Gibraltar as in Rock of Gibraltar

Got up at 5 AM. It has been a while since I am been up this early. Today I am going on a tour to Gibraltar. Quick breakfast as the places we stop on the way are very expensive and they do not have much. No Big Stops here. Walk to the hotel where I am scheduled to be being picked up at 5:40.The bus is about 15 minutes late. One other couple is waiting as well. I talked to them for a bit. They said we'll never come back here. Curious why, I say why not. To hilly. I almost said “have you heard of TripAdvisor” but I held back. Anyway it turn out that they paid something like $165 each to fly here and the airline they flew with had a special for $10 a night for the hotel. After that I did not feel so bad for them.

Once on the bus, only 2 stops to pick up people. One in town and one again in Monte Gordo like the time I went to Seville which add another 15 minutes to an already long bus ride. After 1 and a half we stopped for a restroom and breakfast for those who needed it. The drive to Seville is pretty boring as I seen it twice already (Mostly olive trees). In Seville we cross a bridge that I have not been on before. From there you can see the Cathedral and you then realize how big it is. After Seville it gets more interesting. The landscapes changes about 4/5 times between Seville and Gibraltar.

At first, the farmlands are very flat almost like the prairies. One interesting thing was the cement aqua-ducts that some of the farmers were using. These probably date back to the 50s 70s. Don't know but they have been around for a while. Some of the new fields were using sprinkler we we do in Canada.

After that the terrain got gradually more hilly. First gentle rolling hills where the farmers grew grain crops.

Then even more hilly where it turned in cattle country and bull ranching as well from what I could see. Probably for bull fighting. We stop for a quick 20 minutes break at this point which is about 4 hours since departure. This is a small hotel with a restaurant attached to hit. The have those lovely cured ham hanging from the ceiling. I would buy on of them if I lived here. Around this time we are going thru an area with lots of wind farms. I could could feel the bus moving as we drove along and now I understand why they close the bridge to PEI when the winds gets too strong.

After this part we gets into an area of step hills and valleys with a couple of lakes and rivers. Other than an odd church, old castle, small village it was mainly country side and nature.

Largest bull I have ever seen

Finally got to Gibraltar at 11:45. We have 5 hours to spend here. I opt to do a 2 hour bus tour for 22 euros. We get dropped off customs where we need to walk into Gibraltar. Security should be like this everywhere. Just show your passport and keep walking. You do not even stop unless they ask you. Next to customs is the airport runaway. The guards stops us because the BA plane just landed and it is taxiing to its gate. We walk across the runaway with the wind blowing about 30 click an hour to the bus tour parking lot.

Gibraltar is a British territory since the early 1700. It is about 6 square miles. The prices of everything here is in pounds but euros are also accepted.

The tour guide explains that most of the city is surrounded by a protected wall. Either the original from the Spanish in 1600s or the British in the 1700/800s. What is not surrounded is reclamation land. We tour around the city a bit and then thru a tunnel to get to Europa Point which is the southern most point in Gibraltar. On a clear day, Africa is visible but not today. The winds are blowing strongly from the east and it is too hazy. Will just need to go to Africa to see it, I guess. Here there is the lighthouse as this area is very busy with ships. There is also a Muslim mosque that was built in 1997 at a cost of $5 million. Out of the 40,000 people living here, 2000 are Muslim. Gibraltar is a multiple languages and religion with no one being a majority. Largest is 30% Britons and 30% Catholics.

Lighthouse at Europa Point

We now drive thru another tunnel to get to St. Micheal’s Cave. Gibraltar is made of limestone and over the years a large cave had been produced from rain seeping into the grounds. The main part is large enough that they have built seating for 300 to give concerts. I can just imaging how good that would be. There are numerous stalactites and stalagmites. Very cool place to see.

St Micheal`s cave

What is a cave without a scull

Next we drive up at a steep incline to go see the apes of Gibraltar. These were brought from Africa. They have no tails. There are about 300 in Gibraltar and the only ones in Europe. They are very good at stealing food from you. One of the tour van left his door open and one ran in and stole some oranges. Another one at the caves stole and ice cream bar. I was considering doing that myself as I was not paying over $3 for that. The guide said they are not aggressive and may jump on your shoulders at time but said they will bite if you have food and you do not give it to them if they try to take it. It is illegal to feed them.

Mmmm What is it we were suposed to do again!

Tailless ape, Guess for who as well

Fred, I think he has lice

Mine, all mine

Next we stop by the Moorish castle from before the 1300s. You can still see where it was hit by the stones shot by catapults. We just looked from a lookout. There was some nice views of the city as well. Gibraltar economy is mostly built on tourism but it also a bit of a tax heaven. Another part of its economy is the dry dock which used to be a military base for the UK. Its largest can work on aircraft carrier.

Moorish castle

Hope the brakes are good

Our last stopped was to see the canons that was placed into the wall of the Gibraltar rock facing Spain during the second world war. These were never used. The rock that was removed to create the tunnels was used to create the some of the land for the airport. Gibraltar has 42 miles of tunnels.

Back in town, we get dropped off. Time for lunch as it is now past 2 PM. I find the second oldest pub in town. Since I am kinda on British lands, it sounds like a good idea to be in a pub. I ordered curry chicken and a, of course, a pint of beer from the UK. Both were delicious. Got a bad exchange rate, should have paid with my credit card, of well, live and learn. Cheap lesson as it only cost me an extra $2, next time I will know better.
Explored the city a bit, up and down a few side streets. Stopped by one church of course. There are no taxes here on products. So lots of liquor and tobacco stores. We were allowed to bring back 1 bottle and 1 carton of cigarettes. Not like Canada where you need to be there overnight. Next was camera, jewelry, souvenirs stores. My big purchase was a fridge magnet. Met up with the rest of the group and we walked back to the bus.

View from town square

All the tourists are herre

Am I in the UK

If you look, you can see the canons

You are clear to land on runaway 3.  I think we should run.

The Rock of Gibraltar

The drive back was pretty much the same except for 2 things. We had to stop at the last stop we made for the driver to run in for 1 minute. I figure he get a cut of what we spent in there on food and beverage. The other things was that the drop off in town were reverse than this morning. We made about 8/10 stop around town before mine. Just what you want to start doing at 10 PM. Got to see a few places that I had not seen before. 10:30, I finally get dropped off. Very happy to have gone but also very tired. For 19 euros, 26/28 Canadians, it was well worth it.

I hope to sleep in tomorrow morning.