After I graduated high school in 2011, my family and I traveled around France and Spain for two weeks. For the second half of our European adventure, we stayed in a timeshare in Málaga, Spain that was right off of the beach. The view from the condo was incredible with both views of the ocean to the left and the distant mountains to our right.
After a few days of laying by the pool and searching for shells along the beach, the four of us took a day trip out of Andalusia and over to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is most famous for its ‘Rock of Gibraltar,’ from the top of which you can see out for miles onto the tip of the continent of Africa. Unfortunately on the day we visited, it was rather foggy and we were unable to see much off of the island. Although geographically in Spain, Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the UK and so you have to go through customs coming in and out, which I don’t remember being much of a hassle although that might have been due to the fact that we were with a tour group. My favorite part of Gibraltar hands-down were the monkeys that run wild all around the rock. To be precise, they are known as Barbary Apes and they are the only wild monkeys that can be found in Europe. Pretty cool, right?? And they were just so dang cute that I seriously considered sneaking one back home with me in my backpack.
Our first stop on our way up the rock was to St. Michael’s Cave, which has held numerous functions over the centuries including as weapon and ammunition storage during times of war, as a chapel during the 19th century, and now serves as a tourist destination and also a concert hall for big events. I believe that they’ve even found remains of Neanderthals scattered throughout the cave as well! The cave is illuminated with low lighting and throughout the tour we were walking around the numerous stalactites and stalagmites that give the cave such a unique look.
After returning back into the fresh air, we were bused further up the mountain where we made even more monkey friends. The monkeys were not afraid of the tourists at all, which shows you just how much of an impact humans have had on the natural environment in the last few centuries, and it was so interesting to see them interacting with the guides; one monkey was even sitting outside of a shop eating an ice cream cone!
The mom and baby duo were just too adorable, although it does look like that third monkey is rudely interrupting a private moment.
After our little rendez-vous up the rock, we were taken back down to sea level where we were given a few hours to eat lunch and explore the city. The dynamic between the Spanish and the British was so interesting and I very distinctly remember that there was no love lost between the two. I believe that we ate lunch out on the patio of a traditional Spanish restaurant and walked around to get a better feel for Gibraltar. I am a firm believer that if you want to get to know a city, you simply have to walk it which I can personally attest to. I used to walk home from Sotheby’s this summer while in London and it really helped me orient myself within the city.
Before hopping back onto the bus, the four of us took pictures in front of the rock to commemorate the day.
If you’re in the southern region of Spain, we were in the Andalusia area, I would definitely recommend taking a day trip out to see Gibraltar. I don’t know what else there is to do in the city but the people were friendly and the monkeys were even friendlier.
