Mediterranean Steps

One cannot travel to this area of the world and not explore the world history found inside. That would be like denying a person's birthright or their family history. It is part of what makes a place what it is. The Mediterranean Steps (Med Steps from now on ;) ) are truly worth the effort  into learning more about what makes the country of Gibralatar so unique.  The Steps start at the beginning of the Gibraltar Nature Preserve and at Jew's Gate, which is what the natives call the entrance to a beautifully maintained Jewish cemetery in Gib. BTW, Gibraltar is one of the few countries which can claim that all three of the major world religions-Christianity, Muslim and Jewish, all living within peaceful harmony in very close proximity.
The Med Steps are exquisite. They are high enough on the Rock that you are above the cloud cover, which only lends itself to an ethereal experience. They are steeped in history, as is most of the Rock. It was a valuable resource for the Allied Forces to use in WW1 and II. Inside the rock were miles upon miles of tunnels, five hospitals, and enough outposts and artillery posts to protect the entire island. The Steps were used as a main thoroughfare for the troops to travel back and forth from one side of the island to the other, without using the roads. And they are not for the faint of heart. The steps are grueling, very tall and steep, and truly frightening at times. The understanding is these were built for bustling healthy young men during the war effort, who were willing to scramble up rock faces to defend the fort. I demanded that Beloved stop shouting out "Death Fall" ahead of us when we would reach places with no railing. The trip went surprisingly better after that ;). The railing consisted of thick black mariner's rope anchored in aged wooden posts, and they were of great use to us as we ascended.
The ironic thing was...the higher you got, the more secure you felt. It was at the very beginning of the trail that the track was most unnerving, because you could seriously fall to your demise or serious injury at any point in the beginning. Towards the top you realized, uh, I'll just hit another switchback on the way down...it'll be cool.. I had to let those fears go though, because I remembered that if anyone was injured on that hike, at least we could say we were hiking on the Rock.

at the beginning 

switchbacks

Gorgeous blue water

some fantastic caves 

above the clouds

It was so. freakishly.  hot. 

love this it's very "Lord of the Flies"-ish...building built during WWI 

Tunnel

Gunnery outpost

top of the world 

and we thank you

Catalan Bay

the children find an abandoned outpost

is it a boat or is it a plane? 

 The trail gained about 800 ft in elevation in about 90 minutes' time, and it was HOT. The kind of hot where you start smelling different forms of sweat...not "Oh just going for a morning jog" sweat, this was "I had shrimp in spinach sauce two night ago and now I am outgassing garlic"--sweat. I even pulled a "Mary Jane" (private joke)... {The Germans we passed on the way up-the ONLY other  people we saw on the trail-were a little stunned to see us. Deutschland uber alles? Nein, nein, Fraulein ;)  }
Anyway...the views were stunning....beautiful turquoise and teal colored seas under a thick white blanket of white cloud, framed by thick green palm fronds,  succulents and of course stunning white limestone rock.
Your head would literally swim with the perspective of being so high up and the water looking SO crystal clear and close...Along with the colors of course were all of the abandoned gunnery posts and outlooks and bricked-over houses with cannons inside reaching out to you demanding you come inside...the tunnels and steps and all of the old musty ghostly sites which will  keep my children awake at night discussing the possibility of spirits in the material world... and whose were the initials carved inside those caves?

havin' a lil' snack in a lil' shade ;) 

Doe makes a friend with the local fauna...

Africa 

walking back into town...cool house with shell detail 

He was our guard dog at the Aragon Tavern  :) 

We ended up walking back into town and found Aragon Tavern, where we split two entrees for a very late lunch and drank up lots and lots of water and cold drinks. Then we walked into the town center, flagged down a taxi and got a ride back up to our car. Best 8 pounds we've ever spent ;).

As I write this tonight the children are already fast asleep. That is a first for us, they haven't gone to sleep before us in months!  It's been an amazing journey so far! Tonight we realize that today was just one of those days that we will never want to let go. It will be very hard to leave Gibraltar next week and start the second phase of our journey...Spain and then school starts. The kids will have lots to do to keep them busy ;)...