Monkey Business

Arriving in Spain, I got to add one more country to my personal list of “places I’ve been” which brought me one notch closer to Mr. U’s total.  This made him cranky as apparently everything IS a competition.  Despite the malcontent’s grumblings, I was determined to have a great time and not feel one iota of guilt.  In fact, I delighted in the knowledge that I was creeping up on Mr. U’s total slowly but surely.  Both of us going to Gibraltar did nothing more than to boost each of our “scores” up by one, thus keeping things evenly uneven.

The Rock

 So, what did I know about Gibraltar before going?  Well, there is a rock, there are monkeys and it is under British rule but that wasn’t always the case.  All these are true but to varying degrees.  What I didn’t know was more of the rich history, the vibrant culture and heritage, the booming economy and the energy that exists in the tiny, British Overseas Territory.

Here are 10 things that I have since learned about Gibraltar:

1. Although there is a Gibraltarian currency (Gibraltar £), you can pay with British £ at par and get the same back in change. (Handy if you never plan on returning.)
2. The main language is English, although Spanish is also taught in schools.  There is also a vernacular of sorts called Llanito that is spoken by Gibraltarians.  Combine Llanito with Spanish and you get Giberish!  (ba-dum-dum!  Our driver pulled that groaner on us.)
3.  Despite being a British Territory, vehicles drive on the right.
4.  The path to enter Gibraltar crosses through the airport which is closed when aircraft use the runway.
5.  Gibraltar was featured in the James Bond film The Living Daylights and the 2011 Muppet movie.
6.  The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest has a number of chapters set in Gibraltar.
7.  Legend has it that as long as there are Barbary Macaques in Gibraltar, the British will rule the land.
8.  You can see the tip of Africa from Gibraltar with the naked eye.
9.  Gibraltar was once under water but due to tectonic upheavals, is now above the water line.
10. The Rock of Gibraltar is composed of Jurassic limestone.

Arriving into Gibraltar was a laugh.  The Spanish customs officer mounted the bus, walked along the aisle to the side exit and left the bus without even glancing at our passports, let alone our faces.  The Gibraltarian customs officer glanced at our passports but did the same, exiting the bus by the side without looking at the documents of those who were sitting in the back of the bus.  Luckily for us, there were no flights inbound or outbound and we were able to breeze through the airport, across the runway and into town.

As most of our bus was filled with British expat residents from the Costa del Sol going to Gibraltar to shop and do their banking, we were dropped off at Morrisson’s (the British grocery store equivalent to our Superstore) with the strict reminder that the bus would indeed be leaving not a moment after 4:15PM.

We were finally granted a reprieve form the grey, cloudy and rainy weather that hovered above Torremolinos.  The closer we got to Gibraltar, the clearer the day became.  Bathed in sunshine, a 20 minute walk to the gates of town brought us along the water and into the main square where we feasted on fish and chips, steak & kidney pie and of course, some lager to wash it all down.  

Phillippino beer?  We just went with it.

The portion size was crazy!  That is a full size fork.

Those are normal hand cut fries - the S&K pie is small.

After much back and forth, we decided to take a guided taxi tour to the top of the rock, stopping at four major tourist attractions that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to access on our own.   It turns out that we made the right choice because I probably would have lost my mind taking the cable car up the side of the mountain.  As it was, my heart was in my throat for most of the drive even though I was in the middle seat with Mr. U and my m-i-l on either side of me.  You can’t blame me though - Jason, our driver, was certifiable.  He was chatting on the phone, turning around to talk to us and somehow managing to stay on the road despite some very close calls along the very steep and narrow mountain roads.  My blood pressure was slightly elevated, to say the least.

Jason's (our driver) rear view mirror

We hopped out at some natural caves, toured the military tunnels that allowed us to survey the landscape from inside the rock and even interacted with the Barbary Macaques in the nature reserve!  This time I was brave and allowed a macaque to hop into my arms.  Not to worry, I sanitized my hands and washed my hoodie immediately after that experience.

You can see the northernmost tip of Africa in the background, just below the clouds.

the vantage point from which you can observe Africa on a clear day

natural caves

concerts are held here in the natural amphitheater

Strait of Gibraltar

The view of Spain from the top of The Rock

                                                 view through a gun port                                                      photo: Mr. U

 just monkeying around at the top of The Rock

Jason and the monkey

This little guy was looking for food and almost came on the rest of the tour with us.

Leaving Gibraltar was just as easy as arriving; in fact even more so.  We had to disembark and walk through an open structure past a bored-looking individual in a uniform.  The next thing I knew I was outside again without realizing I had just crossed over into Spain.  I handed my passport back to Mr. U (he doesn’t trust me with my own documents - I wonder why) and then realized I probably wouldn’t make it the two and a half hours back to Torremolinos without having to go to the loo.  I promptly went back into the “building” and used the facilities.  To my dismay, there was no toilet paper nor was there a lock on the door.  I’ll let you use your imagination as to how I sorted that out.  It wasn’t pretty.  I then walked back out to the group where Mr. U let me have it for crossing back over the border without my papers.  Whoops!  I seem to have a long history of crossing borders to go to the toilet but that is another story for another day.

All in all, it was a brilliant day.