Gibraltar Day of Rest
Stump’s Travel Log - Day 9
After yesterday’s waiting, today is more intentionally a day of rest. That has a richer connotation since I’m staying with a Jewish man and his wife. It’s one of those AirBnB’s like the early days where instead of taking over someone else’s house while they go stay with their parents, you just take one of their rooms and hang out with them. I’ve done this a couple of times, without too much trouble. There can be a little bit of awkwardness, but I figure that the kind of people who rent rooms (and get good AirBnB reviews!) must be fairly good to live with.
It’s day number nine already for my trip, and I’ve been going pretty hard from place to place. Colin and I stayed two nights at Christ Church, but other than that, it has been one night per place and then move on. So I’m due to settle down a little bit… I’m staying here in Gibraltar for three nights. It almost didn’t happen though.
The late flight from London last night got about an hour away and the captain came on saying, “We might not be able to land in Gibraltar. There is a lot of mist coming off the rock. We’re going to keep going that way, but we might be diverted to Málaga.” Technically, it is called a “Levanter Cloud”. Google that with “Rock of Gibraltar” and you’ll see some pretty spectacular pictures.
Anyway, I opened Google Maps on my phone (yes, it works when you’re set to airplane mode) to watch our progress. We kept going toward the Rock. The people sitting next to me were quite familiar with Gibraltar, and said that it is not unheard of for the plane to touch down, but then realize they’re not going to stop, and take off again for Málaga. So it was with some trepidation that I kept watching my phone, and kept looking out the window. We came in very low over the water, and landed… and stopped. The passengers erupted in applause. Relief.
I walked the mile and a half to my AirBnB. By the way, to get to the city from the airport, you have to walk across the runway. The road is like a drawbridge, with these gates that come down whenever a plane is approaching. Funny.
So the connotations I mentioned earlier: yes, this is a Jewish household I’m staying in, and they are quite strict in their observance. For example, I can’t use the kitchen or bring any food into it because it is kept kosher. So let’s call this a Sabbath. It’s not Saturday, but it is a national holiday. It is Gibraltar Day. Which is kind of funny, because it is not a full-blown Independence Day, because they are only semi-independent from Britain. So there’s not a lot of celebrating (at least that I saw), but the banks are closed.
I’ve taken a rest from going anywhere else today to sleep, but I’ve not taken a rest from exploring my local environment. I probably broke the rule about the number of steps you’re allowed to take on a sabbath, because I walked all the way up the big rock this morning. It is pretty spectacular (I think I’ve said that once already about things here). A good bit of the hike is on the Charles V Wall steps. According to the internet, there are 660 of those steps. According to some family lore, which is probably less reliable than the internet, Charles V (the Holy Roman Emperor in the 1500s, who was also King of Spain when they still owned this rock) is our direct ancestor, because of one of his daughters eloped with a character named Stumpf, whose three sons dropped the f (not the bomb!) when they immigrated to America. (None of this story can be independently corroborated, but I have it all in an email from a distant relative!) Anyway, Charles V had a wall built and I walked up it today, only achieving semi-independence from the macaques which have taken over the wall as their own.
From the top of the Rock, I could see over the other side to the Mediterranean, and right there was the oil tanker that has been in the news the last week. It started leaking oil, and now looks like it’s sinking. You can see the oil slick coming off it. Sad.
On the way down the rock, I almost skipped St. Michael’s Cave. That would have been a mistake, because it is… spectacular. Of course there is lots of lore around this, but one story is that it got it’s name because this configuration of stalactites and stalagmites looks like an angel (but are angels sainted??). There is also a chamber big enough that they have converted it into a concert hall. I sat there and watched the light and music show. Impressive.
I’ve also taken a sabbath rest today from not reading… I got a book on Kindle (sorry Ana) to read about the evolution of religion. There are some important bits in the story that have to do with caves.
More about that tomorrow. Curious?
The cave is stunning!
Also, I forgive you.