Day Trip to England

I visited England last Saturday. I ate fish and chips, walked down Winston Churchill Avenue, and relished the ability to communicate freely in English.

What??? Okay, I actually just went to Gibraltar, but that is part of England. Most of you have heard of Gibraltar, that big lump of limestone at the southern tip of Spain, just 16 km from Africa.

It´s always been one of those places I´ve looked at on the map with great curiosity. I had to go check it out. It´s just two hours from Seville by bus, so on Saturday I took a day trip there with some other students.

Turns out my curiosity was not well-founded. Gibraltar, I´m sorry to report, was a bit of a bore. Yes, it does look like 1960s England in many respects, but after some typical English food and 10 minutes of strolling, the novelty wears off and the visitor is left with little to do other than shop.


Tourism, in the form of day-trippers, is the mainstay of Gibraltar´s economy. (Well, that and ¨financial services¨--the Cayman Islands sort.) Most of the tourists were there to shop for cheap booze, cigarettes and electronics. The main street (¨Main Street¨) was packed when I was there. I´m not much of a shopper, so this was not my scene.

After several hours of aimless wandering we went on a short tour to the point, then up the mountain. That was much more interesting. Here are some scenes of the Rock and the Strait of Gibraltar:


British monkeys

The Rock´s most popular residents are its colony of macaques, 300-something in total. They are Europe´s only wild primates (having been introduced from Africa in the 18th century) but for wild animals, they certainly had no fear of humans.

The tour guide rightly warned us not to touch or get too close to the monkeys. But, within minutes of seeing a pack, the bus driver was feeding them nuts and playing 'high five'. This, of course, emboldened the rest of the group, and suddenly everyone wanted a photograph sitting next to a monkey. There were some tense moments when comfort zones were crossed (for both species) but for the most part the monkeys were bored with our presence. Although I saw my share of monkeys in Africa, the feeling wasn´t mutual. I could watch them all day.


St. Michael´s Cave

Being a giant lump of limestone, Gibraltar sports its fair share of caves. After the monos (monkeys), we visited the St. Michaels cave and had your typical cave-visiting experience. Five minutes of fascination followed by 20+ minutes of repetition. I did particularly enjoy seeing the cross section of a stalagmite, and was amazed to discover that, like trees, they have rings that tell of their formation and that of the surrounding environment. Very interesting.

And then we went home
So, that´s all I have to report on Gibraltar. Not a home run for me. I suppose at least now I can say I´ve seen ¨the Rock¨. (Of course, the response I´ll probably get from most people is ¨Did you get his autograph?¨)