Gibraltar quick stop to see “the Rock”

by timistravels on January 7, 2015

Jan. 5, 2014

Unfortunately we were not able to take the ferry ride over to Morocco. This gave us an opportunity to visit Gibraltar and explore the upper rock a bit more. During the visit several times I commented that Gibraltar reminded me of Juneau. A tourist town surrounded by water and cliffs.

We had to show our passports as we enter Gibraltar as it is part of Britain. There are 8000 to 9000 Spaniards that enter Gibraltar on a daily basis to work. The gentleman at the information center indicated that they mostly did jobs that the British did not want to do. A tad bit condescending but I suppose if it’s good for the Spaniards then I’m happy for them.

We got directions on how to go to the upper rock. Once we arrived we parked the car and took off on a hike to the very tip top of the rock. Along the way we saw several monkeys and surprisingly they were not aggressive at all. There’s a huge fine if you are caught feeding them. In many ways I felt as if we were hiking to the top of Mount Juneau at home. It was steep, however here they were sidewalks to hike on.

It ended up being a beautiful day and we can see for miles and all directions including down to Morocco. The gentleman at the information center also indicated that we were on the most southern tip of Europe however we disagree with him and think that Tarifa, Spain is the most southern tip of Europe. Typical Gibraltar to think that they are better than Spain!

Gibraltar is only 2.3 sq miles and all 30,000 residents live in those 2.3 sq miles. One of the most interesting things is that as you enter Gibraltar you actually drive across the regional airport runway, planes often make car stop is there taking off or landing, kind of crazy.

Historically this rock plays a big part in the history of Europe. There has been much military presence there over thousands of years. Most everyone has heard the saying “solid as the Rock of Gibraltar”. This usually refers to a person that is unfathomed by a situation, as this rock remains in tact after centuries of war!

Certainly not the best stop on the trip, but can say we’ve been there. Locals were quick to say they’d accept Euros but gave a terrible exchange rate. The only thing we paid for was park entry so we used cc for better rate. The British Pound is high in value currently.