The Rock of Gibraltar was nothing like I expected. Close your eyes and envision the Prudential Insurance Company commercial using The Rock. I was amazed at what I found on this two and one quarter square mile rock. This behemouth monolith looms 1,400 feet high and can be seen from both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It stands guard at the narrow strait and is the only exit from the Mediterranean Sea. It shares a border to the north with Spain.
Within its limestone walls, you can find more than 140 caves, one of which I visited -- St. Michaels. The Rock has been inhabited since 950 B.C. by just about every country that has launched a boat. Currently, it functions as a British Overseas Territory. Spain wants it back. What makes its history so interesting is its strategic importance during WWII. The Rock was fortified with 30 miles of tunnels, which you can visit (boo hoo I didn't get to), and gunnery galleries were dug into its slopes, which you can still see. The Germans tried to bomb it, but after 45 planes were shot down, they gave up.
When we arrived, I expected to see a hugh rock and not much else. What I saw was a city, a really big city with tall buildings. The population of Gibraltar is 62,000 all scrunched into a small area on the western side. Old army and naval ruins stand the test of time while modern civilization encroaches. Most of the city is built on reclaimed land.
I had a panoramic tour of The Rock. We drove around the commerical and business area and then out to Europa Point, the western most point of Europe, via a rock tunnel that looked like our vehicle could not fit through it. Talk about a tight fit.
Then we proceeded to drive up the face of the rock on very narrow roads with crazy tight switchbacks. The buses were 20 person capacity because regular tour buses could never make it up the roads. And at one point, I didn't think the vehicle we were in would make it up either. I got to ride shotgun and had a great time joking around with our cockney driver/guide.
The caves are one of the sights to see; and then there are the monkeys. Barbary apes (actually tail-less macaque monkeys) were brought here by African Moors to help with gathering fruit high in the trees. They eventually died off and just a handful survived. The British came to the rescue of the apes by feeding and housing them. Their numbers increased and this is important to the British who believe Gibraltar will remain British as long as the apes stay on The Rock.
We arrived at St. Michael's cave and were greeted by the apes (really monkeys) dancing on top of the buses, or sitting in the road. They put on quite a show. People were more interesting in seeing these creatures than in seeing the cave, including me. The cave was nice.....
Michael's highlight of the day, believe it or not, was the airport. Yes, of course they have an airport in Gibraltar, but it is the only airport in the world where both cars and pedestrians get to cross the runway. It seems that the main highway in Gibraltar, the one you must take if you want to go over to Spain, crosses over the airport's runway, right at the middle. They have crossing gates just like on train tracks, that come down when a plane is coming in or taking off. He crossed it twice and was amazed.
It is worth a return trip!
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