Finally, the Rock

Ok, let's start doing what I planned. That means, let's finish sharing our Eurotrip2016 stories. We have already been to Neuf-Brisach, Clermont-Ferrand and La Roque-Gageac in France, as well as in Bilbao, Gaztelugatxe, Castillo de Butron, La Coruna, Santiago de Compostela and Cape Finisterre in Spain, and Fatima, Obidos, Cabo da Roca and Peniche in Portugal. It's time to move to yet another place.

The following day it was time to pack our belongings and leave Peniche. Which is so close to Obidos (in case you haven't noticed, we really loved that little medieval town). Kids spent the morning with me on the playground on the campsite, while my husband packed the tent. Ok, first we helped (a little). No, seriously, we helped. Until he made us go. Cause we knew kids had to run around a little (or a lot) to be able to spend some time sitting in the car.

The goal was simple. Get to the southern parts of Portugal and spend the afternoon at Pego do Inferno. I really wanted to visit that place as it was recommended to me by a few Portuguese people. And whom better to ask, right? I checked all the directions back when we were still home. Marked it even on the litte map we used throughout the trip (but it was a general one. A printout of google map that showed whole of Spain, Portugal and southern parts of France, so no details there. I made it to mark the places that we might want to visit throughout the trip and that was its main purpose. To show where they lie).

No, we didn't get to Pego do Inferno. I got confused where it was, where we should turn, which exit from the highway to take. After some time and a lot of confusion, we decided to just let go and head back to Spain. Ok, back to Spain, but to its other part. This time we entered the southern part of Spain. It was a long day spent in the car.

We spent the evening swimming in the pool and playing at the playground, before the following day we made it to our trip goal destination.

I woke up early, excited like a little kid. I couldn't wait for the rest of the crew to wash themselves, get dressed and eat breakfast. I wanted to go, to have as much time *there* as possible.

We made it. We got into the car and hit the road. The road was strange, bumpy, not the easiest, and towards the end... jammed. We left the car in one of the underground carparks and decided to cross the border on foot. There was no line, noone really looked at our documents, but the borderguards were there. Nevermind, I don't care. We made it. We were in Gibraltar.

Yes, getting to Gibraltar was the goal of our roadtrip. It's a long drive from northern Poland and we didn't know how our kids would react to so many days on the road.

Luckily, they were very brave and patient and let mama's dream come true.

When we crossed the border, we hopped on the bus to get closer to the centre. Although Gibraltar is small and maybe you can't really get lost there, when it's hot and yu have two kids (plus a grown man, but in such a situation, you can count him as a kid, too) with you, you just don't want to spend too much time wandering around.

We went to the tourist centre, where we got all the information we needed plus a map with the routes we wanted marked on it. We were ready to get to the Rock.

We didn't buy the tickets for the cable car in advance. Yet again, we didn't know when and if we were going to get to Gibraltar. That's why we had to wait in two lines. First one - to get the tickets. And then the second one - to get on the cable car. Both were slow, so it took a lot of time, so if you have a chance, try to buy your tickets in advance. You can save yourself an hour or so.

Finally, we got to the top. The moment we got there, we were greeted by... yes, the monkeys. No, not the band (The Monkees that is). But real badasses. K. was carrying Paula since it felt better to hold her up on the crowded cable car. So that she could enjoy the views out the windows instead of other people's asses. Anyway, he was holding her up in his arms and one of the monkeys jumped on his back. Face to face with our kid. K. shook the monkey off (a nearby wall helped a little, sorry not sorry. No harm done, though, in case you were wondering). It just sat there, looking angry at him. I mean, it all just took seconds, Paula didn't even get scared. But I was petrified. It was long enough for me to imagine all the consequences of the monkey's attack on the kid. Oh, and on my husband as well. But first on the kid. Mama's priorities. Sorry, Hun.

Besides, it wasn't K.'s first fight with a monkey. In case you can't remember, he had his first combat back in 2015 during our trip to the Tiger Cave Temple in Thailand. So he had some experience... Animal magnetism?

No other monkey got anywhere too close to us. At least not one that was awake. We could see them jumping on baby strollers, though (luckily, no kid inside). Oh, those nasty beasts. But enough with the monkeys.

From the Rock, we took a look at Spain and at Africa. We walked around a little, took a few pictures, sneaked into some ruins (of military buildings?) and once we felt that we saw everything we wanted, we took the cable car back to the town. There was a short moment when we discussed hitting the trail, but it didn't stick for too long. Maybe some other time.

We got back to the town, walked the narrow streets, grabbed something to eat and got back to Spain, to our car, to the campsite.

But whenever I hear "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, I'm immediately back to Gibraltar.