Today we drove from Spain to the city/country of Gibralter. It really does look just like the rock from the Prudential logo. It is just a giant rock with some reclaimed ocean land around it. It is a British colony - which through us off guard. After searching around - Ted found some parking on the Spain side of the border and we decided to just walk across (rather than waiting in line). Ted pulled in and asked the attendant in his best Spanish how much the parking was and if there was any room. The attendant paused, looked inside and said (with a perfect British accent) "You guys speak English?" We all started laughing - not what we expected after a week in foreign countries ;-) To get to the city - you have to walk ACROSS the airport runway in between plane flights!! We enjoyed fish and chips. Curt, Dad, Mom and I took a guided tour up to the top of Gibraltar, saw the Gibraltar apes (which I held - Mom and Curtis were grossed out), rock caves, and military caverns built to protect Gibraltar by sea and in case of attack -they built an entire city INSIDE the mountain. It was crazy! Really cool tour - glad we did it! When we arrived in Algeciras, Spain - everything was closed for siesta (restaurants don't open up until 7:30pm) Curt found us a Chinese restaurant - it was fantastic!
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| first glimpse from the coast of Spain |
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| crossing the border into Gibralter |
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| Walking across the airport runway between flights to get to the city! |
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| Inside the city - a nice courtyard with nice tiling |
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| Interesting displays... |
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| Yes - they were working, functional phone booths!!! |
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| Weight of the world - Pillars of Hercules |
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| The African coast - that we will visit tomorrow |
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| Inside the rock formation caves with mom |
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| Dad was in heaven! They converted the cave to a concert hall - great acoustics1 |
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| Mom did NOT want to hold him ;-) |
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| Monkey climbing down my head from the van for a peanut |
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| He would sit on my hand for a picture, as long as the guide fed him peanuts. The rule is - they can touch you - you cannot touch them. These were the trained family - the other side had wild monkeys... don't get close to them! |
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| Highest point |
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| Panoramic - I'm on top of the world! |
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| Baby ape! |
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| She came INSIDE the car with her baby for a peanut! |
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| They did NOT want to get off the van and held on as we drove down the road - hoping for peanuts. Eventually, they gave up and jumped off! |
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| Cannons they hauled up the mountain by a serious of metal hooks anchored in the rock, rope and pullies. Then they picked out these tunnels to place the cannons and trained them on the ocean around the city to protect the city and control the strait |
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| View from the cannon ports inside the rock |
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| Ironic decal on the door of the Burger King restroom! |
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| Fantastic Chinese food in Algeciras, Spain |
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