Pictures from Gibraltar

Greetings! As part 3 of 4 of our trip to Spain and Gibraltar, we spent six nights in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, for a family event. We left Cordoba by train, arrived at the border of Spain and Gibraltar, crossed the airport runway, saw the imposing-looking Rock, went through passport control, and took a cab to our hotel.

Any tiredness that we had on this travel day was instantly wiped away when we walked into our hotel room, and saw the unobstructed ocean view! The next five days were spent with family and friends, enjoying good wines and fresh delicious food, visiting Gibraltar's sights such as Europa Point Lighthouse, St Michael's Cave, the World War 2 tunnels, cannons, and the city core. We were thrilled to see the Barbary apes (macaques) up close, and so many dolphins in Gibraltar Harbour. Our down time was spent at Caleta beach in Catalan Bay, sunbathing, swimming, and playing with the sand and seashells. The weather was excellent the entire time, lots of clear blue sky, and temperatures around 26C (78F).

Below are my Top Ten pictures from Gibraltar:

1. First view of the Rock in real life at the border of Spain and Gibraltar:

2. The ocean view from our room:

3. The Gibraltar Lighthouse at Europa Point, the most southerly point in Gibraltar:

4. St Michael's Cave, big enough to be used as an auditorium for events such as Miss Gibraltar beauty pageant. The current Mayor of Gibraltar, Kaiane Aldorino, won Miss Gibraltar title here, and subsequently Miss World title in 2009. So Gibraltar residents can say they have the most beautiful mayor in the world :-)

5. A family of Barbary Apes (tailless Macacas Sylvanus) which live on the upper rock:

6. Caleta beach at Catalan Bay:

7. Lounge chairs and shades at our hotel:

8. Spectacular views of Europe, Africa and Gibraltar's busy port from the top of the Rock:

9. Gibraltar's marina:

10. Dolphins in the Strait of Gibraltar - We saw many dolphins but they were very quick so below is one of the best shots I've got of these beautiful, playful, and intelligent creatures:

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Please feel free to leave a comment.

You might also like:
  Pictures from Madrid and Toledo
  Pictures from Cordoba
  Pictures from Seville

Have a great week!

Summer fun list progress report #2

Greetings from Gibraltar! I posted my summer fun list on June 21, and my progress report #1 on July 21. Today I'm providing my progress report #2, and linking up with several fabulous bloggers who also report on their progress. I'm in Gibraltar with very limited access to a computer. Will post my pictures from Spain and Gibraltar after we return home next week.

I thought July was an incredibly fun month, and guess what… so far August has been Amazing! I keep pinching myself and the word "Wow" pops up in my mind several times. So let's see how I'm doing with my summer fun list of 20.

Progress report #2 for my summer fun list of 20:

1. Take a trip to Costa Rica: Done as written in report #1!

2. Enjoy Costa Rica's "pura vida": Done as written in report #1!

3. Do wildlife spotting in Costa Rica: Done as written in report #1! I love the yellow and green  colours on this toucan.

4. Celebrate Canada's 150 with a BBQ with our extended family: Done as written here.

5. Attend at least one music festival at home. Done several times in June and July as written in my July sentence a day post.

6. Chill out with my friends with an iced drink, or ice cream in hand. Yes, many times. This is easy to do in the summer. 

7. Stroll or picnic in a park: Done at HTO Park, Sugar Beach, and Berczy Park in Toronto. I love the green maple leaves in the picture below. So soothing and rejuvenating!

8. Go to Spain and explore. Yes, we left home for Spain last week. We explored Madrid, Toledo and Cordoba before arriving in Gibraltar. We're heading back from Gibraltar to Spain, and have been enjoying our trip very much.

9. Travel by train in Spain. Yes, so far we've travelled by train from Madrid to Toledo, from Madrid to Cordoba, and from Cordoba to San Roque. Will take the train again to Seville.

10. Visit up to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites while in Spain: Yes, so far we've explored Toledo, Cordoba historic centre, Cordoba's Mosque-Cathedral, and the Fortress of the Christian Monarchs, as written here and here.

11. Savour Spanish paellas and tapas. Yes, they're delicious and having tapas is such a social activity in Spain.

12. Take a siesta to beat the heat. Yes, I've done this almost every day in Spain. Easy to do since the heat is very intense at mid-day and having a power nap is a great way to recharge for our afternoon into evening outings.

13. Watch a flamenco show. Pending. Hope to do this when we are in Seville.

14. Speak basic Spanish in Costa Rica and Spain: Yes, in both countries.

15. Cross Spain-Gibraltar border twice. Yes, in progress. We crossed it once last week to arrive in Gibraltar. We'll cross again to return to Spain.

16. Tour the Rock of Gibraltar. Yes, it was a wonderful excursion visiting Europe point, St. Michael's Cave, the tunnels, and zigzagging along the slopes of the Rock. Pictures to follow.

17. See the Barnaby macaques. Yes, we saw about 50 of them! Pictures to follow.

18. Play with sand and seashells at a beach: Done at HTO Beach, Sugar Beach in Toronto, and Caleta Beach in Gibraltar.

19. Look for dolphins in the Bay or the Strait of Gibraltar. Pending. We're planning to go on a dolphin safari this afternoon.

20. Stay fit by exercising up to one hour daily. Yes, proud to say I've been doing exercises daily, even during our travel. Where I didn't have access to a gym or a pool, I did yoga and stretches, and used a resistance band as substitute. Several strength exercises can be done using my body weight, with a towel in our comfortable hotel room.

I counted seventeen completed items, one in progress, and two pending. I have until September 20 to finish my summer fun list before posting my Fall fun list.

Be sure to visit the linked up blogs below for more summer fun updates. Enjoy! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Friday from Gibraltar

Happy Friday! I'm happy that:

1- We arrived safe and sound in Gibraltar. We had an amazing week exploring Madrid, Toledo, and Córdoba in Spain last week. On Wednesday, we took another train ride from Córdoba to San Roque La Linea station, about three hours in duration. That's from point B to point C on the above map. Click to enlarge the map. From there, we took a taxi, right across from the train station, to the border of Gibraltar, about 20 minutes long, and cost about 18€. There are buses that run every 30 minutes as well but we decided to go with the taxi ride.

2- We saw the Rock of Gibraltar in real life! It is huge and imposing at the border. Passport control was quick. Then we walked across the airport run way to arrive in Gibraltar. After a week of hearing mainly Spanish, now we hear more English. We walked to our hotel, noticing the ocean breeze from the Bay of Gibraltar. The temperature is about 25C or 77F, definitely less hot, but more humid, than in Córdoba.

3- We have a very nicely appointed room, with unobstructed ocean view. There are large tankers, cruise ships, yachts, and sailboats in the Bay. It's peaceful with the ocean sounds, and occasional calls from the sea gulls. We're staying here for six nights and enjoying the hotel amenities.

4-Our family and friends treated us to a nice cocktail party, with great wines and delicious appetizers. We're making plans to do some sightseeing in the next few days.

5- We've savoured the food, but notably the fruit, in Spain and Gibraltar. The nectarines, peaches, kiwis, plums, apples, pears, oranges, bananas, etc. all taste so sweet. Oh and the seafood here has been freshly delicious, too.

Have a great weekend, wherever you are!

Going to Spain & Gibraltar

In early June, I booked our trip to Spain. That was just the flights and hotels for our stay. After comparing fares, for our flights, I booked with Expedia. For our hotels in Spain and Gibraltar, I booked with the hotels directly.

We'll be leaving for Spain on Thursday! Our itinerary includes first 5 days in Spain + next 6 days in Gibraltar + last 4 days back in Spain, before flying home.

Since we’ll be travelling independently, I’ve been researching, booking, and packing the essentials. Let’s see what I've got so far...

Trains in Spain: We plan to travel by train while in Spain. Since we know our dates at each city, and it is advisable to reserve train tickets in advance in the summer, I booked online with Trainline and RENFE (the main rail company in Spain), and received our tickets in PDF via email. The RENFE train tickets are in Spanish only so I find it helpful to see the tickets and figure out what they mean in advance. Rail Europe web site has a page that explains how to read your RENFE print-at-home ticket.

Free walking tours: We prefer to walk when we visit a new town or city. We usually pick up a map from the local tourist office or the hotel and explore on our own. In a city where the first language is not English, going on an English-speaking walking tour led by a local resident is helpful, informative, and can be quite fun. Again since we know our dates at each city in Spain, and it is summer (tourist season) when we visit, I booked free walking tours online and received prompt email confirmations.

Mobile device, WiFi, and SIM card: On this trip, the hotels that I booked all offer free WiFi.  We plan to bring one unlocked mobile phone with us. The main mobile carriers in Spain include Movistar, Vodafone, Orange, and Yoigo. After doing some research, I ordered a pre-paid SIM card for Spain for local calls and internet usage when we are not at our hotel, or in case the WiFi at the hotel is not strong enough for our needs.

I ordered from SIM Card Spain and received the SIM card in five calendar days. The company was very good at sending email notifications confirming the order and when it was shipped. The SIM card comes in different sizes, with a promotional, pre-loaded 10 euros credit, and free shipping.

I’ve used pre-paid SIM cards before in the USA and France, and they’ve worked very well for our travel needs. For Spain, I’ll insert the SIM card in my unlocked phone, and activate it by keying in a code upon our arrival in Madrid. Will let you know how it turns out once I’m in Spain.

Adapters, Chargers, and Converters: We’re bring two of each to charge our devices. The voltage in Canada is 110V, in Spain and Gibraltar is 220V/ 240V. The prongs for power outlets are different from what we have in Canada.

Maps.me: I downloaded a number of maps of the cities we’re visiting using Maps.me to my mobile phone. Maps.me offers free, fast, detailed, and entirely offline maps with navigation and directions for travellers. I’m playing with the maps to familiarize myself.

Food: Our hotel room rates include breakfasts. This leaves us to figure out where to go for lunch and dinner. We’re usually on the go during the day and will grab a quick lunch wherever we happen to be at that time. One adjustment that we’ll have to make, as I’ve learned this when I visited Barcelona, is that people eat much later in Spain, especially dinner! I plan to use Trip Advisor or ask the hotel staff for recommended dinner places close to our hotel.

Other essentials: Passports, e-tickets, hotel confirmations, contact information, travel insurance, some euros (for Spain), some pounds (for Gibraltar), small snacks, first aid kit, and summer clothing.

We'll fly non-stop from Toronto to Madrid on Thursday. We'll likely be sleepy and tired from the 7-hour overnight flight and the time difference. Still...So excited to think that we’ll be landing in Madrid, Spain on Friday morning!

I may be able to do quick posts while in Spain and Gibraltar. Stay tuned for my updates.

Have I missed anything? What are your must-have travel items? What other travel tips can you share?

Summer fun list progress report #1

Greetings! Back on June 21, I wrote a Summer fun list of 20 items to complete. Today I’m providing the first progress report and linking up with a group of fabulous bloggers to share summer list updates. Some of the bloggers live in Australia so it is winter for them. I’ve been referring to my list on and off in the last four weeks while having a lot of fun working through the items. Let’s see how I’m doing on my Summer Fun List of 20.

Progress report #1 for My Summer Fun List of 20:

1. Take a trip to Costa Rica. Oh Yes! I was interested in Costa Rica's natural beauty and biodiversity, and we got plenty of both on this wonderful trip. Check out my ten pictures from Costa Rica for a sample of what we experienced.

2. Enjoy Costa Rica’s “pura vida”. Yes as written here and here. The pools, the food, the friendly hotel staff, the warm sunshine, and lush green scenery made me feel I was on vacation. The power shortage on July 1 fortunately was over in two hours. The afternoon downpours happened in the last three days of our trip. I think we left just in time before the rainy season was in full force.

3. Do wildlife spotting in Costa Rica. Yes! I saw lots of birds, butterflies, a coati, and many more animals. My favourite on this trip was the toucan (on last trip was the howler monkey).

4. Celebrate Canada’s 150 with a BBQ with our extended family. Pending. We celebrated Canada Day on July 1st while in Costa Rica. We have another celebration this weekend to include relatives who are visiting us from Europe and Southern California.

5. Attend at least one music festival at home. Yes! I’m happy that I already attended four music festivals in Toronto in the last four weeks: the Luminato festival, Franco-Fete de Toronto festival, Oh Susanna concert which was part of the Indulge Your Senses music festival, and The Sadies concert which was part of the Shield to Shore festival. More to come before summer is over.

6. Chill out with my friends with an iced drink, or ice cream in hand. Yes, we had papaya juice with ice in Costa Rica. It was so good! We also had iced coffee drinks, and ice cream a few times in Toronto.

7. Stroll or picnic in a park. Yes at HTO Park as posted here. I hope to visit a few more parks before the end of the summer.

8. Go to Spain and explore. Pending. I feel excited thinking about it.

9. Travel by train in Spain. Pending. I booked our train tickets from Madrid to Cordoba, from Cordoba to San Roque-La Linea, and from San Roque-La Linea to Seville.

10. Visit up to four UNESCO World Heritage sites while in Spain. Pending.

11. Take a siesta to beat the heat. Pending. I’m sure I’ll do this when I’m in Spain in August.

12. Savour Spanish paellas and tapas. Pending.
 
13. Watch a flamenco show. Pending.
 
14. Speak basic Spanish while in Costa Rica and Spain. Yes, 50% done! I spoke basic Spanish while in Costa Rica. I was pleased that the locals understood me LOL. I’ll continue learning Spanish and use it when I go to Spain in August.

15. Cross Spain-Gibraltar border twice. Pending. 

16. Tour the Rock of Gibraltar. Pending.

17. See the Barbary macaques (monkeys). Pending.

18. Play with sand and seashells at a beach. Yes, 50% done! I played with sand at the local HTO beach and Sugar beach. No seashells there though so I may have to wait until we get to Gibraltar to play with seashells.

Sugar beach

19. Look for dolphins in the the Bay or the Strait of Gibraltar. Pending.

20. Stay fit by exercising up to one hour daily. Yes and ongoing. To date, I’ve been going to the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, practicing yoga on Tuesdays, Thursdays, swimming on Saturdays, and running 5K on Sundays. When I was in Costa Rica, I used the treadmill in the hotel gym, a resistance band, and my body weight for my strength exercises.

More summer goodness: We took a boat cruise in Toronto Harbour at the end of June. I made visits to Thursday farmers' market, Harbourfront Summer Art Exhibitions, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, and the Waterfront Artisan Market as written here, here, and here. I enjoyed them all!

My count indicates that so far I have six of my 20 items completed, three more in progress, and eleven still pending. I’m looking forward to going on our trip to Spain and Gibraltar to check off several fun items on my list. I’ll be posting my next progress report on August 21 so stay tuned.

Be sure to check out the linked-up blogs below for more seasonal fun and inspiration. Happy summer!

An InLinkz Link-up

Summer fun list

Greetings! Back on March 22, I wrote a Spring activity list of twenty items to complete. I posted my first progress update in April, second update in May, and the final update in June. I was super pleased to complete 19 out of 20 items. Signing up early for a 5K running race in September was the only item that I was unable to check off due to flooding and current cancellations of events on Centre Island. In lieu of signing up, I've been running 5K weekly 😁

Today I’m revealing my Summer fun list and linking up with several fabulous bloggers. Some of the bloggers live in Australia so it is winter for them. While my spring activities have been home-based, my summer activities will be at home and abroad. It's already mid-year, let's have some fun and fill the rest of 2017 with light, love, and laughter!

My Summer Fun List of 20:

1. Take a trip to Costa Rica.
2. Enjoy Costa Rica’s “pura vida”.
3. Do wildlife spotting in Costa Rica.
4. Celebrate Canada’s 150 with a BBQ with our extended family.
5. Attend at least one music festival at home.
6. Chill out with my friends with an iced drink, or ice cream in hand. 
7. Stroll or picnic in a park.
8. Go to Spain and explore.
9. Travel by train in Spain.
10. Visit up to four UNESCO World Heritage sites while in Spain.
11. Take a siesta to beat the heat.
12. Savour Spanish paellas and tapas.
13. Watch a flamenco show.
14. Speak basic Spanish while in Costa Rica and Spain.
15. Cross Spain-Gibraltar border twice.
16. Tour the Rock of Gibraltar.
17. See the Barbary macaques (monkeys).
18. Play with sand and seashells at a beach.
19. Look for dolphins in the Bay or the Strait of Gibraltar.
20. Stay fit by exercising up to one hour daily.

I’ll be posting my progress updates in the coming months. Be sure to check out the linked-up blogs below for more seasonal fun and inspiration. Happy summer!

An InLinkz Link-up