ESN Trip to Gibraltar

The day had finally arrived, we were going to Gibraltar! I had spent so long thinking about everything that I was going to buy now that I was finally able to go to some of the shops that we have back home. For once there was no snoozing of my alarm when it went off in the morning, I was more than happy to get out of bed at 08.30am. I had prepared my things the night before, Passport was in the bag, iPod charged, Harry Potter packed and wallet emptied of Euros and instead filled with Pounds Sterling. Finally I was going to be able to pay for things without having to check what every coin was before I handed it over.

All of my flat were headed to Gibraltar so we got dressed and then headed down to La Caleta where we were to meet the bus. Claire and Emma also met us there, followed by Kath and Morgane when the coaches arrived we resolved to all get on the same one this time and nice and early so that we could sit together rather than filling in the odd gaps left on the coach. The Gibraltar trip must have been popular as there were three coaches, we headed to the first one but when we reached the front of the queue we were told there was only one place left, so along with many more people we headed to the third coach, this time we managed to board and all sit together – yay! Claire and I took an iPod headphone each and she selected some very choice tunes for the journey to Gibraltar, party for two with Blue, Backstreet Boys, Vengaboys, Steps, Sclub7 and more, what cool kids. It took around an hour and a half to reach Gibraltar, by which time I was getting very over excited, it was like going home!

Instead of waiting in the ridiculously long queue to cross the border the coach drivers cut around the outside and then into the bus lane which was empty. The ESN people informed us of the procedure for crossing the border, we would be checked first by a Spanish officer and then when we had crossed by a British officer. There was a slight hiccough at the border, Alice had forgotten her passport and only had her driving licence with her, so when the Spanish Police boarded the coach to check all of our documents he hesitated over hers. After some commotion it was decided by the Spanish police that Alice would be allowed to enter Gibraltar, to much relief. There seemed to be no check by the British police, but as soon as we crossed I started spotting quintessentially British things which got me really quite excited, kind of pathetic that a Traffic Light could make me so happy. I wasn’t alone though, the other British girls I was with shared in my joy – I’m not sure anyone else quite understood. I especially loved the plethora of Jubilee signs and celebration of the Queen - missing my Royal Family!

We arrived at the coach station and departed the coach, noting that although we were back in Britain they still drove on the wrong side of the road. The weather was beautiful, so armed with sun tan lotion we headed over to the rest of the ESN group, we walked in a big group up to a square at the end of the main street of Gibraltar, getting excited over everything, including the beeping noises that the crossings made, just like at home. When we arrived in the square us brits immediately zoned in on the Fish and Chip shop - our lunch destination was sorted! One of the ESN leaders was talking but with so many people in such a bustling square there was no chance we could hear all of what they were saying. We managed to catch that we had to meet back here at 8.30pm to go back to the coaches and that everyone was going to meet at the bottom of the rock to go up it with the ESN people at 2pm. We headed straight for the Fish and Chip shop and sat ourselves down, unfortunately for me there were no Pukka Pies on the menu, instead I just had some chips (I don’t eat seafood). Everyone else ordered as they wanted and within minutes the food arrived, the waitress did separate bills for us all to make paying easier, as some of us had Euros and some of us had Pounds. After food we split into two groups, some who wanted to go up the rock and see the evil monkeys and Anissa, Emma and I who just wanted to go shopping. Claire also came with us as she was meeting a friend who lives near Gibraltar so didn’t have time to go up the rock.

We decided to walk all the way along the Main Street to see what shops were there, getting more chuffed as we went along, I think Anissa and Emma nearly cried when we reached TopShop. When we reached Marks and Spencer’s we headed inside, my main aim of the day was to buy Squash and get myself some Cider (preferably Kopparberg), we zoned in on the squash immediately. We decided not to buy the squash immediately as it would be heavy to carry around all day and we had some serious shopping to be doing. Content that we would be able to find the things we were after later we headed further down the Main Street, I found a Monsoon and the shopping began. We visited most of the British shops that we liked back home, spending almost an hour in Topshop. Claire’s friend rang and they went off for a catch up. On the way down the road we bumped into Kath, Hannah and Alice who had come down from the rock again they told us that unfortunately some of the shops closed at 3pm meaning we didn’t get to spend as much time in them as we would have liked, but Marks and Spencers stayed open until 5pm. I bought as much Orange Squash as I could carry as well as a bottle for Claire and we bought some of our other favourites such as Percy Pigs, I also got myself an advent calendar, a bit early but I didn’t know if there would be many of them around in Cádiz.

Weighed down by all of the bags and with most of the shops closing we headed to a pub, we sat down and my first question to the waitress was ‘what cider do you have?’. Over the moon when she said Kopparberg, unfortunately not my favourite flavour but any Kopparberg is good Kopparberg and after a month of no cider I was more than ready for a good few pints. The pub also did food, we had intended to go to Pizza Hut for dinner (not my choice – I don’t eat pizza) but to my joy we decided to stay at this pub and eat there instead, we could have some garlic bread! So we spent several hours sitting there, Claire came back to join us as well as Geo and Jana, we sat chatting, drinking cider and eating some traditional British pub grub. Although not exactly like home it was close enough for me, to top it off they had Penguin ice cream things for desert, it was like being a kid again. At around 8 we decided to walk leisurely back down to the coach, I stopped off at a shop and found yet more squash and a litre of Jagermeister for £9, bargain!

After boarding the coach a member of the ESN team came abroad to tell us a little of the history of Gibraltar, using the little megaphone that they have which is pretty useless. Either shouting or getting a proper microphone would be more effective, luckily as we were sat near the front we could catch the majority of what was said. Then another member of the ESN team used the coaches microphone to tell us about the procedure for crossing back over the border, we had to disembark the coach with all of our things and walk across the border, showing our passports and then all of the things that we had bought as there were strict limits on the amount of alcohol and tobacco that we could bring back across the border. However when we reached the border we were not checked at all instead I just had to wander across the border with my heavy bags only to re-board the coach again when it crossed over.

Back on the coach I fancied a nap which unfortunately didn’t happen so instead we just chatted a bit on the way home. We got back of the bus at La Caleta again where we were encouraged to meet at La Punta for a botellón at 1am, but all I wanted was left over Chinese food, some English TV and some squash, which is exactly what I got. Chuffed with the day, even though I didn’t go up the rock and see the mischievous monkeys, perhaps I will next time – there will be a next time, I will eventually run out of squash! Gibraltar is definitely a must for any Brit who is missing a few of thier home comforts.

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