The northern of the twin Pillars of Hercules, the Rock of Gibraltar rises 1400 ft above the otherwise uninteresting (for walking) British Overseas Territory. Attached to mainland Andalusia, Spain by a narrow spit of land, it certainly has an interesting history ever since Greek times. I had been considering a quick weekend trip earlier in the year, before Spain closed its borders to Americans and I wound up here for two weeks instead (see my last blog post).
Fortunately, however, it does boast one interesting hike that any visitor should do: the Mediterranean Steps, the focus of this short blog. Most visitors are whisked up to the top of the Rock in 6 minutes by cable car. They miss the whole experience of the Rock.
Since this blog is notably shorter than most, I took the liberty of appending a few photos from my weekend in Venice in September.
Although I managed to complete the Rock of Gibraltar hike in 4 hours, one could easily spend a whole day, including exploration of St Michael’s cave, WW2 tunnels (closed for maintenance), the extensive siege tunnels from the Napoleonic era (where I spent a half hour), as well as additional paths and roads in the nature reserve. Allowing one day for historical sights in the town, and another relaxing on the artificial Eastern Beach, Gibraltar certainly makes for an interesting long weekend in either the spring with the flowers out or early autumn with warmish water and the birds migrating. Summer is too hot, and the winter from November through February generally cold and wet.
And now for a few bonus photos! My time in Trentino, Italy in September was spent largely in the Dolomites. However, as I mentioned in my earlier blog, when the weather deteriorated at the end of the month, I journeyed to Venice for a long weekend. With three days to wander around the largely depopulated city, I took a number of photos, a few of which are shown below.
I returned from Gibraltar to London yesterday, a couple days early after my flight was cancelled (British Airways is down to only two flights per week to Gibraltar during the lock-down of England). As my overseas options are extremely limited, I have decided to return to the United States. My flight to Texas via Chicago leaves tomorrow. I will spend the Thanksgiving holidays with my brother and sister-in-law. Afterwards, my winter plans include the Coachella Valley in Southern California, followed by 3-4 months in St George, Utah. My very first Vagabond Hiker blog post, from December 2016, was of a hike in the Coachella Valley Preserve. In a sense, then, I will have come full circle in four years.
Which begs the question, should I continue this blog? I will stick with the vagabonding lifestyle for now, staying in the western US at least until the world opens back up. Perhaps I’ll be motivated to continue the blog from California, Utah, or points beyond. Stay tuned,
The Vagabond Hiker