Meandering with Purpose - Southern Portugal take two, Seville, Gibraltar
As we near the one-month mark, we’re realizing just how much ground we had hoped to cover—and how much we still want to see on this leg of the journey. Our days have become a bit more intentional, but we still manage to noodle along the way. After all, life still needs living—and it’s way more fun figuring it out in our delightfully quirky setup!
It was so cool to finally make it down to the beach we’d spotted from above the other day—such a completely different perspective. One of the highlights was looking through the rock formations, imagining how the sky view will evolve over the years as the holes slowly grow and change shape.
We couldn’t resist retracing our steps through this beautiful part of Portugal. We even attempted a mission to reclaim the beloved polka dot vase—but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. It was Sunday, and the shop was closed. Maybe next time!
Next stop: Seville! One of the first things that took our breath away was this gigantic wooden structure—officially known as Metropol Parasol, but also called ‘Las Setas’ (The Mushrooms). It’s said to be the largest wooden structure in the world, and seeing it up close was truly awe-inspiring!
We attempted to find the renowned pastry window in Seville, ensuring we arrived within the designated hours. Despite circling the entire block and looking inside (which was impressive) our efforts were unsuccessful. These convents are known for selling traditional sweets made by cloistered nuns, who maintain their seclusion by using a revolving turntable, or “torno,” to conduct transactions without direct contact. Unfortunately, we missed out this time, but perhaps we’ll have better luck on a future visit.
I did get to see this beautiful palace on our search which was unexpected.
We enjoyed learning about the cork trees in one of our previous posts, so now we’re turning our attention to another natural marvel—a colossal tree right here in Seville. My guess is a Fig tree - but how could it be here in Seville??
As we cross into our third country (in this one blog post), the iconic Rock of Gibraltar comes into view. This towering limestone monolith, known as one of the ancient Pillars of Hercules, has stood as a sentinel at the gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean for centuries. Its strategic significance has shaped its rich history, making it a fascinating landmark on our travels. We were caught a bit off guard having to scramble to get our passports out of hiding for this one day mission.
Did we both get jumped on by monkeys? Yes we did! This guy was especially persistent and even managed to unzip a side pocket. The Barbary macaques that call the Rock of Gibraltar home are the only wild monkeys in Europe—and they’ve definitely learned a trick or two from the tourists!
Did we venture slightly out of bounds with some sketchy scrambling? Quite possibly. But with views like this, we’d say it was totally worth it!
Spotted some amazing lichen formations on the rocks at the top—so vivid and textured they almost looked like natural graffiti!
It was fun to wander through this little slice of the UK! I even popped into a hair salon to wash the monkey off me—haha. We also made our way down to check out the beach we had spotted earlier from above. Always a treat to see it from a different perspective!