Friday, 22 December -- Gibraltar

It was another early morning... but at least we got to sleep into 6:30am! We went to Gibraltar with a different tour company than Thomson, and at 7:00am went out to wait for the bus to pick us up in front of the hotel. This double-decker bus finally came down the road at the appointed time of 7:10am. Mike handed the lady our tickets and she told us to get on the bus. At this time I noticed the name of the tour company and didn't think it was the same as the one with booked with, but the lady had looked at our tickets and told us to get on the bus. We were really excited too because we got to sit on the top level right up front! Such great seats! Well, I imagine you know where this is going. We got off the bus in Gibraltar to find out we had been on the wrong tour bus. Interestingly enough she didn't find this out until we were almost to Gibraltar and she looked at every one's tickets. We watched her do this at every stop and she actually looked at other's tickets and directed them to the correct company. But, such is life, we didn't have to change companies and no harm was done.
This is Gibraltar. For those of you who don't know its history... The Rock of Gibraltar has been a much contested piece of land for many years. The Spanish, Moors, English, and others have occupied it at various times throughout history. The English have had it in their possession since the 1700's. Of course there were many battles over the possession of Gibraltar since then, and Franco, one of Spain's leaders, demanded it back the mid 1950's when Spain joined the UN. There was a vote and a high majority wanted to stay British. Now it is claimed that Tony Blair is trying to sell it for the money. Many tourists visit the Rock because of the duty free prices. Alcohol and cigarettes are incredibly cheap there. Also, there are the Barbary Apes, St Michael's Caves, and the World War II tunnels. The city is also very beautiful. Every time the local government tries to tear down one of the historic buildings, the Heritage Society jumps in and stops them. Therefore, many of the old buildings have been renovated and the city has retained its old charm. A lot of the old military barracks have been renovated and are now incredibly expensive apartments.

This is at one of the observation points. Across the Straits of Gibraltar is Africa.

This is at the same point as above. Of course, there is also a lighthouse here. This is Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque, and is the only mosque on Gibraltar. It was built as a gift from the King of Saudi Arabia. It was closed, but we were told it is very beautiful on the inside was well as the outside.

This is a photo from the inside of St. Michael's Caves. They were used during World War II as well as the tunnels that were dug out. The formations were lovely and there are still parts of the caves that have yet to be explored. One theory of how the Barbary Apes came to the island is through these tunnels. Some think that they may go under the Straits of Gibraltar and into Africa where the Apes originate from. In these caves there is a concert hall of sorts. It would be amazing to see something there, but according to our guide in the summer you need an umbrella during the concert because of the water dripping off the ceiling.

The Barbary Apes were wonderful. There are about 300 apes on the island in 6 different packs. This one was right outside the caves. It is illegal to feed the apes, and of course you cannot leave the van with any food or they will rip it from your hands. People on the bus trip told us of the trip they took to see the apes 3 years ago -- someone had left a window on the van open and the apes got in and opened every one's bags looking for food. They are fed by the city everyday, but that doesn't stop them.

Every ape that is born on the island is tattooed so that they know it is part of the Gibraltar population. Each one also has its own name and the residents know just about all of them. The apes are tattooed because there is a black market for the baby apes. When the authorities find a baby ape dead or dying in a box somewhere in the world, Gibraltar is able to tell the authorities that the ape is/is not part of their population by the tattoo.

After our tour we were dropped off for shopping. Not exactly Mike and my favorite pastime, but it was nice to walk through the streets and window shop for a while and see all the beautiful buildings.

When we went down for dinner we were astonished. All week we had been served British food. Its not bad, but we went to Spain to experience Spain, not the UK. But we went down to dinner that night and found Spanish food!! There was all sorts of seafood and tapas. It was great and we were really excited. Of course, many weren't and opted for the usual British meal of fried fish and fries. Its amazing how many people go on vacation to foreign lands and never want to experience the country. Many people at our hotel never left the grounds and the hotel was just like a little slice of the UK in Spain. Quite sad, but its their loss.

Then the entertainment for the night was Flamenco Dancing. It was amazing to see the four dancers for the hour they preformed. It would have been nicer if it had been longer, but it was Christmas Carol night for the hotel reps and we had to sit through their horrid singing before we could actually see the dancing.

Mike and I had never been to a resort before that actually had entertainment and activities throughout the day and had no idea what to expect. Grandpa and Grandma VanderVoord have been on many cruises where there is entertainment and it has always looked wonderful. We went to a pretty low class resort, and the entertainment mirrored that. Lots of lounge singers and bingo every night. I took a video clip of the cult like bingo, but have no idea how to upload it. Every time someone yelled out "bingo!" there would be music and some sort of dance accompanied it. Mike and I were frightened and never returned for the bingo portion of the night.

Then there were the activities. Some were normal, such as lawn bowling. And archery is even okay. But there was also pistol shooting, rifle shooting, and radical shooting nearly every day. Seemed quite odd to us and again, we never participated.