A bit more Gibraltar

Breakfast was included in the Hotel charge and it was not bad at all, I managed to concoct a bircher muesli with the yoghurt and muesli and fruit they had, and although the coffee was not the best, it did have caffeine in it which is the main thing. It also occurred to me that my Spanish was 100 times better than when I had left Australia when I was able to understand the person at the hotel reception. Unfortunately my vocabulary is still nowhere near big enough to hold a good conversation but it is growing.

The business centre of Gibraltar is like an English tourist town, the pubs are all typically English, the menus are typically English, most of the tourists are English but from what I could gather, most of the workforce was Spanish, everyone I spoke to anyway. The history of the Area is violent and the old cemetery has many graves for people who died as a result of injuries received at the battle of Trafalgar. Across the water you can see the coast of Africa, the straight between the two continents is quite narrow and strategically you can see why the British want to keep it and why the Spanish want it. Historically however the Spanish probably have a better case.

The cable car to the top of the rock was a short experience and gave a taste of the views from the top. I had a ticket to go into the attractions around the rock so I meandered my way around the narrow roads and stopped at the cave with its stalactites and stalagmites (to remember which one is which just think that a stalactite has to cling tight to the ceiling) and opens up into a large cavern that has been fitted out as a concert hall, the things to do before I die list has just grown by 1.

The real star attraction however are the apes; you cannot have an open bag or a plastic bag with you as they are very good at stealing food; when they see an open bag or a plastic bag is is a signal to them that a free feed is in the offering. The young were very playful little fellows and of course the grooming of each other (de-lousing) was very common.

The military history of the rock is on display with impressive tunnels and old fortresses. By the time I had walked back down from the top and viewed the sites I was glad that it had lived up to my expectations. It was however just a day trip, and that was probably all I needed, It was time to get even further out of my comfort zone and go to Morocco.