Before I met Scott, I had gone transatlantic one other time in 2011 totally solo.  I did a five week long, faculty lead, summer study abroad in Greece.  After my time in Greece, I spent a week and a half in England with one of my best friends, Kirsty (she did a year long exchange at Washington State University when I was a freshman and we became life long besties).  Our 2016 trip to Europe was due to end in England because if I go transatlantic I MUST see my Kirsty.  However, what I was NOT expecting, was to have a miniature British excursion while still on the Spain portion of this European exploration.

For those of you that don’t know, Gibraltar is a British territory located on the Southern coast of Spain.  It includes 2.6 square miles and is surrounded by gorgeous coast lines.  I knew that Gibraltar was a British territory before this excursion, but I thought that it would still feel like Spain.  I was 100% WRONG.  As soon as you cross the borders (which are fairly high security), you are literally in the United Kingdom.  You have to switch to the other side of the road when driving, all of the signs immediately switch from Spanish to English, and, even though you’ve only gone a few feet geographically, I swear everyone is suddenly 5 shades more pale.

The first thing we did after the long bus ride and a tedious border crossing, was find a pub to have a bite of breakfast.  This was our second British restaurant (Málaga was full of them as it’s a popular British vacation spot) in as many days and Scott’s family was ready to give proper British breakfast a second chance.  British breakfast includes beans, baked tomatoes, sausage, mushrooms and some other seemingly random items.  The first time they tried this they were confused and not so impressed.  The second time…not much better.  Having been to England before, I knew what to get that would be delicious and not at all “breakfast-y”, FISH AND CHIPS, of course!  British fish and chips are the best, served in a paper bag or not, my mouth is watering right now.

After the pub we walked the narrow streets of a very not-Spanish looking downtown and journeyed toward one of the southernmost points in all of Europe.  Supposedly, we would be able to peer out over the ocean and see the mountains of Morocco.  The possibility of seeing Africa for the first time was super exciting!

We passed gorgeous (and very European looking) buildings the closer we got to the ocean.

Before we knew it, the land was dropping away into the sea.  Huge rocky cliffs rose out of dark teal waters that were crashing against the stony faces.

A lighthouse marked the end of our march South and the point at which we could stare through the fog towards the Northern coast of Africa.  Unfortunately, the fog was too think on this particular morning, but we certainly tried to imagine ourselves seeing the peaks of the Moroccan mountains.

The most substantial landmark in this territory is called The Rock of Gibraltar.  Our next tour would take us up the narrow roads of the rock to one of the famous limestone caves named St. Michael’s Cave.  This particular cave has additions of stairways and paths for easy touring and is even the site of intimate concerts due to the awe-inspiring natural acoustics.  The most exciting part of the tour, however, happened before we even stepped foot into the cave.  While approaching the entrance to the cave in our van, a monkey jumped onto the hood of the vehicle and came in through the driver’s window!  Much to our surprise, the driver and the monkey knew one another and the monkey reached into the driver’s shirt pocket to pull out a cookie that he knew would be waiting for him.  We then had the opportunity to get out of the van and spend time with dozens of wild (though fairly used to tourists and their tasty treats) monkeys.

Finally, it was time to climb our way into St. Michael’s Cave.  Architects have added effect to this particular cave with uplighting, but the magnificent stalactites and stalagmites would have been jaw dropping regardless.

The Rock of Gibraltar is one of the highest points for miles, upon exiting the cave, we were afforded some views of the town and harbor below us.  We even saw one of our primate cousins enjoying the same sights.

Our next excursion takes us to the ancient wine city of Ronda.  Reliving these moments with Scott and my future in-laws is so fun for me and I hope my readers enjoy it, too!  If you have any questions about anything we saw or did in these beautiful places write me a comment!  Until next time 🙂

-Lexi

 

 

 

 

 

This is, first and foremost, a travel blog.  Throughout the three years for which we have been attached at the hip, we have been traveling.  It seems only right that the first blog post would go way back to our first year together when the traveling began.

After Scott graduated from WSU in May 2014, he began a second Bachelor’s degree at Colorado State University and thus began a long distance relationship between us.  During the year that we were apart we took many trips to several cities throughout the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest.  The most eventful of these trips was our holiday adventure in Colorado which included stops in Fort Collins, Denver and Copper Mountain.

Upon my arrival in Colorado, Scott took me to the Denver aquarium, Six Flags and even the Denver zoo.

This is the first (and, so far, last) time I saw an aquarium with a HUGE tiger exhibit.  I cannot explain the shock we felt after walking through an exhibit with sharks, barracudas, rays, and eels straight into a relatively small and damp room with two MASSIVE Siberian tigers right in the middle of it.  It was the closest I’ve gotten to a tiger and the most surprised I’ve ever been to see one!

After our days of tourism in Denver, we engaged in one of our favorite pastimes:  walking around “Old Town” in Fort Collins and getting just a little bit drunk.  One of our favorite spots was called La Luz (http://laluzgrill.com) because we are suckers for Mexican food and a strong Margarita!  If you’re ever there, get a Pomegranate Marg, trust me.

After Fort Collins we went to spend Christmas with Scott’s family in a rented ski cabin (more like ski mansion) on Copper Mountain.

This would be a place of many firsts:  our first Christmas together, Bagool’s first candy cane bone, and my first time skiing.  Day one of skiing: AWESOME!  I’M A NATURAL!  A SKIING PRODIGY!!  Day two of skiing (after the runs were groomed and the skiing was much faster):  Definitely not a natural, the soreness is unreal.  The was also a very special Christmas because it was my first and last Christmas with Scott’s cousin, Adam, who we lost to a car accident in May of last year.  Luckily, he comes up again in this adventure 🙂

We spent our first New Years wandering Old Town once again.  We should have known that ALL of the restaurants would be full and we would be starving after a few cocktails.  Out of pure luck we stumbled into a crazy good seafood restaurant and they had a reservation cancellation for two.  We would not get to order off of the menu but would have to go with the pre-set couples meal.  We agreed and have ZERO regrets!  We tried true caviar for the first time and sampled lobster, crab, and some bomb vino.  Would definitely recommend Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar (http://www.jaxfishhouse.com/fort-collins/).

Not only did we get to spend Christmas with Adam, we all got to go to our first game at Mile High Stadium!

This would not be the last time that Scott and I decided to squeeze in one more activity before one of us had to catch a flight.  My flight back to Washington had to be rescheduled due to good beers, good company and a TERRIBLE loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the play-offs!  Luckily, we are true Seahawks fans and the Broncos are only our #2 team, but when in Rome, right?

Eventually, I will be more up-to-date with my posts and not reliving old memories, but for now I am loving taking you all back to 2014 where it all began.

-Lexi