Gibraltar

Mar 15-16 Gibraltar:
We set off from Ronda for Marbella on the 11 AM bus which left at 11:30. It was not as nice a day as when we came up into the mountains. An overcast sky meant the coast was not as visible as we approached. On the bus I met a very nice English woman named Veronica. She had been living as an artist in a village near Ronda for twenty years. She knew the area very well and was able to act as a personal tour guide. I don't think Bob enjoyed the trip as much as I did. His stomach was still a bit queasy and the twisting and turning road didn't help.

We changed buses in Marbella for La Linnea and arrived at this town which is the closest Spanish city to Gibraltar in the early afternoon. The hotel is close to the border but not nearly as nice as any of the other hotels. The room is large, the bathroom is gigantic by Spanish standards and it seems clean enough. On the other hand it is very cold and there seems to be mold growing on the wall. It has a musty smell.

We went across the border to eat at an English style restaurant. Bob wanted something simple and familiar after being sick so long. He found the perfect bowl of pureed squash soup!

There are several ways to get up on the rock. You can walk! You can take a cable car. You can hire a guided taxi for about 70 euros. We decided to wait until the next day and were content to wander around the town for a couple of hours. It is very strange, this bastion of British culture so close to Spain. About 70% of the people are British but they speak a strange mixture of Spanish and English.

Crossing the border back to La Linnea was interesting at rush hour. About 8000 people live in Spain and work in Gibraltar. Can you imagine having to cross a border as part of your daily commute?

La Linnea is nothing spectacular but it is actually better than I expected. We walked around our hotel area for a bit and had a drink at a bar sitting outside where huge propane burners kept us warm. With our wine received a plate of the only bad olives in Spain.

We only had one blanket and it was very cold. Bob has been a bit timid communicating as he has no Spanish. He gallantly went to ask for another blanket. I told him to shiver and mime covering himself. The lady arrived at our door several minutes later with a stack of five huge woolen blankets. I told him he must have really shivered!

I was in Gibraltar three years ago when I met Bonnie and Rick on Aisling. The boat was moored at the Queensway Quay seen here in this photo.

Downtown Gibraltar....I took an almost identical picture 3 years ago of these women sitting on this bench. Must be a popular stop!

The most popular souvenir is a stuffed monkey that shrieks when you press a button (sound familiar Les?)

Main street Gibraltar early morning. Not nearly as many people as there were in the late summer.

We arrived in Gibraltar in the early morning and had breakfast in the main square waiting to check out some tour guides. Four pieces of toast, a couple of thin slices of packaged ham and two pieces of tomato....$19 Cdn! Don't eat in Gibraltar!!!!

We arranged a taxi to take us to the top for 20 euros and another 20 pounds for the tickets to get into the reserve. We had limited amount of cash because we forgot to go to the ATM. We also figured we could walk down and see more.

The first stop was St. Michael's cave. We listened to Pachebel's Canon on a loudspeaker as we explored the cave. It holds an auditorium with seats for 400 people where they have concerts and ballet. Must be nice in the heat of summer to go in there with its natural air conditioning.

This photo shows the auditorium in the cave.

There is a stalactite in the cave that fell many years ago. A slice was cut off in the 1970's so you can see the inside. the stalactite is the one on the left in this photo.

The views from up top are spectacular even on a slightly overcast day. In this photo you are looking at the spot where the waters of the Atlantic meet the saltier Mediterranean Sea.

The cab driver suggested we climb up past the caves to the north look off where the view was supposed to be spectacular.

We started out for the highest viewpoint on the north side of the rock as recommended by the cab driver. On the way we encountered this cute little monkey. I tried to get his attention but he wanted no part of us. As we continued uphill Nancy spotted a road that went much higher but in the opposite direction. After a short discussion we set out on a new unknown path that was a very difficult climb. It was well worth the effort as the view was spectacular. We could see the position where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet. The visible line in the water was a sight to see.

After a very long and difficult walk back down from this unplanned area we were ready to proceed to the the north viewpoint where a family of monkeys live. Uphill and a long way in the opposite direction. On the way we passed the monkey on the post again. I tried to get his attention, but again, no luck. After another long difficult walk we made it to the viewing area on the backside of Gibraltar where we could see the Costa del Sol for miles. Quite breath taking. The monkeys seem to exist without any acknowledgment of us humans. Only the babies seem a bit curious. They were very playful and cute.


However, time is of the essence and we now had a long walk downhill before us. We walked back down to St. Michael's cave where we started. Of course we passed the monkey on the post again and when I looked back I am sure he was now smirking and mumbled the words "dumb Canucks".

Anyway we now proceeded on a 2.2 kilometer walk past the Great Seige Tunnels and on to the World War 11 tunnels for the tour as recommended by the Cobbie. We now realized that we had misunderstood the driver's instructions...we should have done the upper tunnels first as we would now have to return to the top to complete that tour!

We were in no man's land now as before we could tour the World War 11 Tunnels we had to go down even further to see the Moorish Castle. The Moorish Castle was really not much to see especially if you have seen the Alhambra. The walk very taxing, I am a little tired by now!

Then we walked all the way back up the rock to look at the World War 11 tunnels. We were both getting tired from climbing up and down the rock but here we go again up the north peak of the rock. However, Nancy wanted to see it all and was extremely determined. We all know from the Halifax City Council issue last year how much good it does to defy Nancy! Up the hill we went.

This is the first thing you see when you enter the tunnel, a tribute to the Canadian engineers who worked here in 1940-43. Without them the work would never have been finished on time.

The guide for the World War 11 Tunnels was the very same one that Nancy had in 2007, a guy named "Smudge". He was stationed here when he was in the British army. He was very good. We did the tour with a couple from Ottawa so "Smudge" really poured on the Canadian content. The Canadians were brought in to drill out the large tunnels as we had bigger drills with diamond bits compared to the British. The tunnels were a three year project where the workers stayed here and laboured six days a week underground. They only got to go outside on the 7th day. There were 5000 of them and they completed 50 kilometers of tunnels in three years. That is longer than all of the roads in Gibraltar. I feel like we walked more than that all uphill! The tour took about 40 minutes and was a long walk in itself, again, all uphill.

Smudge

Here is Bob in his nice pink hard hat looking out over a balcony carved into the rock by a Scottish regiment who were desperate for a view.

Tunnels carved into the rock made Gibraltar easily defensible. Once it came under the Union Jack in 1713 it was never taken. The Spanish tried from 1770-1783 when they laid seige to the rock. When Hitler threatened Europe in 1939 it was a natural spot to station a secret garrison to protect the entrance to the Mediterranean.

The runway from the balcony carved into the rock by the WWII soldiers.

Now off to the Great Seige tunnel tour except there is a problem,....it a long way uphill again! We finally arrived and I practically had to beg Nancy for a short rest before we went in. Once inside I was elated to learn the tour was fairly short but steep and downhill. The bad news was that the finish point was at the entrance back where we started, which meant, you guessed it, all the way back uphill. I swear we went up and down the rock more in one day than Lance Armstrong did in a season preparing in the Pyrenees for the Tour De France.

Nancy promised all the walking was downhill from here on. I hope you can imagine how hard 2-3 kilometers of straight downhill walking is on the hamstrings! Oh! By the way we passed the little monkey on the post for the fourth time. As I peaked back I am sure he was laughing deliriously and holding his tummy! Or perhaps it was just me who was delirious by now.

We kept walking down non stop as we wanted to make our bus connections in La Linea for Algiceras. After walking for what seemed like an eternity Nancy sought directions from a local lady. Her advice was to take a shortcut by way of some steps to the right. It turned out to be about 300-400 long hard steps. More new muscles to work out. It hurt but we did it and finally reached the bottom without seeing that monkey again. Now if we could get to the bus and get a break with the traffic we might make our connection.

Things looked pretty good for awhile as the bus quickly wound its way through town. Suddenly for no apparent reason we came to a stop. We sat for quite a few minutes and Nancy queried why we were stopped so long. It turns out a plane was landing and they get priority over the runway. Ten minutes later and we are again on our way with no chance to make our bus in La Linea. We missed the first bus but had an outside chance to make our connection on the 4:45 bus to Algiceras to catch the 5:30 bus to Cadiz. We boarded the 4:45 at 5:08. No chance.

We got to Algiceras at six to wait for the 7:5 bus via Tarifa which is known as the surfing hub of southern Spain.

It was a shame that we missed the earlier bus as it was getting dark by the time we set off. As we drove though the barren hills between Algiciras and Tarifa we passed a series of wind turbines ten deep on both sides of the road for over ten kilometers and stretching off into the distance. Quite a sight to see! In the early evening light they looked mysterious, very alien. You can see where Spain must get its power.

After nearly two hours we arrived in Cadiz. The hotel was really nice so it perked up our spirits a bit. We were so tired but had promised each other a nice dinner. Nancy got the name of a restaurant from the hotel desk clerk and we gave it a try. Food and wine were great. We tried the little clams as an appetizer as Rick & Bonnie had praised them as one of their favourite dishes in Spain. Nancy hand picked our fish from a cooler full of different kinds. It was filleted and prepared by the chef and it was delicious! Now some well deserved sleep!