Beep-beep!
Eh?
Oh it`s 5:30 AM.
five-thirty... six fourty-five...
mm...oh!
Time to get up!
Sunday morning I pulled myself out of bed, finally feeling like I had gotten enough sleep. Since Wednesday, I had been staying up late, (Juanes, Arab Baths, making my Càdiz bus.) and so I finally got to sleep more than 6 hours. Sure ,5:30 AM was early, but I had definately gone to bed early.
I began to pack up all my things, still trying to shake sleepiness as I didn`t want to forget a single item. Alarm clock, clothing, shoes... all in my trusty backpack. Finally I was set to go- and a trip downstairs, checking out with the night receptionist, and I was back on the road in Càdiz.
It was a short walk to the bus station, admist several groups of young Spaniards leaving discotecas. The city was dark and quiet for the most part, as I longingly tried to see the ocean in the dark. But to no avail- ah well, I`d just have to wait until the sun rose.
I waited at the bus station with several people, hugging my backpack as a temporary pillow, as the hum of buses soon approached. I wondered, would I get to Gibraltar today? Would I make it back in time to Granada, or would I have to overnight there? Would this all work out? I didn`t know the bus schedule in Algeciras, but the question plagued my mind as I sat next to my equally tired early-risers. I was confident thought- hadn`t I made it this far to Càdiz on my own? Surely my luck would continue?
My questions still buzzing in my head, I climbed aboard the bus with three other passengers, and picked a window seat where I knew the sun wouldn`t shine in my eyes. (I`m getting experienced at this bus traveling business.) Soon we were pulling out of the Càdiz, and the early morning light granted me a few glimpses of the ocean as I pulled out of town.
It felt like a 101 stops until Càdiz, but surprisingly we got there at about 9 AM- I had expected the trip to be considerably longer. But what about La Linea, the line to Gibraltar? I studied the bus times at the familiar station, (from Morocco) and to my delight, one was to depart at 9:30 AM. It couldn`t have worked out better!
9:30 AM had me on a small town-bus, with a 2 Euro fee to take the under half an hour ride. There was definately a good group of people on the bus, but I managed to steal a seat for myself. I could barely hide a smile as the bus pulled out of the station- I felt very accomplished! But I wasn`t there yet, so I tapped my fingers against the window, impatient and excited to see this world famous rock.
Algeciras soon was behind us, and far off in the distance, a small mountain.. no.. not a mountain, a rock! Gibraltar! I stared at it in amazment at the size, wondering how on Earth I was going to cover all that in day! Would it be easy, hard? I flipped through Let`s Go!, and it assured me that a tour of Gibraltar wouldn`t be days and days. That was good news!
The bus pulled into a small station, and I hustled off that bus, eager to start my day. Let`s Go!, my dear companion, instructed me to just walk straight for the rock. I stepped outside, turned to my right, and there was.. the Rock:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4793.jpg
I followed my way along the fence, coming up to the customs station. Maybe I just dealt with the USA customs system too long, because getting into Gibraltar was a piece of cake! They took one look at my passport, and pretty much ushered me in. No stamp, no nothing! Maybe I have benefits as an American?
More likely a tourist.
Anyhow, I was in Gibraltar, and I had to go see that rock! A bunch of Taxi Tours lay just beyond the passport station, and I remembered reading in Let`s Go! that it was a good way to see all the sights of the Rock relatively quickly. Well, I had also read about the cable cars, so I opted to go check out the cars first, and if I changed my mind I could always come back.
I figured the best way to find the cable cars would be to simply walk straight to the huge rock. So I did- but not without having to cross an airplane runway:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4794.jpg
An airplane runway, you say- why on Earth would you be crossing that? I`ll tell you why- Gibraltar isn`t big enough to have the runway elsewhere, so the one they have cuts across the road. Think of a railroad crossing or a bridge crossing in a car.. now think that with airplanes... got it? Yep, that`s pretty much how it was.
I hustled across the runway, not wanting to linger incase British Airways tried to dive-bomb me. The walk had me soon at the other side, where a large sign proudly declared:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4795.jpg
Yes, but where`s Monty Python on that rock, I ask?
I continued to follow the traffic, always keeping my eyes targeted on the Rock. Go to the rock, find the cable cars. Go to the rock, find the cable cars. Go to the....
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4796.jpg
Toto, I don`t think we are Kansas anymore.
The sight of the red telephone had me laugh out loud- I didn`t have to go to Rome to see Roman ruins, and I really didn`t have to go to England to see.. England!
I continued down the street, a sign pointing ahead to the city center, and also to the cable cars. I was on track, and always keeping my eye targeted on the Rock:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4797.jpg
Then the road began bend to the right, and a sign pointed me to the left. Well, a sign wouldn`t lie, (usually) so I veered left. I saw several other locals go through, so I felt a bit better leaving the main road.
I however, was a bit stumped when I was led up to this:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4798.jpg
I cast a wary eye back to the sign- was it lying to me? But I walked up and investigated the plaque, which talked about its history and how it was built to connect to the city center. Alright, I`ll bite- simply for the sake of walking through the cool tunnel.
Dun dun dun...! Going to Narnia, BRB (be right back!)
But amazingly enough, the tunnel practically took me to Narnia- or rather, the modern setting of the heart of the small town. I walked for a good 40 minutes through the cobblestone streets, seeing such signs as `Queen`s Way`or other equally British sounding terms. I passed by closed shops, old houses, and some shiny looking cannons along the way:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4799.jpg
Everything was written up in English.. it felt surreal to be reading something other than Spanish!
I was soon wondering if I was still lost, but thankfully a sign pointed ahead to the cable cars. I followed a bending road, and finally came up to the station for the cars. It was hard to miss- a huge cable extended up from the small booth, and went straight up the mountain. I walked inside the outdoor both, and checked the prices.
9 pounds for a 1 way ticket up... I chewed my teeth at that. The pound is to the Euro like the Dollar is to the Euro- it`s about 1.5 more. Well, I was looking for a cheaper route than that! I decided that the round-trip taxi tour sounded more favorable to my itinerary, (and faster!) so I decided to make my way back to where I had seen the taxi lot before.
On my way back, I did stop briefly at what was a 18th century graveyard, as it was too cool to miss out on-but only to snap a photo, as I had a schedule to stick on!
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4803.jpg
Soon I was back at the aiport tarmac, but to my surprise the traffic and walkers were stopped. I walked up to the gate to see who was causing all the fuss:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4806.jpg
(can you see the culprit?)
The landing was relatively quick, however- I had came just in time to see it taxi by. British Airwarys, with direct flights to London.. was only a 5 minute walk away!
I finally caught sight of the border, and I hustled up to try and figure out how about I was going to get on a tour. There! Two taxi`s lied ahead, next to a big red sign, that declared this was it. I went up to the sign, but it read: ¨minimum of 4 people.¨Ah! What was I to....
Wait! I turned quickly around, and saw a bunch of people getting into a taxi van. It couldn`t help to ask, would it? I approached the driver, and I didn`t speak barely a word when he read my mind.
¨Want to take the Gibraltar tour?¨
¨Uh....Yes!¨
He gestured for me to sit up front, after informing me of the 25 Euro fee... not a bad price at all! He informed the other passengers I would be joining them, and quickly made his way to the front of the van, as I climbed into the adjoining seat. And then we were off!
Our driver introduced himself as a native to Gibraltar, as it wasn`t hard to tell with his heavy British accent! The rest of my group was all a family, hailing all the way from Singapore! They were several young people and an older looking couple in the mash..I guess they took everyone along!
The friendly driver then asked me where I was from, and I in turn said the US. The Singapores got really excited when I mentioned that- one of them begin talking to me about how he had visited Yosemite last week, and several other US cities. Wyoming! It was nice to hear some US cities being talked about!
The taxi soon passed all the places I had before, and simply recollected how I had been walking through there not an hour before. Our taxi driver talked a bit about the history of Gibraltar- how it got founded by the British, (or stolen, however you look at it.) and how much natives really don`t like Spain.. to this day! Gibraltar has always been a place of conflict between Spain and England, so I guess even now they would still hold some old grudges!
Our taxi made a sharp turn, and then we were climbing up the Rock in the van- everyone slanting slightly back at the incline. The city below us began to grow smaller, as the white van pulled us farther and farther away. We only finally stopped as we reached a entry gate, and our driver went to go pay our entrance fees, encouraging us to go out and explore. Camera in tow, I hopped out, the other family just a breath behind me. A large sign stood out, declaring Gibraltar a historic and mythological site:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4812.jpg
The plaque talked about how ancient seafarers referred the Rock as one of the tasks of Hercules, and supposedly also represented the end of the world. I guess they were a bit off, with all of Africa below! But my gaze drew away from the sign, and I approached the windy lookout point, which looked over the clear, blue Mediterranean ocean:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4809.jpg
What`s that piece of land on the left, you might ask? Well our Tour Guide explained it as thus: In Gibraltar, you could logically see three different continents: Spain to the right, us being on `England´, and to the left, was Morocco, Africa! It was cool to see Morocco again, considering just a few weeks ago I was there!
Our group snapped up some pictures, and a gesture from our Tour guide had us moving back into the cool, air-conditioned car. We began to drive upwards again, and I was mentally very thankful I had taken the easier tour. Many people were up walking up the mountain, and I`ll tell you, it was some sort of hot in Gibraltar- so I had gotten the better deal after all, which made me feel happy about not taking the cable car!
Our next stop was to visit a large cave, and our driver handed us our entry tickets- our passage into of Gibraltar`s sights. Entering the cave was a welcoming way to escape the heat, but not a 5 minute walk down into the gloom and wet, my jaw literally fell off my face:
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It was HUGE! Hundreds of hundreds of Stal... Stalaga...Stalactites! hung down from the ceiling, a work of Nature for thousands of years. A recording of a violin played in the background of the cave, and illuminated lights made the entire area literally come to life. It was hard to take all of it in at the first glance... every which way you`d look would be another form of natural art. It was so insane!
I climbed up and down staring at all the stalactites, as a carved in sign indicated that in the Ancient World, many Greeks and later Romans had come here and thought that not only was this the end of the world, this also marked the beginning of Hades. It was easy to see why...the gasping chasm of darkness would have anyone thinking this was the underworld!
We spent about an half an hour browsing the cool and constantly dripping cave, and then I began an upward climb to walk back into the heat of the day. I passed through a metal gate, which lead straight into a tourist shop. Well, the others still weren`t back, so I guess I could shop for a-
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4828.jpg
Wait.. is that a monkey?
Lo and behold, there was a famous ape of Gibraltar! It was simply sitting right outside the door! Wow- I definately did not see that one coming! I took my camera out as a typical tourist and began shooting pictures, when the monkey suddenly walked inside the complex. It had no fear of me or the other tourists taking pictures, opting to sit down and study us as well:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4833.jpg
It camped out for quite some time, and I began to wonder.. why was the monkey simply looking us over? Was there some kind of.... whoah!
Suddenly the monkey sprinted straight at the door- I`d never seen a mammal move that fast, despite a cheetah on the discovery channel! There was a young kid with his family in tow, and the monkey literally jumped on top of the kid! Like a ninja or something! My heart stopped as I thought this was an act of monkey rage, (ever seen 28 days later?) but it suddenly ran up the next building, a red object in its hand. The kid wasn`t crying- in fact he just looked confused to what happened, and I scaled around to see what the monkey had done:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4836.jpg
Well, it looked as the monkey had kung-fu`d the kid, and ended up with a tasty Pringles snack. I had heard the monkeys here had no fear, and would steal any food that looked tasty enough, but this was definately a bit more than I was expecting!
My group finally came out of the class, and we all made our way to the van, I having the delight of retelling my tale of monkey thievery. Our tour guide nodded as I explained along- he regarded the Apes as pests, and I could see why! However, as pesty as they are, there is a superstition about them- as long as there are Apes on Gibraltar, the Brits will stay-but soon as they leave, so will the English- so as long as they are there, I guess the monkeys stay too!
We drove a short ways up from St. Michael`s Caves, and soon approached a monkey area, where fruit and a small house had been set up to attract them. We climbed out to get even closer to these frisky animals, as once again they displayed no fear of humans, even one crazy monkey jumping briefly on a woman`s head!
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4839.jpg
(on the car.. crazy monkeys!)
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4840.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4846.jpg
I luckily had no monkey related incidents- but I also left all my more interesting things back in the car, as I didn`t want a monkey carting off something of mine. But the monkey habitat also offered a great view of not only Apes, but the busy port of Gibraltar. Even today this town continues to be an important shipping area, and below you can see exactly how busy it was that Sunday:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4837.jpg
Our last stop on the Taxi Tour was to visit the great Siege Tunnels, so we hastily made our way back into the large, white van to have enough time to get a good tour of it in. They were a couple of sharp, narrow turns away from the monkey site, but I began to hunch exactly what these Siege Tunnels for when we arrived at the front of the area:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4849.jpg
Siege eh..? Notice how the cannon is pointing at Spain. The tour guide wasn`t kidding about the long battle that has been fought for sovereignty in Gibraltar- back in the day, it was a little less peaceful.. apparently!
I lead the way inside the cave, my other tourists following behind as usual. Our tour guide went to chat off with another taxi-car driver, as I soon entered yet another dark, dim area:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4850.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4852.jpg
The siege tunnels were really interesting to walk through, as Gibraltar had shined up the cannons, lighted it with electricity, and planted different historical dolls and information all over the place:
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4851.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4854.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4856.jpg
(that sign cracked me up.)
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4857.jpg
(said gun)
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4861.jpg
(much more on photobucket!)
The Siege Tunnels have been in use since the late 1700`s against Spain and other countries who dearly wanted want the Rock as a strategic point- however, with the tunnels, Great Britain was extremely succesful- enemies would try and bomb the Rock, only hitting off some trees, maybe an Ape, and a bunch of rocks- when the British would fire from the small holes in the tunnels, they`d hit a ship.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4880.jpg
An excellent way to conduct defense!
Also along the way, I learned that not only was the tunnels used for 16th-17th warfare, it was also used from more recent defense purposes..WW2! Apparently, Great Britan used the tunnels once more as a front against Nazi Germany, evacuating the locals and setting up a military base there. That would explain the 40`s looking tunnel I had walked through before!
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/natalia_en_espana/IMGP4866.jpg
Not so sure they had water bottles like that back in the day...
The tour through the tunnel was really, and I could only think of the guys back home that would love to have seen it! (Hence, why I took practially a picture of every historical reference.) Dad, Brian, how about we go back and tour the Tunnels, and me and Mom can go see the crazy Apes?
After getting a good feel for the Tunnels, we then all hopped back in the car, and the taxi drove us back down to the center. The Singapore family wanted to tour more of the city, but I recalled there was a 2:15 bus to Granada that left from La Linea, and it was coming on 1:30, and I wanted to catch it! So the taxi driver dropped them off, and a short wait at the airport tarmac later, I was disembarking from the taxi at the customs line. I waved farewell to the friendly driver, having had an awesome time! I recommend highly taking the Taxi Tour if you are ever there- I had a blast!
I went through customs relatively fast, and before I knew it, I was back at the bus station. I was extremely pleased that I had gotten there early enough- I had planned to buy a ticket to Màlaga, and then try and get a ticket back to Granada-however, I was spared the hassle and given the peace of mind when I just got a direct ticket! I didn`t wait for long- not 20 minutes later the bus pulled up, and the large group of us hopped on the bus.
It was a 5 and half hour ride back to Granada, but I spent most of it listening to my Ipod, staring at my beloved pictures, and then giving a quick call back home to recollect my travels with my family. The bus stopped several times along the way, but mostly followed the winding road next to the sea, so it was also a scenic ride to boot!
About 7:30 pm, I as finally back home in Granada, Spain- just in time to go home, unpack, and have dinner wiht my host family- and retell all the exciting things I had done that weekend! I went to bed at about 10 PM, since I was beyond exhausted. But all in all, I had a really, really fun time this weekend! Definately was one of the big highlights of my stay in Spain- my first time taking a `vacation`by myself, and honestly, it all worked out in my favor! Two beautiful cities, and a memories to last me a lifetime. You can`t ask for anything better than that!
(I`ll stop here, and tommorrow pick up with a new journal entry that`ll cover what I`ve been doing this week, and my weekend plans! Stay tuned!)
Until next time!
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