The Changing of the Guard video (web only)
The second part of our trip was to venture up to the rock to see it up close and personal. Our trip began with a smaller group, English speaking only guide. He was pretty funny. He kind of looked like Dustin Hoffman and had the same sense of humor. He was pretty funny and kept us engaged.
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| Shopping was plentiful on Main street |
Driving up the mountain, we crossed through many tunnels. Some were a little tighter to get through than others.
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| The steps around the city had these small steps with a two slick ramps on the side, For wheelchairs maybe? What about brakes? |
These tunnels were used to bring the rock down that was used to build the walls in the city of Gibraltar.
There are 3 sections of reclaimed land from the ocean that required walls to keep the water out.
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| One of 3 sea walls of rock built on reclaimed land called Wellington Front |
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| Europa point lighthouse |
Our first stop was near the Europa Point lighthouse at Europa Point. It is a beautiful lighthouse at the very tip that opened in 1841. The wind was crazy today. I usually take my glasses off to take photos so I can see through my camera lens and I almost lost them.
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| Sikorski memorial commemorates the 1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash of 4 July 1943 which caused the death of General Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile. |
Chuck had to hold them for me. I also had to take multiple photos because the wind kept knocking me to the side.
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| King Fahd bin Abdulaziz al-Saud Mosque with “The Rock” in the background. |
At this location we also saw the King Fahd bin Abdulaziz al-Saud Mosque. It is the largest mosque built in a non-Muslim country. About 4% of Gibraltars population is Muslim. It is said that King Fahd spent 5 million pounds (a little over $6 million USD) and 2 years to build the mosque. It is used today as a school, library and lecture hall. The architecture is beautiful.
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| The seawall was getting pretty beat up this day |
While at this location, we could see across to Africa (Morocco).
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| Overlooking the city below from midway up the trip to the top. |
The seas were pretty rough as you can imagine from the wind.
I don’t think sailing would have been on my agenda this day.
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| Different color lights illuminated the stalactites and stalagmites |
There are approximately 150 caves throughout Gibraltar but one large cave, St. Michael’s is the most popular and receives over 1 million visitors a year.
The cave was created by rainwater slowly seeping through the rock of limestone, dissolving the rock and forming large caverns over thousands of years.
The massive interior is used for concerts with stadium seating.
There is a light show of sorts inside the cave that turns different colors on the rocks that made it a beautiful sight to see.
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| Over 100 seats for concerts, etc. |
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| Buffed & Polished stalagmite |
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| Me & Chuck! 🙂 |
Outside the cave is where the Barbary macaque monkeys hang out. We were instructed not to feed them.
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| You can actually be fined for feeding the monkeys |
We saw one of the workers giving them watermelon pieces at one point.
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| Barbary macaque monkey |
They were pretty friendly. One would sit on the fence and if you stood near him, he would put his hand on your shoulder for a picture.
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| Barbary macaque with her baby |
After so many pictures and no treat, he moved on. I didn’t get a picture with him due to the massive amount of people!! I need to learn to be more aggressive so I can get what I want. some of these people are pretty rude.
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| The monkeys werent caged. They are wild. |
One almost stepped on my bandaged foot! One interesting piece about the monkeys is that unless the timing is right, you will not see any dead monkeys on the road, a.k.a “road kill”.
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| Strolling up and down the roadway |
The packs of monkeys are in families. There is rumor of 5 different families of the monkeys and they don’t socialize. They will fight. If a dead one is found, the family will take it and eat it. On the other hand if a monkey is old or sick and dying, it will go to a specific cave and die because the family will abandon it.
The bones of these monkeys can be found in some of the caves. The worst part is about 800 years ago, the Arabs brought the monkeys over to Gibraltar from the North African mountains to hunt, kill and eat them.
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| Iron loops in the walls along the roadway used in the 1800s with ropes to haul items up the mountain pulling by hand. |
There are about 300 monkeys in this nature reserve now. We enjoyed watching them run around and play. One mama was carrying her baby around and feeding it. It was cute.
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| Moorish castle build in 1333. Still standing |
One last interesting fact that made up my mind, if it was ever in question, was that I would not be living up on this mountain. There are a few homes built and they have to keep all their windows closed most of the day. Not only do the monkeys venture in but also many mosquito’s and scorpions. Nope, not me, EVER!
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| A large waterfall capturing water from the ocean and rain. |
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| St. Andrews Scottish Church |
We had a great day and learned so much about Gibraltar and had a good time as well. It was well worth the trip and I recommend it to anyone as a day trip when they are in the area.
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| We were required to get out of the bus and walk through border patrol and customs showing our passport. |
Today, we’ll take it easy, rest up my ankle. It took a beating with so many stairs climbed yesterday that it has swelled again. So I’ll give it a rest this weekend and get back to the icing and rest. Sitting on the sunny balcony will be just fine!
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| This is the runway of the airport. We had to cross it to get to the Rock. No safety issues whatsoever. WOW! We took this as we drove by in the bus! |
May God bless you all!
Chuck & Lea Ann
WorldTravelReynolds 
Looks like a great visit… minus the mosquito's and scorpions!!!
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I had completely forgotten about your blog! Just caught up reading all of it. Love all the photos and the information – learned a lot and it makes it seem like you aren't quite so far away. So sorry you sprained your ankle!
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Yeah, they can keep those scorpions!
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I’m healing. Being much more careful! Miss you!
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I love the cactus garden the most, so far. I truly appreciate the time you spend so we can enjoy it while you're gone. It is beautiful here. I've saved a couple of your photos. Hope it's ok. ❤
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Looks like a great visit… minus the mosquito's and scorpions!!!
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I had completely forgotten about your blog! Just caught up reading all of it. Love all the photos and the information – learned a lot and it makes it seem like you aren't quite so far away. So sorry you sprained your ankle!
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Yeah, they can keep those scorpions!
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I’m healing. Being much more careful! Miss you!
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I love the cactus garden the most, so far. I truly appreciate the time you spend so we can enjoy it while you're gone. It is beautiful here. I've saved a couple of your photos. Hope it's ok. ❤
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