Gibraltar and The Wrong Shoes

What did we do wrong this time?

Gibraltar as seen from La Línea de la Concepción. Photo by @OhDear!

As we were traveling the south of Spain, on our way to Cadiz [Cáh-dihs], accent on the first syllable, we stopped in Gibraltar for one day. I had been there as a child and remembered the monkeys on top of the rock. They were fun and a bit wild. Of course I wanted to go back!

Gibraltar is a fun place that you can walk in one day. Apart from monkey, you'll find war memorials, botanical gardens, caves and lots of narrow quaint streets.

We decided to use public transportation, so we crossed the border to England and took the bus waiting right on the other side, bound to the center of town, excuse me, the centre of town. The bus costs 10£ round trip, it's a quick trip, but you can walk as well. Walking would take around 10 minutes.

As we entered the bus, we hear the driver explaining Gibraltar's attractions to other passengers. "If you go to Saint Michael's Cave, it'll take three hours and you can't go in sandals, they won't let you in." My husband looked at my cute sandals and I knew we were just going to see the monkeys this time.

The Convent is the official home of Gibraltar's Governor. Photo by @OhDear!

Cannons, cannons everywhere. Photo by @OhDear!

The center of town in Gibraltar is mostly one main street from which other minor streets divert. To go to the Rock, you have to walk the whole way towards the end of that main street to find the cable car building which is in the middle of a parking lot. There are two kinds of tickets to buy, you can just go to the top of the Rock and see the monkeys and the view (18£ adult, 8.50£ child) or you can buy a ticket to the Nature Reserve Pass (additional 16£ adult and 10£ child between 5-10 y/o), which takes you to St. Michael's Cave, the Windsor Suspension Bridge, the Great Siege Tunnel and other attractions. See more here: http://www.visitgibraltar.gi/see-and-do/nature-reserve-pass

Since I didn't have proper footwear, and we had started the day a bit too late, we didn't have three hours to spare in St. Michael's Cave, and we decided to buy the tickets only to see the monkeys (and the view).

Cable car @ Gibraltar. Photo by @OhDear!

As you rise to the Rock in the cable car you can see the beautiful view all around. You can see Africa very clearly. Once the cable car reaches the top, you are on your own and at the monkeys' mercy. They are everywhere. The are wild, more than I remembered from my trips as a child. There are signs everywhere warning to not touch the monkeys and how bringing food in your backpack can put you in danger of a monkey attack. Not everybody is aware of how serious these warnings are and the consequences of not taking care. For starters, if you feed the monkeys you could be fine 4,000£, but that's not enough for some people.

Photo by @OhDear!

Monkeys, monkeys everywhere. Photo by @OhDear!

This happened too close for comfort to us. Photo by @OhDear!

We took photos of the monkeys, we took photos of the views and we laughed when people were attacked by monkeys while trying to get too friendly with them. After one hour we were tired of monkeys and headed back down.

We stopped for an ice cream on our way out, and headed out of the old town to explore. We discover that there is a modern town on the outskirt of the old town in Gibraltar. There's even a marina! It is not big, but it was nice to sit down, stretch our feet, and grab a drink. It was getting chilly and we decided to get back home, everybody blaming me for my lack of vision, wearing sandals instead of proper footwear, and trumping our team's adventure that day.

The marina at Gibraltar. Not too fancy, but not too shabby either. Photo by @OhDear!

This is the church of La Concepción, La Línea, where we stop for coffee before leaving in the morning. Photo by @OhDear!