Gibraltar: Rock of Monkey's

Yay!!! The day has finally come to travel down to British owned, really the south of Spain, Gibraltar! I have been told it is just one big rock on the very southern tip of Spain with lots and lots of monkeys. They were right. When I flew into the tiny little airport, the runway is also an intersection to the main road into Gibraltar from Spain, I realized how little it is (and yes again, it is basically just a rock). Andy picked me up and we went down to Main Street with all the shopping, a cathedral and a big square where we had a delicious jug of sangria, the first of MANY on this trip, and after a bit of mid-afternoon drinks, with my head a little fuzzy, it was time to see the infamous moneys I have heard so much about!

We hopped in a huge work van of Andy's (this seems to be a recurring theme with us) and began the journey to the top of The Rock. On the way up I soon began to learn there are absolutely no rules, at all, on the road. People do whatever they want and run into whatever they want. And if you are on a scooter then you rule, it is as if you are the semi on the road. This seemed to be the case all over Spain as well. I was terrified and relived when he said, "We're at the rock and on our way up" ..... until I saw how small these roads were, ten times smaller than the ones in the UK!! Yikes!!! And on the very edge of a 90 degree drop! But my mind was soon taken away form this when I saw my first Gib monkey!! Then I saw another and another and another!! They are everywhere and there are literally hundreds!! I couldn't wait to get out of the car and see them up close! And did we see them up close!!! Those little devils are not afraid of anything! I was terrified of them!! They come right up to you with absolutely no fear at all and ready to steal any thing they could from you! I began to have flash backs from the movie Monkey Trouble!


At the top of the rock we looked out on the Atlantic ocean, all of Gibraltar, Spain, and Africa! It was amazing. I couldn't believe how close I was to Africa! I can almost say I was there! We also went exploring in an old WWII war cave. As usual I was following along behind Andy questioning if we were going to get in trouble, but really just a bit sacred of what might be lurking in the cave. Once inside it it was so worth it. Inside the cave there was a huge opening into the rock of old bunkers the soldiers slept in defending the Big rock from Hitler. Very cool experience.

After admiring the amazing views and playing with the vicious and a bit frightening looking monkeys, it was dinner time!! We went to the boardwalk and has a bottle of Spanish Rioja, Andy's fav, while watching the sun set. FAB!! Then went to a little restaurant, Guachos, tucked inside the hundreds of years old city wall and had some of the best seafood I have ever had! It is my new favorite restaurant!!!!!!! I had king prawns, that were literally bigger than lobster and tasted better than it too, and Andy had a mixed seafood dish with amazing fish and a few of the humongous shrimp! I have really never seen anything like these things! They were unreal! Shrimp on roids!!