Gibraltar

Gibraltar was the second destination on our Spanish road trip.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory since 1713. The city is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. The first thing you see is The Rock. The Rock is mainly Jurassic Limestone around 200 million years old. The legend said that the Rock of Gibraltar was one of the legendary Pillars of Hercules and the Ancient Greeks believed the cave to be the Gates of Hades, an entrance to the underworld.

We drove around 40 minutes to the parking lot next to the Spain/UK border and crossed it on foot. It’s a kind of experience as you have normal border control as the UK is not a part of the EU, but the most suspiring was that you are passing by the runway. All traffic is stopped to allow to land/departure of the planes.

The official language is English, the currency is British Pounds and all residents follow the British education curriculum however, you drive on the right side of the road.

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Gibraltar Cable Car

Our main goal was to take a funicular and visit the Nature Reserve. The Cable car ride was extremely exciting as we stop in the middle. The service person in the cable car didn’t know what was going on and couldn’t reach anyone in any of the stations. I believe he was so confused, more than we were. I’ve already imagined the helicopter evacuating us from there and the headers in newspapers. After a couple of minutes, the cable car moved and we finally reach the Top station. This ride didn’t help with my funicular fear.

Gibraltar Monkey

Nevertheless, we arrived in one piece and the famous Gibraltar Monkey (Barbary Macaques)welcome us. The legend said that as long as Gibraltar Barbary macaques exist on Gibraltar, the territory will remain under British rule.

St Michael’s Cave

After taking hundreds of pictures of monkeys we walked to St Michael’s Cave. It is a network of limestone caves located within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve in Gibraltar. The Cathedral Cave was long believed to be bottomless, which linked to the story that the Rock of Gibraltar was linked to Africa, and Barbary macaques entered the Rock from Morocco this way.

The caves are amazing with illumination shows. The largest of the chambers (the Cathedral Cave) currently serves as an auditorium.

Gibraltar and The Rock are full of historical landmarks and worth visiting. We didn’t get to the Europa Point Lighthouse, but nevertheless, the trip was amazing.