HOORAY!! We are on top of the rock of Gibraltar!! And there is a monkey staring at us.
While in Spain last month, we took a day trip to Gibraltar to 1) say we've been there and 2) check out the monkeys on top of the rock and 3) just because. Honestly, don't take this the wrong way, but why else would anyone visit Gibraltar? Okay, maybe because cigarettes and beer are cheaper there, but that wasn't on our list this time.
This awesome selfie was!! And no selfie stick needed either!
We found these three monkeys on the rock too.
The view from the top of the rock. Gibraltar is this side of the runway (jutting out into the sea) and Spain is everything else.
Here is a panoramic shot to give you a better view.
Yeah! Gibraltar Flag!
The crazy monkeys (not my children) live mostly on top of the rock, and they are one of the main tourist attractions here. But they are not to be trusted. Many a monkey has been known to pickpocket for snacks. So it is understood why there are signs and brochures everywhere leading up to and all over the mountain telling tourists NOT to carry plastic food bags or to open any food containers or packages because the monkeys will grab them!! Within 5 minutes of reaching the top (via cable car of course) a grandma opened up a bag of snacks and gave it to her granddaughter in a stroller. Yup, that monkey grabbed at it. Grandma jumped and screamed, and took the bag. But then in panic she threw it at the monkey and guess who got the snack. Yup. This guy right here.
Don't pet the monkeys. Reminds me of Jurassic World (which I totally want to see, at least based on what I've been told about it )
As long as you don't touch them, no danger.
600 GBP fine for feeding the monkeys!! We saw another lady toss this banana at this monkey. For a monkey he didn't seem too fond of it.
Yup more monkeys. You might think that's all we saw, when in reality there was of course so much more to do and see on the rock. But of course monkeys are fun to photograph.
I mentioned earlier that we took the cable car to the top of the Rock, which I highly recommend, then hiked around to the different points of interest, museums and caves as we made our way down to the bottom. Fast fact: There are 34 miles of tunnels within the Rock of Gibraltar!! Who knew? That's actually a bit rhetorical because I think wikipedia knows.
Here's us not inside the tunnels.
The weather was absolutely perfect. And is like this for much of the year, which proably explains why the Brits fought so hard to keep this place to themselves over the years. Plus, the only places these special monkeys are found are Morocco, Algeria and Gibraltar. If I owned a piece of property with monkeys I'd fight hard to keep it too.
Unique photo opportunity. That reminds me. How do you surprise a special monkey? Unique up on it!! Ha Ha Ha.
When we visited this vast cavern in the rock that was when I realized how cool this place (Gibraltar) was. For its limited real estate on the surrounding the rock, the people of Gibraltar have used their greatest (biggest) resource to maximum effect. This cavern for example is a functioning concert hall! No need to waste valuable land space on the ground when you can just build inside the mountain!
No concerts were playing this day unfortunately.
AT THIS SPOT
LYANA WATSON
AND
ROBERT WATSON
AND THEIR THREE CHILDREN
STOOD AND LOOKED OUT OVER
GIBRALTAR
DURING THEIR VISIT TO THE ROCK
MAY 19TH 2015
Don't feed the monkeys!!
SLOW! Drunk snake crossing.
Fantastic day with fantastic family. It was so fun to explore the Rock together.
Oh yeah, we did take some photos while inside the rock. Here we look out onto Gibraltar in the foreground and Spain in the back.
Learning history or Dancing with it? You decide.
Manmade tunnels and caverns inside the rock.
Okay, the great siege! That's a big deal here. In a nutshell: The American War of Independence severely weakened and diluted the British Forces, including those at Gibraltar, so France and Spain joined together to retake British Territory, such as Gibraltar. The siege started in 1779 and lasted three years and 7 months, the longest siege ever endured by the British Armed Forces.
SLOW!! Praying Mantis crossing!
I didn't even get the chance here to mention WWII history within the tunnels of the Rock, including Winston Churchill's visit and I think even General Eisenhower. For that, there's wikipedia. :)
4 hours later we reached the bottom of the mountain to where we started at the cable car.
And looked up the mountain where we spent a very fun, unique, unforgettable day.
Robert.
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