With the program quickly approaching its final days, the opportunity to travel around Spain is slowly vanishing. Especially after staying in Sevilla last weekend, I really wanted to take advantage of my last weekend here despite the paper I had due Monday and final exams on Tuesday and Wednesday. What better place to go than to revisit the site of my first summer abroad experience - Cadiz? That was the original idea at least. We were going to drive down to Gibraltar and spend an evening / night there, then head over to my old stompin' grounds in the morning to relax at the beach and visit the historic city. It was entirely too well planned to be properly executed.
When googling "hostel in Cadiz," I stumbled upon a 4-star hotel that cost only 5 euro/night more than any hostel did - obvious choice. Only after booking it did I think to see where it was in the city; it wasn't in the city. It was in Algeciras, a city an hour and a half away from Cadiz but 30 min away from Gibraltar. A simple folly that actually worked in our favor. Who really needs an overcrowded beach and cathedral when you have a private pool, putt-putt course and resort?
(Un)fortunately, no busses go from Sevilla to Gibraltar, so we actually went for the cheaper, faster option and rented a car. Nothing like a long road trip. (On that note, props to Danielle for navigating Spanish traffic, roundabouts and incomprehensible road signs - all the while driving stick-shift.)
As a city, Algeciras is not that impressive; it is a grimy port city that serves more as a checkpoint for people visiting Gibraltar. For a hotel, Hotel Reina Cristina was exactly as it appeared online: a pristine, clean little castle.
After we settled in, we reloaded into the car and made our way toward Gibraltar. Crossing the boarder into the British territory might have been one of the most casual traveling experiences I've had; however, we were so taken aback to see an adult out of our program speaking English that we almost completely lost our communication skills. We were an hour or so away from sunset, so we didn't waste anytime getting to the Rock of Gibraltar and begin our "monkey business"... if you will. The first miracle of the trip that the tiny VW got up the mountain; the second one was that it survived its stay there. The initial encounter with the monkeys was a peaceful one. We saw him casually sitting on the wall next to the road and walked alongside us as we drove by. When we parked the car, the frighteningly human-like creature perched himself on the fence and almost posed for us. Its amazing how his facial expressions, hands and feet resembled our own. He was a very peaceful, contemplative monkey. If only the next ones were as amiable. On our return down the mountain, we stumbled upon what could have been the most adorable monkey family I have ever seen. Of course, anything that is cute has to be scheming something, and we fell right into their trap. As we stopped the car to take pictures of the playful baby monkeys, we failed to notice mama and papa monkey walking toward the car. By the time we noticed, it was too late; the monkeys had already climbed on board and were jumping up and down on the roof Jumanji-style. Then, one climbed down the roof and tried to latch on and pull on the back windshield wiper. Conscious of the security deposit on the rental car, we sped away before he had the chance to destroy the car. By that time, it was already sundown so we returned to the hotel and retired for the night. The hotel rooms were air conditioned, so we were able to sleep in and did not drown in our own sweat. The next day, we lived the dream. We spent the entire day out by the pool laying out and monkeying around, played a little putt-putt and explored a little bit around the city (we soon realized there was not much there and returned back to our oasis).
Overall, I was excited to see Cadiz, but I do not regret missing it too much. It was a successful road trip and everybody involved had a good time.
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