*Sorry for the delay, I was having technical difficulties uploading this one. I should have another two up soon (hopefully) as I am now a little behind.*
So I thought that three countries in one day was a good idea; overall it was. It might just have been too much at that point in time during my travels. In the end, it was a good day and everything worked out well, it just was not my most calm day. To start the day, I got ready to leave Spain with a good solid breakfast of churros, coffee, and orange juice - with all the huffing I do each day I should be able to eat some of the treats along the way and not puff up too much. The churros were not quite quite what I thought they would be (could have been the place or just my expectations) as they were rather greasy and without much taste. In good Spanish form, I think, I dipped them in my cafe con leche as I failed to order chocolate and from what I've seen the Spaniards dip everything in their morning coffee - example one guy dipped his bread with butter and jam!
Next up was crossing the border from Spain into Gibraltar. I was rather curious to see this crossing as I had read some countries need visas and that relations with Spain have dramatically soured in the last little while. So in good traveller fashion, I watched to see what the folks in front of me were doing (the locals, of course) and pulled out my passport for the lovely passport control officer, who looked as if she was enduring a polar climat - it was a nippy 10 degrees. Then walked by the next border police who took as good a look as one can as five people walk by with open passports (to the main page) at an upbeat pace. Considering it now, I could have probably stopped and gotten my passport stampted, but I was rather certain that could not be all they would do. Not only to 'rigorously' enforce their border and country, but I was also the one carrying a rather gigantic sack on my back (unfortunately none of you have been privy to my self made, turtle-inspired, walking tunes). I suppose in 7 square miles, it's not as if you're going to disappear off their radar.
I'm not one who typically experiences culture shock per se. I might have issues at times dealing with a new environment but usually I have a understanding of what they might be like and that food, shelter, and transport are all, for the most part, attainable in some sort of fashion. That being said, Gibraltar was a shock to the system; it is a unique and eclectic place. It is a mixture of Spanglish - heavy on the Spanish, but English is perfectly acceptable; British cuisine and heritage - military, police, phone booths, "look left" at crosswalks, the pound; bartering - when I hesitated to buy something she dropped the price by 3 pounds; German buses - "wagon halt" in the buses; and Arab fashion - much better than the British outfits. Meld all those aspects together, as well as a hardy dose of Gibraltarian nationalism, and you've got quite an interesting and perplexing culture. After flying through the border, I went across the way to the airport as I had earlier researched and found that for a few pounds, and an x-ray, you could leave your bag with them. Once liberated from my pack - which weighs in at 15 kilos for those of you who were wondering, as was I - I skipped off to the bus to take me downtown. Another quirk of Gibraltar is that the road between the border and the airport, and town crosses the runway! There were no planes taking off while I was crossing it, but not surprisingly, planes have the right of way.
The main attraction, and by no means disappointing, were the apes! I had bought a one-way cable car ticket to get me up the Rock, but ended up getting a pass to the nature reserve attractions too! Unfortunately, taking into consideration time, I focused primarily on the apes, the view, and briefly the caves - skipping the historical, military tunnels and Moorish castle. The apes were plenty entertaining and very enjoyable to see. As with all creatures, the young ones are the most curious and open to check you out. A little guy, who seemed to be a loner, came to check me out and grabbed my arm and then carried on by playing with part of a balloon. I hadn't quite realized it, but apes and humans do share similar characteristics, and a desire to spend more time with them has developed. Despite the signage, some people do not heed the advice to not have food outside as the apes are very apt at getting thefood, as well as quick and bitey. Therefore, I watched a rather pleased ape have a snack of oreos and a kid be rather scared of the apes. Despite lugging food with me, I had a cheese and sausage sandwich as I didn't want to tempt fate and wasn't allowed to eat non-store bought food. Having bought a one-way ticket and wanting to get in some physical actitvity, I hustled my way down the hill.
At this point, I hadn't bought anything that wasn't consumable but there were a few things that I wanted and/or needed. In La Linea, I had found a camera shop and managed to point my way through buying another 16 GB SD card for my camera. In order to get my camera pictures onto my tablet and blog (and Facebook), my plan is to get them onto a computer from my SD card and put them onto my micro SD card (or email them to myself) but I didn't bring an SD to USB adapter so I found an electronics shop and found one. When I asked how much it was, she told me that it was 9 pounds, not wanting to pay that much I was getting ready to leave when she brought the price down - I was not anticipating that bartering culture had entered Gibraltar. I had also been looking for a pair of silver, stud earrings as I forgot two out of three pairs of earrings I had meant to bring. One of the shops had some earrings that looked to be along the lines of what I wanted so I went in to check out their selection. I found that the selection that I had been looking at were 50% off! After getting more pounds (as I hadn't anticipated buying things), I bought a pair of round, silver earrings with cut out pattern as I decided, despite being more costly, there was no reason to get the exact same ones that I have. After my "shopping spree" it was time for a good British staple - fish & chips with peas. I also decided a beer would be an appropriate addition, and subsequently found out I highly dislike Foster's.
Well, I had started this entry while I was on the train to Marrakech, but decided sleep was more pressing and have now finished it sitting in a dark (power went out) hostel's common area (a riad type building) surrounded by a bunch of very loud and lively Bosnia-Herzegovinians (I think that's a word). I must now plan the next city and get ready to carry on, I will try and get Tangier and Marrakech's entries done while on the move to the next depending on my transport choice and options.
-Alex
So I thought that three countries in one day was a good idea; overall it was. It might just have been too much at that point in time during my travels. In the end, it was a good day and everything worked out well, it just was not my most calm day. To start the day, I got ready to leave Spain with a good solid breakfast of churros, coffee, and orange juice - with all the huffing I do each day I should be able to eat some of the treats along the way and not puff up too much. The churros were not quite quite what I thought they would be (could have been the place or just my expectations) as they were rather greasy and without much taste. In good Spanish form, I think, I dipped them in my cafe con leche as I failed to order chocolate and from what I've seen the Spaniards dip everything in their morning coffee - example one guy dipped his bread with butter and jam!
Next up was crossing the border from Spain into Gibraltar. I was rather curious to see this crossing as I had read some countries need visas and that relations with Spain have dramatically soured in the last little while. So in good traveller fashion, I watched to see what the folks in front of me were doing (the locals, of course) and pulled out my passport for the lovely passport control officer, who looked as if she was enduring a polar climat - it was a nippy 10 degrees. Then walked by the next border police who took as good a look as one can as five people walk by with open passports (to the main page) at an upbeat pace. Considering it now, I could have probably stopped and gotten my passport stampted, but I was rather certain that could not be all they would do. Not only to 'rigorously' enforce their border and country, but I was also the one carrying a rather gigantic sack on my back (unfortunately none of you have been privy to my self made, turtle-inspired, walking tunes). I suppose in 7 square miles, it's not as if you're going to disappear off their radar.
I'm not one who typically experiences culture shock per se. I might have issues at times dealing with a new environment but usually I have a understanding of what they might be like and that food, shelter, and transport are all, for the most part, attainable in some sort of fashion. That being said, Gibraltar was a shock to the system; it is a unique and eclectic place. It is a mixture of Spanglish - heavy on the Spanish, but English is perfectly acceptable; British cuisine and heritage - military, police, phone booths, "look left" at crosswalks, the pound; bartering - when I hesitated to buy something she dropped the price by 3 pounds; German buses - "wagon halt" in the buses; and Arab fashion - much better than the British outfits. Meld all those aspects together, as well as a hardy dose of Gibraltarian nationalism, and you've got quite an interesting and perplexing culture. After flying through the border, I went across the way to the airport as I had earlier researched and found that for a few pounds, and an x-ray, you could leave your bag with them. Once liberated from my pack - which weighs in at 15 kilos for those of you who were wondering, as was I - I skipped off to the bus to take me downtown. Another quirk of Gibraltar is that the road between the border and the airport, and town crosses the runway! There were no planes taking off while I was crossing it, but not surprisingly, planes have the right of way.
The main attraction, and by no means disappointing, were the apes! I had bought a one-way cable car ticket to get me up the Rock, but ended up getting a pass to the nature reserve attractions too! Unfortunately, taking into consideration time, I focused primarily on the apes, the view, and briefly the caves - skipping the historical, military tunnels and Moorish castle. The apes were plenty entertaining and very enjoyable to see. As with all creatures, the young ones are the most curious and open to check you out. A little guy, who seemed to be a loner, came to check me out and grabbed my arm and then carried on by playing with part of a balloon. I hadn't quite realized it, but apes and humans do share similar characteristics, and a desire to spend more time with them has developed. Despite the signage, some people do not heed the advice to not have food outside as the apes are very apt at getting thefood, as well as quick and bitey. Therefore, I watched a rather pleased ape have a snack of oreos and a kid be rather scared of the apes. Despite lugging food with me, I had a cheese and sausage sandwich as I didn't want to tempt fate and wasn't allowed to eat non-store bought food. Having bought a one-way ticket and wanting to get in some physical actitvity, I hustled my way down the hill.
At this point, I hadn't bought anything that wasn't consumable but there were a few things that I wanted and/or needed. In La Linea, I had found a camera shop and managed to point my way through buying another 16 GB SD card for my camera. In order to get my camera pictures onto my tablet and blog (and Facebook), my plan is to get them onto a computer from my SD card and put them onto my micro SD card (or email them to myself) but I didn't bring an SD to USB adapter so I found an electronics shop and found one. When I asked how much it was, she told me that it was 9 pounds, not wanting to pay that much I was getting ready to leave when she brought the price down - I was not anticipating that bartering culture had entered Gibraltar. I had also been looking for a pair of silver, stud earrings as I forgot two out of three pairs of earrings I had meant to bring. One of the shops had some earrings that looked to be along the lines of what I wanted so I went in to check out their selection. I found that the selection that I had been looking at were 50% off! After getting more pounds (as I hadn't anticipated buying things), I bought a pair of round, silver earrings with cut out pattern as I decided, despite being more costly, there was no reason to get the exact same ones that I have. After my "shopping spree" it was time for a good British staple - fish & chips with peas. I also decided a beer would be an appropriate addition, and subsequently found out I highly dislike Foster's.
Well, I had started this entry while I was on the train to Marrakech, but decided sleep was more pressing and have now finished it sitting in a dark (power went out) hostel's common area (a riad type building) surrounded by a bunch of very loud and lively Bosnia-Herzegovinians (I think that's a word). I must now plan the next city and get ready to carry on, I will try and get Tangier and Marrakech's entries done while on the move to the next depending on my transport choice and options.
-Alex
