Gibraltar

Guidebooks tend to give lackluster reviews of Gibraltar, but we decided to go anyway, since it was close. I would say that it is worth doing – to see the rock, not so much for the town itself.

We followed the advice of guidebooks and parked in an underground parking garage in La Línea, a couple of blocks from the border crossing, and walked to Gibraltar. (Lines to get into and out of Gibraltar by car tend to be long, and once you get in, there are few places to park.) At the border, a man at a desk asked us if we wanted a tour… while we object to be solicited for tours, he was at an official desk in the border crossing building, and it seemed like it might be a good idea. For €25 apiece, they would drive us by taxi-van all around the rock, including admission to the various caves, we’d get a guided visit to the barbary apes, and we wouldn’t have to ride the cable car (a bonus for acrophobic me). So we said yes.

The taxi driver/guide was a voluble man who told us lots of interesting stuff while careening up narrow roads with inadequate guard rails along very steep slopes. I enjoyed the tour, though it did rather push my fear-of-heights buttons.

Stop number one was a lookout point with a monument to the pillars of Hercules. Morocco was visible through the mist across the straits, and the mountains and hills of Cádiz province stretched out to the west. We looked around, took some photos, and then headed back to the taxi for stop number two: St. Michael’s Caves. These are large, beautiful, natural caves filled with stalactites and stalagmites, and also housing a concert halls. We emerged and drove up to stop number three, the barbary ape reserve, which is a spot in the road that runs along the ridge between peaks. This was our summit view, rather than the actual summit (fine by me). On the western side was a steep slope running down to the town and Atlantic, and on the eastern was a more-or-less sheer cliff drop down to beaches on the Mediterranean. It was very cool and entirely vertiginous. And of course, there were the apes. The apes are very cute, but can be dangerous. The ones by the reserve are more tame, and will sit on your head, apparently whether you like it or not – as I was taking pictures of the group, an ape popped up on Eli’s head, moved over to Mila, and then climbed onto Eric, before getting off. I have photographic evidence – of the ape itself, and of our guide encouraging it with peanuts. Then we drove on two stop number four: the Great Siege Caves, which are rather like a cross between a mine and a fort. These were a bit Disney-ish, with mannequins in costume acting out scenes around us (not animatronic, fortunately). The nicest part of this stop was the northward view of Spain, with the interesting sight of the road out crossing the airport runway. Then we were driven down the rock into the center of town, and dropped off.

So that was worth doing, because those sights are really the best part of Gibraltar. The town is perfectly nice – a little slice of England, with the wrong architecture and the wrong weather – but it’s also a duty-free shopping town, making it rather like a mall. We ate a late lunch at the square at the northern end of the main street, in outdoor seating, at a place called The Tunnel. Fish and chips all around, washed down with beer and cider. Yum.

So we headed out of Gibraltar, on foot. We walked out of town, walked across the runway, walked through border control, and walked back to the garage. Ha! Border control was pretty lax, though the Spanish police officer made sure to see Yelena’s passport, out of everyone’s.

We drove home, stopping for groceries on the way. (An earlier attempt to by ground coffee for the apartment accidentally resulted in a bag of roasted chicory, and no coffee.)

I made dinner, mostly with things picked up from the store. Artichokes were cheap and plentiful, and I also got some eggplants. Eric helped me cut the artichokes down to the hearts, which I started sautéing in lots of olive oil, with garlic and lemon zest. I diced the eggplant, and thought it might overpower the artichoke, so I took some of the artichoke leaves and boiled them up in a little water to make an artichoke stock. Just as the artichokes were starting to get crisp on the edges, I added the eggplant, drizzled with more oil, and cooked it like that for a while. Then I added lemon juice, a little water, the artichoke stock, and the few tablespoons of red wine I had left over from my transatlantic flight. I cooked it all on low until was cooked, and then tossed it with cooked pasta (linguini, I think). I tossed two cans of bonito del norte into the mix before serving it. It was very good, though it would have profited from some olives. Instead, we pulled out the aged firm cheese we’d bought in Ronda, and grated that in.

We played euchre for the first time after dinner – something I’d have thought we’d have played more. After the game (Mila and Eli victorious again), we discovered that Yelena, though she’d been put to bed before dinner, was happily lying awake, kicking, and cooing. It took a while to get her down again. So this was the latest night yet!

Labels: journal, personal, spain

posted by Tony at 11:34 PM