It looks just like the pictures we've seen all of our lives.
Yesterday was spent traveling from Grazalema to La Linea de la Concepcion, the town that borders Gibraltar. This is where lots of Gibraltar visitors stay and employees live because it's far less expensive. Getting to Gibraltar this morning involved a short taxi ride to the border where we walked across. As per Rick Steves's recommendation, we caught a "taxi tour" (8-person van) for an orientation.
We saw St Michael's Cave, which is full of stalactites and stalagmites and lit with colored lights. Not exactly natural any more - it has tiers for concert seating and lots of shotcrete (the stuff they make swimming pools out of).
We stopped at several lookouts en route up the Rock -
where we could see both Morocco and Spain although haze and smog affected the view. John asked about the cargo ships anchored near shore. Our guide said that most ships refuel here as soon as they come through the strait because fuel is inexpensive here. He pointed out a small ship that looked like a mini tanker - it goes out to the ships to fuel them.
We also saw the famous Gibraltar apes-
As we approached the summit, one jumped on our still-moving van and hung on for the ride. When we stopped, the guide instructed us to wait and let him open the doors - he had a stick to keep them from jumping into the van. He also locked the doors because some can (and do) open unlocked doors.
Getting onto Gibraltar involves the unique experience of driving across the airport runway:
The runway itself was constructed of fill from digging the 23 or so miles of defensive tunnels within the Rock. Relations with Spain have never been cordial since Britain took it over in 1704 (it was made official be the Treaty of Utrecht a few years later, but Spain has nevertheless unsuccessfully attempted to retake it numerous times), so they had to build their own flat ground for an airport.
Whenever a plane lands or takes off, access th Gibraltar is cut off - this occurs for longer periods when military exercises are taking place.
It was a great day on Gibraltar - we had feared another wet, overcast day, but we had a beautiful sunny- if a tad hazy - day.
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