Monday, August 10, 2015

A Day at The Rock

In May, during my time in Spain, I spent a day visiting Gibraltar, which some of you will know is a little piece of Spain which belongs to the United Kingdom.
I knew it would be touristy to the extreme, but I have always wanted to go there.

Here are a few pictures - click to enlarge.


The Rock, from the landward side. 
Formed from Jurassic limestone, it is 426 metres (1,398 ft) high.




The view from the seaward side:




The mosque at Europa Point is clear evidence of how close we are to Africa. 
At the narrowest point of the Strait, it is only 14 km (9 miles) away.




On the far side, the other Pillar of Hercules (Jebel Musa, in Morocco) is  clearly visible:




 Some of the locals, many of whom are British ex-pats. 
What a great climate!




Of course, I had to get a shot of the lighthouse...




Probably everyone who goes to Gibraltar visits St Michael's Cave:




And everyone wants to see a macaque!
There weren't many about when we got to the top of the Rock, 
but this guy managed to grab my friend's water bottle out of her backpack. 
It then sat on the wall chewing the bottle until it managed to bite through the plastic.




Lunch in the central square of the town:



It was an interesting and very enjoyable day - but would you want to live there?

15 comments:

  1. Love the pics. Greetings from Auckland.

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  2. It is beautiful - but somewhere to visit for me, not somewhere to live.

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    1. Definitely, EC - very crowded - and expensive!

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  3. That's incredibly beautiful. I looked up the area then on google maps and will further search the history of that area, just because I don't know much about it. From google maps, I see an area to the west of Gibraltar that is labeled Seige Tunnels. Anyhow, very nice photos and would I live there? Don't know, but sure would like to visit.

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    1. Strayer, the tunnels are fascinating. "Within a land area of only 2.6 square miles (6.7 sq km), Gibraltar has around 34 miles (55 km) of tunnels, nearly twice the length of its entire road network." The first ones were dug in the 18th century, more in the 19th, and the greatest number in the 20th, when the Rock was turned into "a huge underground fortress capable of accommodating 16,000 men along with all the supplies, ammunition and equipment needed to withstand a prolonged siege." (info from Wikipedia)

      I'm very glad I went!

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  4. Not sure about living there, but I know I'd enjoy visiting, and thank you for bringing me this close to it! Of course the macaque fascinates me, and I wonder if he drank all the water? Or mostly played with it? That is one lovely lighthouse too. It does appear to be a beautiful climate. Thanks for this tour! I keep checking in case I miss any of your posts. I must see them all.

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    1. I hope you do visit and see them, Karen. Lots of countries to go, yet!

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  5. Quite awesome! And yes, if I was of the mind to do so (I would never leave the Land of Oz)...it could be an interesting place to live...I think. It's climate is similar to here other than they get the most of their rain in winter...we get ours in summer. And it has a small population...that'd suit me. :)

    Gibraltar has a lot of apes...and we have our fair share of apes down here too...so I'd feel at home! lol

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    1. Haha to the apes comment! There is a small population, you're right, but it's also a very small area. According to all-knowing Wikipedia, it is the 5th most densely populated country in the world, after Macau, Monaco, Singapore and Hong Kong. Too squished-up for my liking.

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    2. Yes...I don't like squishy, either, Alexia. Here where I live I have no neighbours or their houses up, close and personal. I often wonder how I would cope if I had to move to an area when I had neighbours only metres away. I think I'd be insane by the end of the first week. :)

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  6. Fascinating. I've always heard of the rock of Gibraltar but never seen pics of it or heard much of its history.

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