Europe 2021: Gibraltar

Europe 2021:

Gibraltar

I've been wanting to go to Gibraltar for quite some time. Not really sure why - it's not part of my European Micro-country Bingo I've been playing since it's actually a British Territory. Whatever the reason, we added it to our Spain and Portugal trip as just a quick stop.

You see Gibraltar from just about any direction you approach on the Spanish coast. The rock sticks up in the distance and it easily identifiable. It's not an island, but the only road in and out of the 2.6 square mile peninsula actually crosses the runway of the airport. If a plane is taking off or landing, which thankfully doesn't happen often, you wait. We got stuck for a few minutes while leaving as seen in the video below.

The Rock of Gibraltar is the main attraction of course. I was particularly interested in the Barbary apes that populate the top of the mountain. We took the cable car up and on the ride I was wondering aloud to Nel how difficult it might be to find the apes. Would we have to search or climb to a specific spot to catch a glimpse? I needn't have worried.

As we approached the top in the cable car, we heard a loud 'bang!', followed by a few minor screams. It sounded like something hit the car. It turned out to be an ape that just leapt to the front of our open window and tried to help himself to everyone's belongings.

Turns out they aren't hard to find at all. They're everywhere! They don't ignore you either, although you might wish they would. This Russian guy had a youngster on his shoulder. It started nipping at his ear, but the dude stayed pretty cool. All of a sudden, momma(?) jumped from the rail in the picture on the right all the way to the guys shoulder and knocked the little one to the ground! It was startling, but the Russian guy just took it and then the bigger ape got down.

As you walk around the mountain, the apes will try to steal stuff from you. If you have a backpack, you better keep it attached - they really went after those. They also seemed to like to grab ahold of women's dresses and pull. That was hilarious actually. If you had anything sticking out of your pocket, that was getting swiped too.

Gangs of thieving primates aside, the views from the top of the rock are stunning. You can see Africa on a clear day and the sun coast of Spain as well. In this picture, you can also see our hotel on the coast below.

There aren't a lot of hotels that are actually on the water, which is why I chose ours. We got a great parking space right by the door (and island defenses) as well for our little Caddy. This was pure luck, as I never saw an empty parking space again while we were there. We used the public buses to get around the tiny island.

My friend Barry is planning to buy a boat in Greece or Croatia and sail it back across the Atlantic. I have told him repeatedly that I will happily help him shake it down in the Med, but I'm getting off at Gibraltar, before he heads across the ocean. This is me acting out waving goodbye to him as he sails off from the tip of Gibraltar.

We thought Gibraltar was interesting. I wouldn't want to spend an extended period here, but as a short duration stop it was very interesting.