have had as good a week as I have. After hosting a friend for a week, it was nice to get back in a routine on Friday morning. I woke up Friday morning and headed off to the school where I volunteer with the Fundación Gota de Leche. Working with the kids is a great way to get me going in the morning and I love starting my day like that. I got back from volunteering at around 10:30AM. I bought a newspaper and sat down for café and a tostada (toast prepared any way you like, I like mine with olive oil and tomato). After a relaxing breakfast I tackled the list of chores that awaited me after Kevin's departure: cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping. After lunch I headed down to the river to meet up with Janet, Julia, and Andy to take in the hot Sevilla sun. The temperature got up to 86 on Friday, and we took full advantage! It was a very relaxing afternoon after such a busy morning. Later that evening I headed home to get to bed early before our trip to Gibraltar the next day.

On Saturday morning our group met at the Puente de la Barqueta to catch a bus to the British territory of Gibraltar. It was a group of about 50 people from the Thursday night intercambios (conversation exchanges) that we often attend on Thursday nights. The bus left Sevilla at 7:30AM and after a brief stop for breakfast, we arrived to the small Spanish town of La Línea at about 11. La Línea de la Concepción is the last town before you cross into Gibraltar. The bus dropped us off on the Spanish side, and we literally had to walk across the border into Gibraltar. Once we entered the territory, we then had to cross an active runway to reach the actual city. It was a bit nerve-wrecking walking across, scanning the sky for planes.

Once we were in the city we decided to take a bus tour of the main sights. First we saw the Pillars of Hercules at the end of the peninsula with a spectacular view of Africa and the Spanish town of Algeciras. Then we moved on and saw the famous apes of Gibraltar. The monkeys were very social and clearly knew that people and tourists implied food, so they didn't hesitate to hop on our shoulders! Our tour guide literally grabbed a monkey and tossed him on my shoulders, unfortunately I do not have a picture on my camera, as I was panicking and trying not to move, but my friend Jan took one and once she sends it to me, I'll be sure to post it for your enjoyment! After our encounter with the monkeys we saw some of the caves inside the Rock. When they say the Rock of Gibraltar, they literally mean the Rock. It is a giant rock that just emerges out of the sea. Apparently, when the continents split millions of years ago, Gibraltar got flipped upside down, so part that sticks up now used to be at the bottom of the ocean.

One of the things I found most interesting about Gibraltar was the mix of cultures. It definitely had a somewhat British feel - all of the signs were in English. But it also had Spanish elements, like big open air plazas. The most interesting part was the language. Our guide spoke British English, but when he spoke to his fellow guides he spoke a strange mix of English and Spanish that he called "Janito." Apparently it comes from the word "Janitor," although I can't quite remember why. What it means is they take English words and pronounce them with an Andalucían accent. For example, instead of saying "policía" for police, they say "bobi," from the British word "Bobby" for the police. In addition to Janito, we also got a taste of Britian with our fabulous lunch of authentic fish and chips.

At about 4:30 we headed back to the bus. In true American fashion, we arrived on time/early and waited around for about 10-15 minutes while everyone else trickled back. There was a large proportion of Brits in our group, and all of them came back with bags from a store called Morrison's. It is a British grocery store, so they were able to buy products from home to bring back to Sevilla with them. I must say I was a bit envious.

All in all it was a great day. There isn't a lot to see in Gibraltar, but what there is is definitely worth seeing. It was the perfect day trip. And now, the pictures! Enjoy!