Yes I took a day trip to Gibraltar. This is the airport — more on that later but it’s where John and Yoko famously flashed their wedding certificate after chartering a jet (where they could get married in Gibraltar, near Spain).

I’ve learned that since the British came to the aid of Spain in War of the Spanish succession, the King promised Gibraltar to England into perpetuity. Though they don’t have sovereignty (whatever that means). Sorta like Hong Kong though that actually had an end date. (BTW this isn’t what Rick Steves or Wikipedia says though it’s what the guides and a local Spaniard told me.) Hmm.

Meantime a tiny piece of North Africa just across the water (Ceuta) is Spanish because of a situation where the Spaniards refused to return the land to the Moroccans. (Though on this I also heard a slightly different story from a Spaniard. And there’s another Spanish city in Africa but not so close to Spain.) Anyway it’s all a tad confusing but the people seem to like being where they are. Above is a view of Northern Africa — a bit of Tangier but west of it. It’s pretty close! The straits of Gibraltar are 14 km (9 mi) at its narrowest point. And for the record, the border control on the way in was almost nonexistent; I had my passport but no one really looked at it. They definitely did more between Morocco and Spain. No idea if Brexit will affect all this!!?? On the way back, on the other hand, the Spanish took awhile looking at my passport (two of them held up the line with a brief discussion over it while all the EU people had been literally waved through) — but they asked me no questions as they paged through it and then kindly sent me on my way.

This stopover was another suggestion from Radhika and also my Glasgow hosts. And it seems like such an odd thing, to find a bit of England in the middle of Spain and almost North Africa.Plus it’s an amazingly huge weird rock in the middle of a flat area. I mean Andalusia is quite hilly/mountainy but Gibraltar sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. There’s the story that Hercules, in one of his labors, created the strait of Gibraltar and two twin pillars (by busting through a mountain that was in his way). One is the Rock of Gibraltar (there’s more to Gibraltar than just the Rock — though the Rock seems to be about half of it). The other is in Morocco and Troy and I just missed seeing it. Oh well. I keep seeing only half the remains of these old myths — like the giants’ causeway.

Meantime though I didn’t spend much time there, I heard more Spanish than English. I mean everyone speaks English but both the service industry people and people strolling the streets seemed more Spanish than British. (Though they could be tourists.) And there are tons of Spanish food-related shops. No matter.

It’s interesting. The rock itself is really huge. And full of caves. I took a taxi tour that drives you around to the major sites. (I parked in Spain and walked across the border — my car rental people said I couldn’t take the car to a UK place. Many guidebooks recommend doing this anyway but I’m off season so I suspect it would’ve been ok.)

There’s also a cable car but with my fear of heights issues, I thought the cab ride would be better. And anyway non authorized people cannot drive on the Rock — not that I’d want to!! I was getting nervous just being in the guy’s mini van (they wait until they have 5-8 people and then take you up as a group). Talk about narrow roads within constant switchbacks and negotiating harrowing curves. No way.

In fact walking can feel rather harrowing since you’re on the same roads — and sharing it with those same minivans that are frequently going up and down with tourists. And the occasional larger sized coach bus. So I was on the edge a lot (literally and figuratively) when I decided to walk back up (not even close to the top but I did clock 68 flights yesterday so some). Though there are walls and terraces to admire the views (and get out of the way).

Anyway the area is famous for their Barbary Macaques. These guys seem to be able to pick the best views! Though they’re everywhere.

Officially tailless monkeys, they’re also (erroneously) called apes. They’re protected and fed; but the guides and books warn they can be aggressive and people shouldn’t get overly friendly with them. Scared the crap out of me! Even the babies.

And they might jump on you. I saw one do so and the guy sorta pushed him off and subsequently got bit. Not fun. Though they’re cute I have no idea if rabies are an issue here.

The guide seemed to think it’s more an issue with stitches and time lost on vacation. He claims he was driving António Banderas and his girlfriend around and the woman insisted on hugging a baby and trying to take selfies despite all his warnings. She got bit and her designer clothes ripped. And she had to go to the hospital to get stitched up (in his story, he had to take them and wait). No idea if it’s true or just a good story.

Other than the monkeys and the great views to Africa (and Spain across the bay, above, which is much closer), there are some cool caves.

It’s weird because in the other caves I’ve seen, they make a big deal that the lights affect the stones (causing harmful mold and mildew) and oils from human skin can deteriorate the rocks. But there was a constant light show in St Michael’s Cave. So my photos look different because of the unavoidable strobe effects. And they had pop music playing.

And no signs about handling the rocks — I saw graffiti! Oh and they have an auditorium built inside where they put on musical/dance/theatrical shows. Crazy. Though they say the acoustics are good. (And yes it hurts to look at this neon pink but you can see the stage here.)

Finally, the Rock’s other claim to fame is about surviving sieges. The cave was used as a hospital in WWII. And we saw tunnels created to survive the Great Sieges of 1779-83 (the Spanish trying to take back the Rock). There are also WWII tunnels but I didn’t end up going in them.

There’s also a Moorish castle that was fortified frequently and used by various controlling powers. Apparently the walls are so thick, it’s pretty impenetrable. I guess that rock is really sturdy unlike the soil in Arcos??!! I mean they blasted through the rock to create those tunnels. Following the tour I walked around the tourist town part. I was told the Spaniards loved coming here for duty free shopping but the Internet has hurt that business. Meantime I found a recommended pub (thank you Mr Steves) and had fish and chips with a pint of Murphy’s on tap. Took them forever but I was in no hurry.

Afterwards I walked back up the rock to get to a few sites we missed on our tour (like the Moorish castle). I think I’m getting jaded because with all the traveling I’ve been doing, most of these Moorish structures aren’t that impressive anymore. But the thing in Gibraltar isn’t great preservation from what I can see. It really seems to be more about how things were in war time. And how they persevered through hardship. Typical British??! I didn’t take photos of their hokey recreations of life in the tough times …

Oh, they do have some nice looking beaches. And of course lots of ships.

All in all I’m glad I went. But I don’t need more time there or to go again. You just gotta do it once!

One crazy thing — we were told their airport is the 4th most dangerous in the world. (Singapore is #1.) You actually walk/drive through the runways. But not (hopefully) when planes are landing. I caught a photo of one coming in — it’s a short runway with water on both sides so I guess I can see why it’s dangerous — pedestrian and car traffic in the middle and water on both ends?!

Meantime a note on my Airbnb. I’m in a gated community 20 minutes’ drive from the Gibraltar parking lots. This is the view from the path in front.

It’s a resort but the host has a townhouse and rents out a few rooms (he has a long term lodger, who his Airbnb folks share a bathroom with). I’m not usually a big fan of gated communities but after the tiny damp places I’ve been in lately, this was a welcome relief. Incredibly clean, laundry facilities, and nice to actually have the host there to help out. (He even fixed my broken water bottle with two kinds of glue. Not pretty but not broken. I was just going to use masking tape!)

There’s a beach, pool, and market plaza that one can walk to. And where I had my coffee this morning and a few glasses of wine at the pizzeria with my host and his friend last night. Not a terrible life. Despite my socialist leanings. Sigh.

And from the beach I took this. I don’t think it comes out well in the photo, but you can see three nations from there. British Gibraltar. Out near the ship on the left side are mountains of Morocco. And just left of Gibraltar are mountains of Spain. I could see it well but the sun glare and clouds don’t seem to mix well with my camera. It was pretty nice.

Anyway I’ll post this from Sevilla. Time to hit the road again.