The main goal yesterday was to walk The Mediterranean Steps...a 1.5 km (1 mile) long hiking trail on the steep side of The Rock. It's a short enough hike...but it still took us an hour to do it!
But first, we had to walk 6.0 kms (3.8 miles) just to get from where we are parked to the trail entrance.
Along the way, we stopped in at Benjamin's Gourmet Foods, a new cafe style restaurant in Gibraltar recommended by one of our readers. It's a new place, and the couple who own it also operated a restaurant in Manitoba, Canada for 18 years. They have several gluten free items on the menu and it's all homemade. We didn't have anything to eat, but we did talk to them for a few minutes. We planned on stopping by for a snack on the way home, but never made it.
At the entrance to the Mediterranean Steps is an old Jewish cemetery.
The old Jewish cemetery.
Hiking the trail, it doesn't take long before it starts to climb. If you saw this side of the rock, you wouldn't even believe they could put a hiking trail here. Very steep in spots, with sheer cliffs dropping down to the sea.
About half way. Lots of spring wildflowers already blooming.
Kevin on the Mediterranean Steps.
A couple of small caves along the way.
Almost there!
Even get to go through a tunnel.
The east side of the rock.
Kevin, heading up the steps.
I took a short video for you...
Looking down at where we came from.
At the top.
There are two old military installations at the top. A couple of huge guns dating back to 1898. It normally costs 3 euros to get in, but they were doing some renovations and it was "officially" closed, although there wasn't anything to stop you from walking around. Only a couple of other hikers at the top, so we had it pretty much to ourselves.
The big old gun.
That turret hasn't spun around for a while!
Yep, it's a big gun!
Ka-boom!
Can you imagine the noise it must have made when it was fired?
Ruth, enjoying the view.
The other gun had been renovated and was in a little better condition.
From the top of The Rock of Gibraltar. If you look closely around the front middle of the photo in amongst the dark green bushes you can some of the steps we climbed.
Then we hiked back down on the roadways on the western side. Man, we've put a lot of steps on the past four days! I think we're due for a break. In fact, we're heading to a campground today near the town of Vejer de la Frontera to recharge our battery, have some decent showers and do some laundry.
See you there!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rubbermaid folding laundry hamper...almost half price...
I can't imagine being able to hurtle a projectile 16 miles. Enjoy your laundry day.
ReplyDeleteYep, especially something that weighs 380lbs!
DeleteWow, what a pretty trail and gorgeous views! That's a lot of steps to climb; I would be huffing and puffing for sure. But all worth it in the end, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteIt was a gorgeous trail, we really were surprised at all the plants and flowers along the way to. It felt very tropical and in some areas even jungle like.
DeleteWe surprised ourselves with the climb up, as there were only a few spots that we had to specifically stop to give ourselves a break and catch our breath. Definitely worth it! :-)
Fantastic views!
ReplyDeleteYes, absolutely amazing views!
DeleteCan't even imagine all the work put into moving, hauling, getting all that stuff up to the top of the rock - amazing!
ReplyDeleteYes, making the trail would have been a feat in itself. Along the trail there were also gun batteries as well that would have had to have been made by carting everything up hill or down but the stuff at the top, I am sure was brought up by a road. I tried to find out when the roads on the rock were built but haven't really been able to find the info.
DeleteWow! The views are amazing and that is a serious hike. Similar guns were built on Whitby Island in Washington State during WW2, to fend off the Japanese. They never came and the guns were never fired. One gun still remains...
ReplyDeleteThe views were amazing and definitely worth the climb up.
DeleteThese guns were definitely used from the first world war right up to the second. The bigger gun was changed before the second world war though as a smaller one had been in place before that. Actually the big gun at O'Hara's Battery was last used in a training exercises back in 1976.
Wow! Thanks for suggesting to look at the pic so see the trail you hiked up! What was the Restaurant in Manitoba? Have to ask, my home province!
ReplyDeleteThe trail was amazing and we can't understand how they even made it to start with but obviously they did!
DeleteTheir restaurant in Manitoba went by the same name, not sure if they closed it up or if it has been taken over by someone else. It is/was in Selkirk.
Amazing views fro the top there but with the shear cliffs, the climb is not for us.
ReplyDeleteThis climb isn't for a lot of folks but we sure enjoyed it.
DeleteThat hike looks amazing but I do not know if we would have the stamina to do it. Knees not so good anymore. Thanks for the lovely views feel like we visited the area with you. Love your journey so far and yes I believe you both need a break from all the walking and climbing! Enjoy your hot shower! Looking forward to your next adventure!
ReplyDeleteI think the bigger problem would be if you have a problem with heights or vertigo rather than the steepness. We always say that almost anyone can do it, it just may take a lot longer to do it along with lots of breaks in between.
DeleteWe love walking/hiking so it won't be much of a break. ;-)
Gosh, you've been climbing to some dizzy heights lately! I'm thinking you wouldn't want to hike that trail in the rain! Fantastic views and photos.
ReplyDeleteYes, we certainly have and we love it both for the views and for the exercise. I wouldn't want to do that hike in the rain either, especially if you had to go down it as well. I do better at going up steep inclines than going down steep declines. We took the road back down on this hike!
DeleteWoo-hoo, I hope you enjoyed those "decent" showers, you deserve it!!
ReplyDeleteYes, we sure deserve it! :-)
DeleteGraet view from the top! I see the ship traffic is still prettu busy:)
ReplyDeleteIt's a fantastic view from the top! Yep, lots of ship traffic, we couldn't get over all the ships in the area.
Delete