Gibraltar

12/10/2010

Today I got on a bus and went to Gibraltar in order to get a couple days out of the Schengen area. When I arrived I bought a shwarma, bought my return ticket, and headed for the border. After dropping off some stuff at my hostel I went out exploring. At the Mackintosh Culture Center I met a guy who's family moved to Boston for a generation and then back to Gibraltar for some reason. After that I met some locals and we all went to a club called “The Rock on the Rock” where they play, you guessed it, rock.

People in Gibraltar are really friendly, a guy named Alexis bought me a couple drinks because I didn't have any British pounds on me. Out on the street one of the locals let me ride his £3000 motorbike. One of the guys offered to show me around the town real quick on it and I didn't think twice. Three things I neglected to find out beforehand 1) if he was sober 2) if he could drive 3) who he was. Turns out he was sober but as it turns out he's a street bike racer. He took me flying through the narrow streets at 75 kph, everything was a blur... would have been nice to know he wasn't just on a suicide mission. After the bike ride from hell, we all headed for a club, but I didn't still didn't have any money. No problem though, the biker kid knew the bouncer and got us in for free.

12/11/2010

Today I woke up and went to Alexis' house from the night before. Alexis took me to the top of the rock on his motorbike and showed me all the best views as well as the Barbary Macaque Monkeys. 

After playing with the monkeys a bit it started getting dark so we went back down to the border so I could exchange some euros for British Pounds. On the way we stopped to look at some cannons. 

Gibraltar is famous for the Straits of Gibraltar; the British used the ten and one hundred pound guns to control the sea lanes in and out of the Mediterranean. After I got some money we went to the Star Bar (recommended by Rick Steves) and I had and English breakfast which is a lot of food for only £5. Afterward I bought some tax free stuff at Safeway and we headed to the beach for a bit. Later I finally found free Wifi at a bar called Fresh right outside Castlemates Square.

12/12/2010

Today I missed my bus back to Granada… 20 euro down the drain. I had to catch a bus to Algeciras for 2.50 followed by a bus to Granada for another 22 euro. 

THE ROCK POI:
-People only really go out Friday nights.
-American stores (Safeway, Shell, etc.)
-They call themselves Gibs.
-Mix of people (English, Gibs, Spanish.)
-Apparently it's legal to drink up to two pints and still drive.
-It’s windy.