Day Five - Gibraltar

Tuesday March 6

     About an hour drive down the coast from Marbella is the British held possession of Gibraltar... 

     We cleared customs, which consisted of flashing our passports to an agent sticking his head in the car window, and then we headed to the nearest public parking lot, a few blocks away.  

     Walking from the lot, we had to wait at a crosswalk while two planes took off.  The longest strip of flat land in Gibraltar, with the sea at either end, is also the airport runway, and bisects the only road into the business district.

     From the parking lot, it was about a half mile walk to the Rock and business district, where tours are marshaled.  Walking turned out to be a good idea.  Parking in the business district, like everywhere in Europe it seems, is non-existent, and the drivers are certifiably nuts, probably from driving in circles looking for a parking spot.  Apparently there are no rules for those riding motor scooters.  They whip between cars oblivious to the fact that they are only inches from being squished.

     Some salient features - ‘The Rock’ was one of the ‘Pillars of Hercules’ in ancient times.  The other was on the Moroccan side, and the Straits of Gibraltar, seen above, marked the limits of the known world. 

     About 300 Barbary Apes, making up six extended families, roam the upper reaches of the rock.  They can touch you, but you may not touch them.  And secure your valuables.  Those little hands may make off with your car keys.  After all, they are monkeys.

     Within 'the Rock', about 900 feet up is the entrance to Saint Michael’s Cave, featuring stalactites and stalagmites, (and some Staggs on March 6). 

     The entire ‘possession’ is basically a military installation, with a population of about 30,000.  The Great Siege of 1792 lasted almost four years, after which the Brits emerged victorious, thereby granting them permission to produce ‘Hard Rock – Gibraltar’ tee-shirts two hundred years later. 

When you go, have some Fish & Chips at Roy’s, in the square.

  Tomorrow we take back roads to the bull fighting town of Ronda.

Day One Travel To Iberia

Day Two Marbella

Day Three Mijas

Day Four Granada

Day Six Ronda

Day Seven Marbella

Day Eight Paris

Day Nine Pere Lachaise

Day Ten Louvre mall; in Notre Dame

Day Eleven Ste Chappelle; Le Tour Eiffle

Day Twelve Versailles; Musee D'Orsay

Day Thirteen Louvre Musee

Day  Fourteen Musee's D'Orsay, Rodin, Paris Modern Art

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