Monday, June 10th
We docked in Gibraltar this morning and met up with Stephen from "Walk Gibraltar'. He was originally from England, but had lived in Gibraltar for a number of years. As we walked to the top of the rock, Stephen told us about the history of 'The Rock' and also pointed to various points of interest along the way. He shared some interesting facts (we would have liked to have heard more about the history) and the scenery was amazing! One of the unique things about Gibraltar is the number of monkeys running free - they were everywhere, but, for the most part, they ignored us. They have been known to steal things from tourists, so we were warned to hold our possessions close to us. The monkeys sure are cute, though. Tonight's show in the Princess Theatre was Lou Gazzara who was an American Idol finalist in 2002 - he has an amazing voice!!!
Steps for the day - 22,069
View of our ship, the 'Emerald Princess, from where we started our walk to the top of 'The Rock'
'Devil's Gap Battery' - overlooks the Bay of Gibraltar - this is one of two BL 6 inch MK VII naval guns installed in 1902 - they have a range of 5,500 metres (6,000 yards)
Views from our walk to the top of 'The Rock'
Sealed off entrance to a tunnel - the tunnels of Gibraltar were constructed over the course of nearly 200 years, principally by the British Army - Gibraltar has around 55 kms (34 miles) of tunnels - the first tunnels, excavated in the late 18th century, served as communication passages between artillery positions and housed guns with embrasures cut into the North Face of the Rock - more tunnels were constructed in the 19th century to allow easier access to remote areas of Gibraltar and accommodate stores and reservoirs to deliver the water supply of Gibraltar. - the 20th century saw by far the greatest extent of tunnelling when the Rock was turned into a huge underground fortress capable of accommodating 16,000 men along with all the supplies, ammunition and equipment needed to withstand a prolonged siege
A central pivot Mark II mounting pad - where one of the Gibraltar guns would have been mounted
More views from 'The Rock'
Gibraltar Cable Car - this aerial tramway was built in 1966 - from the base station, the cable car travels up the Rock of Gibraltar to the Ape's Den midway up the Rock, and then to the top of the Rock (despite being called "top of the Rock", it is acutally the second highest peak of the Rock) - the cars can take an attendant and 30 people - we elected not to use this mode of transportation - we walked all the way to the top and all the way back down
'Prince Ferdinand's Battery - was an artillery battery - today the area is known as the 'Apes' Den' and is the main location for tourists to see Barbary macaques in Gibraltar
Monkeys eating fruit undercover
Barbary macaques - originally from the Atlas Mountains and the Rif Mountains of Morocco, the Barbary macaque population in Gibraltar is the only wild monkey population on the European continent - although most Barbary monkey populations in Africa are experiencing decline due to hunting and deforestation, the Gibraltar population is increasing - currently, some 300 animals in five troops occupy the Upper Rock area of the Gibraltar Nature Reserve, though they make occasional forays into the town - as they are a tailless species, they are also known locally as Barbary apes or rock apes, despite being monkeys
Windsor Suspension Bridge - officially opened on the 21 June 2016 - it is 71 metres long and suspends over a 50 metre deep gorge - has spectacular views over the city and Bay of Gibraltar
More views as we climbed up 'The Rock'
Our ship, the 'Emerald Princess' and another cruise ship
More monkeys
Sue standing near a monkey on the fence - they were everywhere
More monkeys - even sitting side-view mirror of a vehicle
Mike looking at a monkey
Check out this cheeky monkey!
Sue and Mike sitting with a monkey
One lazy monkey
Mike and Stephen (our guide) walking up the Rock
This engine room was part of O'Hara's Battery - O'Hara's Battery was an artillery battery which included a 9.2 inch gun, magazine, engine room and extra gun barrel - it is located at the highest point of the Rock - it was constructed in 1890 and was named after the governor of Gibraltar Charles O'Hara - the battery was in use during World War II and was last fired during training exercises in 1976
Fire buckets - we assume they used by the Gibraltar fire department in early days
Views from the top of the Rock
Europa Point (and lighthouse) - the southernmost point of Gibraltar
Sue and Stephen (our guide) checking out the views
Mike checking out the views
Sandy Bay Beach - a man-made beach on the eastern side of the Rock - during the 1970's, Sandy Bay was a beautiful established beach, but by the years 2010/11, the beach had virtually disappeared due to gradual erosion and further loss of sand from the beach - in 2013, a company was hired to identify a long-term restoration solution - rock required for the project was imported from Morocco and a further 80,000 tons of sand was imported from Layounne in the Western Sahara to replenish the beach - to protect the new Sandy Bay Beach from further erosion, two enormous curved groynes were constructed, connected at both ends by a submerged breakwater (a groyne is a shore protection structure built perpendicular to the shore that interrupts water flow and limits the movement of sediment)
Some of the steps you can use to climb the Rock
Looking north to Spain - the breakwater in the middle is on the border between Gibraltar and Spain
Sue in the doorway of a stone hut (possibly a guard house) at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar
Sue on the Gibraltar Skywalk at the top of the Rock - the floor and balustrade panels are made up of four layers of laminated glass with a total thickness of around 4.2cm
More monkeys
Another view of our shipk the 'Emerald Princess' in the back of these two ships
Looking across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco - the mountain you can see there is Jebel Musa - it is on the northernmost part of Morocco and is 842 metres high
More views from the top of the Rock
View of the runway (in the middle of the photo) of the Gibraltar International Airport - Winston Churchill Avenue (the main road heading towards the land border with Spain) intersects the airport runway, and consequently has to be closed every time a plane lands or departs - the road across the runway is constraining operations at the airport, especially with the increase in operations - if the average time the road is closed for an aircraft to land or depart is ten minutes, then on certain days the road can be closed for over two hours (both vehicles and pedestrians use this road) - because of this, a new four-lane diversion road and tunnel section is being constructed for vehicles - pedestrians will continue to cross the runway at the present location
The road we walked down from the top of the rock - we walked on roads, paths and stairs to return to the bottom of the Rock
Views as we walked back down the Rock
Mike on our way down the Rock
Cool architecture in town
Sue 'making a call' at a British telephone box
Outdoor cafes in town
Mike standing under 'Thank yo for visiting Gibraltar' sign
Sue standing under a sign which reads 'Thank you for visiting the Rock' (in the cruise terminal)
Back to the docks and our ship, the 'Emerald Princess'
Photo of Moroccan mountain, Jebel Musa, taken from our ship
No comments:
Post a Comment