" The next morning I took a stroll to the Mirador de San Nicolas for a grand view of Alhambra. There were just 2 women there. From the Alhambra we could see the viewpoint yesterday with a hundred or more people crowding for the view. The walk back to the car went smoothly and we got to see a street protest in front of a government office."
But the best part of the walk back was the stop for breakfast.
Smoothies and hot, fresh churros - check out that enormous churro ring.
The churros in chocolate was good but I sort of missed the cinnamon and sugar coating.
As we were walking away from our churro shop Andrew got pooped on by a bird - guess he has to wash his hair now.
Our favorite Spanish road sign - are they flipping us off?
"I think Apple map let us down again as it their route took nearly 4 hours to reach Gibraltar and it definitely wasn’t the scenic route as we were stuck in traffic along the coast. Driving south on the peninsula the rock appears massive in the distance. Following internet advice we found a public parking garage (I got out of the van to make sure the top didn't scrape 😬) on the Spanish side of the border and walked across, stopping for a quick lunch along the way. The border crossing went smooth and all of a sudden we were in a different country with a different currency and language, although most of the work force were Spanish speakers who likely live in Spain. I had to go to an ATM to get pounds to pay the bus fare that would take us around the airport and to the base of the rock where we caught a tram up to the top."
Gibraltar was my assignment. I had done all the research and figured there were only 3 things that we really had to see, the macaques, the siege tunnels, and St. Michaels Cave. Our slow start meant we would probably only see those 3 things but I figured that would be fine.
"It didn’t take long to see the famous Barbary Macaques as they were inside the terminal as we exited the tram. They were clearly used to the crowds and human attention and were always on the lookout for a handout, whether intentional or not. The rock is nearly sheer on one side and the other is plenty steep. From the top you can turn 360 degrees and appreciate the ocean views 1400 feet below. We began walking through some old ruins then continued on to a viewing platform with a clear floor that made our stomach squirm a bit."
"When I finished taking pictures everyone else was gone and I wasn’t sure which path they had taken. I took the upper trail and began to wish for some shade as the sun bore down. After 15 minutes I still hadn’t found them so I took the next option down and eventually found them at St. Michael’s Cave. It was cool and wet in the depth of the cave so I gladly took my time looking at the exhibits and enjoying the light shows. We failed to find a place to refill our water bottles and of course only a few of us brought them so before long we were out of water."
"The map system for Gibraltar was about useless as it only showed a fraction of the trails and there was no way to tell altitude or up and down on a 2 dimension map. You could always tell which way you were headed generally, but rarely knew which path you were on. This led to a lot of extra steps and some lengthy detours. We crossed the suspension bridge which seems to have just been a modern tourist addition and then headed towards the siege tunnels on the complete other end of the rock."
"Without water on a warm day the kids started losing steam. When our trail more or less hit a dead end and we began a literal hike through the vegetation the complaining mounted. The periodic trail signs only frustrated us further as the detail was insufficient to help and our phones weren’t getting enough signal to use the map."
"One of the sign posts for the Inglis Way had been crossed through with a marker and multiple frustrated tourists had left warnings about the portion we had just finished. Of course we still didn’t know which route to take to the tunnels. We continued on because there wasn’t really another option. We eventually hit a more substantial road and when we met a few other pedestrians Lily exclaimed, “Look, there’s a human!”"
"We eventually reached the entrance to the siege tunnels that looked down on the airport below. It was 7:00 and they had closed at 6:15."
The sign at the ticket booth said they didn't close till 7:15 - was bummed but the kids were beyond exhausted at that point.
At some point in our frustrated wandering Kate said, "I think this map was drawn by a kindergartener." To always remember the horrible map, exhausting heat, and the thousands of extra steps created by the useless map, we ripped it up and stomped on it for a picture.
"We did find a restroom with a macaque sitting on the roof and the kids guzzled water from the sink and refilled water bottles. The macaque climbed down as Natali opened a granola bar and she ran behind me as it started to chase her."
"The Moorish castle was closed as well, but the guard at the gate let us walk through the gate and look at the outside—the highlight was a pool with turtles."
Turtle club in Spain
"We exited the park and preserve and wandered down into the modern city in search of a bus stop. I caved in and stopped at a gas station for water and soda for the crew. Money well spent as frowns turned to smiles. We weren’t all that far from Spain when we finally caught a bus. I opened my wallet to get the return bus ticket out as we boarded and then sat down in the back half of the bus. I had my wallet and a couple of water bottles in my hands so I consolidated the water from the gas station into my bottle. I had the distinct thought to put my wallet back in my pocket but didn’t act on it. 5 minutes later we got off the bus and went through immigration to leave Gibraltar and enter Spain. As we started walking and discussing where to eat dinner I reached in my pocket and realized my wallet was gone. Instant flashbacks to Rome last year—what do I need to do? I sent Lisa and the 5 younger kids ahead and took Natali back with me to help translate as needed. It was easier to think without everyone else there and I preferred not to have an audience. As we walked back to the border I turned my credit and debit cards off and sent an email to corporate to cancel my p-card. At some point I uttered a silent prayer. We breezed through immigration yet again and then tried to find someone at the bus station without success. We waited until the next bus stopped and Natali explained the situation to the driver. He didn’t offer a way to contact the other driver and said to just wait until he came back around as there were only 3 buses in the loop to the border. 15 minutes later the next bus came but it was not our driver. Another 15 minutes and when the door opened we knew it was our driver. We boarded and Natali again explained our problem. He shrugged his shoulders and invited us to go look. As I passed the open middle section and reached the back half I looked over and there was my wallet sitting on the aisle seat where I had apparently set it down while transferring the water 45 minutes before! A Gibraltar miracle! I took a picture of my wallet and sent it to Lisa"
Greg's last view of Gibraltar as he and Natali entered Spain one last time. While they were searching the rest of us had hopped into Burger King and used the free internet. When we got the pic of the wallet, we said a prayer of thanks and headed to a Tapas place we had picked out to save seats while they caught up with us. The staff didn't understand much English and I was starting to get desperate when Natali walked in and saved the day, ordered us a dozen different tapas to try, all of which were delicious and promptly devoured with there side of papa frites (French fries).
Walking from the parking garage to the hotel we found this sign - he's HIM.
So was Gibraltar a fail? Not sure. Worth it? Not sure. I do know that we walked 22,000 steps, saw a lot of interesting stuff, experienced miracles and ended the day happy. So I wouldn't call it a fail in fact Andrew said, "Gibraltar, It's too easy."
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