Gibraltar

Although it is less than three square miles in area, the Rock of Gibraltar has become a symbol of durability and permanence.  With its strategic location at the western entrance of the Mediterranean, “the Rock” offers great value as a military strong point.  There is little wonder why it has been such a great source of contention over the centuries.  Europe is only eight miles from Africa at this point, and the Straits are 36 miles long.  Whoever controls Gibraltar and the harbor at its base is in a good position to control the passage between Atlantic and Mediterranean waters.  Despite the short distance across the strait, there is a definite cultural separation between the Mediterranean-Arabic culture to the south and the prevailing Christian European on the north, though regular ferry service allows easy travel.  The rock itself is a natural fortress 1,396 feet high, with a sheer vertical face to the east.  Today the town has a population of about 30,000 inhabitants.  Its ethnic mix reflects the history of its strategic crossroad: Spaniards, Moors, Arabs and British.

Gibraltar is also the site of the Ape’s Den, home of the famous Barbary Apes.  Actually tailless monkeys, the Apes are native to this prong of land, but not to the rest of the Spanish mainland.  Legend has it that Britain will retain the Rock as long as the Apes live here.  At one point during the War, they seemed to be dying out.  Fearful of poor morale at a critical time, Winston Churchill gave the legend a bit of help by bringing in ape-reinforcements from North Africa in 1944.  Today they number about 200.

Six of us hired a minivan to take us on a tour of the island.  We have been here several times before but haven’t gone to the top of the Rock since the first time about 30 years ago. Things are much more expensive here as the currency is now the Euro. Madeira was the same, but then we were back in Africa (Morocco) for one day and, once again, everything was a bargain.  Fortunately, for Gary, it’s Sunday and all the stores are closed. 

Gibraltar is really beautiful.  Our first stop was the “Pillars of Hercules,” (the ancients referred to the Straits as "The Pillars of Hercules), we then went to see the Barbary Apes and one jumped on Gary’s shoulder.  One girl wanted to get a picture with the small one on her shoulder so she backed up to where he was sitting and our driver enticed him with a couple of nuts.  No sooner did he do that when the mother (huge monkey) jumped from the ground on to her head.  We were laughing so hard I barely got the picture.  We also went to St. Michael’s Cave which displayed fantastic stalactites with steps leading from one cavern to another.  A cable car goes to the top of the rock but we went by car.  At the top is the site of a WWII gun emplacement for views of Africa, Spain and the Mediterranean. We also saw the WWII tunnels.  Our tour was about 2 ½ hours and we finished about 3:30.  Looking for a place to eat we came across a beautiful cemetery with those that died in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It was just beautiful. We then found a lovely pub and had a traditional English dinner. We walked back to the boat and got back at 7:10.  We had just 20 minutes to spare. It was a wonderful day. Tomorrow is our last day at sea, we are in port each day after that and dock in Civitavecchia (the port of Rome) Saturday, May 7^th.