Atlantic Cruise — 2012

November 15, 2012 — After a day at sea on November 14th, we arrived at Gibraltar around 10 am on Thursday, November 15th. The rock was in the clouds as we approached and clouds covered the top the entire day. Our tour "Walk on the Upper Rock" started with a cable car ride to the top. We saw the Barbary apes on arrival and were warned not to open purses or backpacks near them, as they can be aggressive. The ones we saw were very well-behaved.  Sue, our guide, said that Winston Churchill made the promise that Britain would control Gibraltar as long as the apes are there--she added that they've had to bring more apes from Africa to replenish the colonies (no one knows how they got there in the first place). We walked from the top to St. Michael's cave and saw a natural auditorium in the cave where they hold concerts. A minibus then took us to the siege tunnels. The tunnel we walked through was made with sledgehammers and some gunpowder (no dynamite) in the 1780s. Other tunnels, which we didn't visit, are below the old ones and were blasted with dynamite during WWII. There were three hospitals in the tunnels used in the 1940s. Near the entrance to the tunnels we could see the only runway in the world that has a road crossing it. Spain is on the other side of the runway. Despite some steep climbs and sore feet and legs, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Gibraltar.

© JAY DEITCH 2020