Arcos to Gibralter and Back

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Another Country Visited…and this One Speaks English!!

A Sunny Day of Driving

We took a walk around town this morning in search of our usual breakfast which consists of orange juice, coffee and toast with butter and jam. I know this sounds a little light but it seems to be standard fair in Spain, so we make do. After breakfast we walked around for about a half and hour and enjoyed the views of the countryside around Arcos.

Since Arcos is a small town, we decided we’d take a drive and see what we could see. We started by heading west towards Cadiz. After nearing Cadiz we headed south towards the southern tip of Spain. This area of Spain is pretty compact so we made great time. We drove near the coast and caught some cool sights. We drove through a huge modern windmill farm and saw the Atlantic coast near Tarifa and Algeciras.

We figured that if we were this close to Gibraltar we might as head across the border.

The First English Speaking Country We’ve Visited

After the 2.5 hour drive we were starting to get hungry so we were hoping we could make it through customs pretty quickly. Rick Steve’s guide warns that driving into Gibraltar can be difficult because of the number of cars attempting to cross the border. Thankfully a Sunday in November seems to be an off season for travel across the border. After about 20 minutes of waiting in a line of cars we made it through without a hitch. They barely even looked at our Passports as we drove by them.

Once on the island things get a little more interesting. First off all the signs are in English…YAY, we can actually read the signs!! While that is incredibly positive for us, the roads themselves are incredibly confusing and only go one way. We drove in the direction we thought we were supposed to go only to find ourselves in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere. I stopped in a parking space and actually managed to get some great pictures from an observation area that allowed a view of Spain, Gibraltar and Africa (Morocco) all at the same time. It was pretty cool.

After our quick picture break, we went back in the direction that we came from in search of the cable car that takes you to the top of the rock. After a few circles we finally found the parking lot for the Cable car only to discover that the cable car doesn’t work on Sundays in the winter. Bummer!

Instead we talked to a few people we met on the street and asked for recommendations for food (it had been about 5 hours since we last ate our toast and we were a little worse for wear at this point). We found one pub that served food but it was jam packed with Football fans (Soccer for you American-types). Everyone was watching the Chelsea-Manchester United game which is one of the biggest games this year.

With no table to sit at we moved on in search of another restaurant which we found about three blocks away. Here we each got a drink and some thoroughly British food. Kel for pea and ham soup and chicken tender type objects and I got sausage and eggs. We sat and watched the first half of the Chelsea - Manchester U game and enjoyed our food immensely. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark and we had to drive back to Arcos to our hotel.

Our route to Gibraltar had been roundabout so we took a more direct path home. After about an hour we arrived back at our hotel and safely had parked our Bimmer in the garage under the hotel. Now we are resting prior to dinner which we will be low key since we are both kinda tired from our long day of driving.

Tomorrow we are off to our next destination which is Ronda, one of the larger white hill towns east of here. Hope everyone at home is doing well. We miss you all!!

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