My poor passport has been sat patiently waiting, practically expiring, when after an excruciatingly long 477 days, it was finally back in business! Last summer when travel was kind of risky but technically allowed, I held off on the basis that I'd wait for things to ease up more. As we now know, it went the opposite way! So this time, I was working on the basis that as soon as we could go, we were going! With the week after my birthday booked off, I had everything crossed that me and Ollie would make it abroad but planned to do a staycation if we couldn't. When the rules for that 3 week travel period were announced, it was either Iceland or Gibraltar so we booked 4 nights in Gibraltar that very night. It was kind of confusing working out what documents and tests you needed (especially since they updated it 2 days before we travelled) but basically Ollie needed a test before flying out (I'm fully vaccinated so got to skip that one), we both needed a test when we landed in Gibraltar (free), we both needed a test within the 48 hour period before we flew back to England (£30) and we both needed a test on day 2 after we arrived home (£45). Aside from that and the fact you still have to wear masks indoors over there, it felt so normal and it was honestly SO good to get away.
We'd ended up booking through Thomas Cook (I know, I thought they were gone too) and with no flights from the midlands to Gibraltar, we ended up flying from Manchester. Because Gibraltar is so small, there were only a few hotels to choose from and after deciding the Sunborne looked cool but the rooms looked very small, we booked the Eliott Hotel. A decision we were really happy with! It was super central, just off the main high street of shops, cafes and restaurants and it was so lovely. Our room was massive with a super king bed, lovely modern decor, big stylish bathroom and the most amazing view from our balcony!
We couldn't actually get into our room until 3pm though, having arrived before 11am, so we headed out to explore. Ollie forgets something on every single trip we take together, guaranteed (the funniest time being when he forgot his suit trousers when we attended a work event in London and we had to hotfoot it to Selfridges to try and find a pair that matched his blue jacket). This time was no exception, despite my best efforts to get him to work to my super organised packing list, and this time he'd forgotten his white trainers so we headed off on a little shopping spree. Gibraltar is super pretty with classic European architecture and a very Spanish feel but the way that it feels like Britain has thrown up all over it is a little strange. There's British money, British police uniforms, British traffic lights and loads of British shops including M&S! That did work to our advantage on the shopping front though as they had loads of shoe shops and our white trainer search was a pretty short one. Just in time to find a spot for something a lot more Spanish; sangria! Sat in the main square, drinking sangria, eating Caesar salad and burning to a crisp (having accidentally left the sun tan lotion in the case at the hotel), I honestly felt like life had never been so good.
Until it got even better! After checking into our room, it was straight up to the rooftop pool to soak up some sun (con sun tan lotion this time). The views from the pool were even better than the ones from our balcony and it was a lovely pool with 2 different levels of seating (although there were only a small handful of sun loungers).
After a serious attempt in covering my comedy-sun-burnt face, we were ready to head for our first night out! I liked that me and Ollie subtly (accidentally) colour coordinated each night, with both of us adding a splash of red on the first night. This playsuit was from Shein and I love the tied halter neck and botanical print. I added lace up black heels and red lipstick to boot and then we headed off in hunt of a tapas restaurant. A quick google search looked like there were a number of them all in a row so we had a walk there and found a really cute little courtyard of restaurants and bars strung in fairylights. We ended up at one called Chimney and all of the food was incredible, although it was weird being presented with the same Freixnet bottle we get at home after ordering the prosecco!
The next day was really cloudy (boooo) but we weren't going to let that stop us making the most of it! After seeing that the cable car was closed due to the wind, we headed down to the ocean village area in search of a boat ride and some brunch/lunch. The lunch spot we found (Biancas) looked pretty busy so we figured it was popular but eugh the food was not good. Craving the kind of amazing pizza you normally get on holiday, what we got was a big cheesy mess that made us severely regret getting nachos to share on the side (also a big cheesy mess). Atleast the coffee was good I suppose! And after starting the day with a civilised coffee and OJ, it was officially acceptable to get on the booze, which we stopped at a bar called Brunos for while we waited for our next activity...
When we went looking for a boat trip, we never imagined we'd get as lucky as we did! The boat trip on offer was a dolphin spotting safari and after jetting out into the bay, we saw absolutely loads of them for the whole hour of the boat trip! Dolphins swimming right up to the boat, dolphins jumping out of the water doing tricks and even baby dolphins! I reckon they've probably missed the human interaction over the last year and were quite enjoying seeing us again. We certainly enjoyed seeing them and it was such a magical way to make the most of a less-than-perfect-weather day.
Having thought the Sunborne looked nice but not nice enough to stay at, we'd decided we would check it out for a drink or a lunch or something. Since we were right next to it after getting off the dolphin boat, we went up to their pool deck to share a bottle of wine. It was lovely and had really nice views from every angle - even the toilets were posh! The sun even graced us with its presence while we were there.
After getting ready for the evening, we were back on the coordination vibe with both of us in shades in green (unsurprisingly, Ollie didn't ask for an outfit photo after taking mine). This top is one that I've been obsessed with since I bought it but haven't had chance to wear it yet. I love broderie anglaise and the fit of this top reminds me of a Lipsy dress that I had (and truly loved) when I was 13. So much so that I still have it, despite the fact that it doesn't even nearly fit me and is about the same length as this top is. So I'm super happy to have found its reincarnation in this shein top, and I love the little fabric buttons and puff sleeves. I wore it with paisley print skirt, lace up sandals and gorgeous new ted baker clutch that big Katie got me for my birthday.
We'd booked a table at Gauchos after having it recommended to us and it didn't disappoint. We shared goats cheese and empanada starters (the empanadas being a nice nod to its Argentinian vibe) and then did a sharer main too. I'm literally the opposite of joey doesn't share food these days; I very rarely have my own dish to myself. This main was meant for sharing though! Argentinian fillet steak served raw and sliced for you to cook on a hot stone at your table. I love the flare that a hot stone brings to a meal and the steak was honestly incredible. As was the red wine and sides we had with it. If I'm being picky, the only negative about the whole thing was the fact that the restaurant is right on a busy road. So even though they play music, it still kind of encroaches on the ambience. Either way, the food was definitely worth it and the sunset view was pretty nice too.
We fancied a change of scenery after dinner so we headed back into the main square for some drinks. Again, it was weird being served a very British staple when I ordered a prosecco - I felt like I was on an aeroplane!
Praise the lord, it was beautifully sunny again the next day! So after some breakfast at a cute little spot on main street, we had a walk down to the cable car to not only tick the experience off our Gibraltar to-do list, but also to tick off some extra stuff once we got to the top...
Everyone who I'd told I was going to Gibrlatar, the first response was 'is that the place with all the monkeys?'. Yes it is, and I had not expected them to be as intimidating as they were. Some of them were massive, they tried grabbing people's bags and were jumping all over people (including Ollie). Being the same Moroccan monkeys that I fed when I went there, the Mediterranean has obviously toughened these ones up because they were taking no prisoners! It was cute to see them all, but I was constantly on edge trying to make sure I wasn't close enough to any to be jumped on. Well, my outfit was brand new afterall - white broderie anglaise top and red polka dot wrap skirt (both primark, both birthday gifts from mum). Feeling like we'd ticked the monkey experience off the list, we went to the restaurant at the top of the rock for drinks and 360 degree views. The views from up there were seriously incredible.
Next on our list was the beach! There were a few to choose from but we had a walk down to Eastern beach, which had a perfect view of the Rock and gorgeous sand. It was super windy though, so that gorgeous sand ended up getting painfully whipped all over us! It was too much to sunbathe in so we went straight in the sea instead, my first time in it in way too long and it definitely felt good to feel the sand between my toes again.
After a spot of late lunch on the walk back, we finished up an amazing day with a bit of later afternoon sunbathing by the pool. From eavesdropping on other people at the hotel, the sun lounger situation was a little crazy and competitive but arriving so late in the day as we kept doing, we seemed to get one no problem.
You might think that a bright yellow bag would go with fairly little but it matched my outfits perfectly 2 days in a row! This time I went with white skorts with yellow, black and green spot print, meaning it not only perfectly matched the yellow bag but also this puff sleeve green top. I finished with black lace up sandals and Taupe lipstick because it was way too windy to risk a gloss.
After a busy few days of ticking all the things we wanted to off our Gibraltar list, we had a very chilled last day. Breakfast at the hotel (which we technically missed the timeslot for but they made us one anyway), sunbathing and playing cards by the pool, lunch and drinks at Gibraltar's oldest bar, ice cream (one scoop of golden oreo and one scoop of melon which is the undefeated best flavour ever), more sunbathing, one last dip in the pool and one last time soaking in the view from our rooftop!
They say you should save the best until last and that was certainly true of my evening outfits this holiday. I've been obsessed with this dress since the first second I saw it and after getting it a few months ago, I knew it was the perfect holiday outfit. The silky fabric, the muted colour palette, the raised thigh ruching; love it, love it, love it. It was a shein bargain and I paired it with brown and gold sandals as it didn't look quite right with my black heels.
Not only were we back in perfect colour coordination for our last night, but we were also back at ocean village at a restaurant we'd been eyeing up. Grill 53 had an amazing meat and seafood menu and we got croquettes and baked provoleta to start (the amount of cheese I've had this holiday should be illegal), and then churrasco chicken and grilled salmon for mains. The food was incredible and after soaking in that golden hour glow with a bottle of prosecco, we finished the night with drinks at our hotel terrace bar.
After witnessing a worrying number of people get refused boarding (you've got to read the fine print guys and make sure you have the test results, paperwork and the whole shebang), we were homeward bound. We literally had the best holiday together - our first proper summer holiday after nearly 2 years together! It was honestly so amazing to finally get abroad again and I now naturally wish we'd gone for longer. I currently have everything crossed that the situation only improves from here and that there's plenty more opportunities for holidays throughout the rest of the year. After all, there's a lot of lost time to make up for!
Comments
Post a Comment