Gibraltar!

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Yesterday, I went to Gibraltar with five of my friends. It was our first trip that wasn't through API so it was an adventure. We rode the bus for three hours from Cadiz to La Linea de Concepcion, which is right on the Gibraltar border. We walked two minutes from the bus station to get to customs, which was an absolute joke. The guy behind the counter didn't even make us open our passports, he just had us show them to him. It is funny how one different Gibraltar is from the town that is two minutes away. Gibraltar is a UK territory, so English is their primary language. I loved their accents! Another thing I love about Gibraltar is their free bus system. We took a bus from customs to the cable cars that would take us up to the top of the rock of Gibraltar.

The town is clean and has a lot of modern buildings and facilities, but it still maintains a classic feel. It is the southernmost point in Europe! The top of the rock was breathtaking. You could see all around for miles and miles. There are more than 200 monkeys up there just roaming around too. They aren't restricted by any physical barrier, but the area is supplied with extra food so that the monkeys will choose to stay up there instead of going down into town. The monkeys are use to people being around and are not afraid of them so they were really close to us. We were instructed beforehand to hide all food or plastic bags (because the monkeys have learned to associate those with food). We got a handheld device to use while we walked around the rock that gave us the history of the rock and its surroundings. Occasionally the woman's voice on the radio would slip in a bit of advertisement like "over there is called the Queen's chair. You can buy a small version of it at the gift shop for only ten pounds". It made us laugh every time.

After we took the cable car back down, we ate at a delicious Italian restaurant call Mama Mia before heading across town to look at a lighthouse that is a main attraction in Gibraltar. There weren't any other people at the lighthouse, just a few locals at the park nearby. It was beautiful and serene. It was surprisingly windy and the waves were intense. It was refreshing to feel cold wind on our face in place of the warm currents in Cadiz. There isn't a lot more to say about the trip honestly, because for once it went pretty smoothly. We went back to the bus station and arrived back in Cadiz three hours later. The only downside was that I got sick from the change in altitude and from the motion of the bus. Overall it was a great Saturday afternoon!

Today I went to the beach, did my homework and talked to my parents and the Mortons via Skype. I loved it and it made my day!

Talk to you soon,

Jerica

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