Gibraltar - Rock Monkey Galor
The history of Gibraltar for those practicing standardized tests:
Shiny Toy : Three-year-olds :: _____________ : European Countries
A: Raccoons
B: Gibraltar
C: The Euro
This rock ascending out of the surrounding ocean and plains is currently a UK enclave. Coming here after leaving Morocco was quite a load of culture shock. My senses were flooded with English signs, well manicured areas, and imbibed Englishmen. The superfluous acts of life surrounding me have never been more clear. I left a small village of people happy to barter their hours of work with you for less than a cup of coffee only to arrive on a patch of land lined with shops filled with indulgences and exorbitant prices.
This is quite the unique piece of land. It has been fought over for thousands of years, and has lots of great sights to see. The first novelty, which everyone experiences is walking or driving across an active runway. In order to save on what little space they have (5 km x 1 km), the British have the runway perpendicular to the flow of traffic into Gibraltar. The other thing Gibraltar is known for is the only group of wild primates living in Europe. These monkeys stick to the nature reserve engulfing the physical rock, but watch out: they are in charge here. The Barbary Macaques are excellent at picture posing, food and purse snatching, and jumping onto car windshields and mirrors. I have to say it is much more interesting looking at historical landmarks with monkeys running wild around you. I watched one macaque effortlessly thrust his hand into a lady’s bag and remove a pack of gum.
On top of this great protrusion, you can easily see Morocco and the massive amount of aquatic traffic about to head west now that the hurricane season is about to end. The strategic nature of this rock needs no explanation, but it was in siege tunnels here that Dwight Eienhower and other Allied leaders planned the invasion of North Africa. This is really the first natural landmark I’ve visited that has had such recent success in its violent past. It’s fascinating to think this rock successfully protected men in a war that was ended with the premiere of the atomic bomb. I only spent a day here, and that fact alone may have added to the circus-in-town feel of the enclave, but it is worthwhile to visit. Tomorrow I will hopefully be in Grenada, home of the Alahambra.
