Time for December date night with hubby, and this time we were headed for Gibraltar. Gibraltar has the benefit of being a new territory to tick off, only a 2.5 hour flight from the UK, as well as having an interesting history. Population c. 35,000, it has been in British hands since 1704, and the Gibraltans are proudly British. The airport was wee, and it was a mere 3km from the airport to the hotel. We were lucky, no flights were landing, so the road from the airport (which crosses the runway) was open.
Wandering about Town
We had planned to head up to the rock straight away, but the cable car was closed ‘due to wind’, and there was an army of touts offering us bargain tours of the nature reserve. Uninspired, we decided to stroll for a few hours through Main Street, Irish town and the lovely casement square. We popped in and out of a few churches, much amused by the novel approach to candles in the churches…. Here you pop a coin in to light a plastic electric candle.
An odd melange
Its an odd place, a mix of Spanish workers (50% of the employees come over daily from Spain), daytrippers from Spain coming for VAT free goods, brits enjoying fish and chips and plenty of Moroccans (unsurprising, given you can see Morocco from here). The architecture is equally confusing, some lovely historical buildings with beautiful shutters, and some utterly hideous new buildings. The shops are a mix of British implants and Spanish high street brands interspersed with obligatory tat shops selling Gibraltar monkeys.
Chip fat, casinos and ugly apartment blocks
Adjacent to the old town is a hideous over-developed marina, complete with a monstrous ship/hotel permanently moored and with a huge casino, surrounded by oversized apartment blocks. We had intended to stop somewhere for a snack, but neither of us could get our noses past the pervasive odor of old chip fat which seemed to be pumping out of all the air vents.
Bottom of Europe
Meandering back to casement square, we had a slice of pepperoni pizza and a coffee, before taking the bus to Europa point. This marks the southernmost tip of Gibraltar and has excellent views over the straights to Jebel Musa and Ceuta. The sun was going down and the lighthouse and the ocean looked spectacular. There is also a well-located mosque at the point, with the rock towering over it.
Two soups?
Strolling back to the hotel, we dodged traffic (pavements were absent for sections of the route), and enjoyed an amusing three-course date night dinner at our hotel – it was pretty bad. Amusingly our most recent date night in Albania was cheaper and more delicious. Our hotel restaurant was a little like Fawlty towers meets two soups.
Yay sleep! After an epic 8 hours sleep (I have been averaging five), we dragged ourselves out of bed for a classic English buffet breakfast. Excellent sausages and they even had carrot cake on the buffet (no comment as to whether I ate it). After an epic 8 hours sleep (I have been averaging five), we dragged ourselves out of bed for a classic English buffet breakfast. Excellent sausages and they even had carrot cake on the buffet (no comment as to whether I ate it).
Monkeying around
We took a dodgy taxi to the top of the rock and then had a delightful three hours strolling around the sites. The Macaques are completely impervious to the human observers apart from the one who cheekily made a grab for the camera. We sat and watched them amuse themselves eating bugs off each other.
Ridges and views
Climbing back up the hill, the views from Douglas lookout and O’Hara’s battery were stunning, and the geological formation of the rock with its narrow ridgeline looks amazing from the top.
Batteries and Spurs
We strolled back, stopping off to see the Spur Battery, the Windsor suspension bridge and the Moorish castle. The views from the siege tunnels were lovely, and it is hilarious to look out at the airport runway with a road going through the middle.
Views across the runway
Time for a quick cup of tea and some scones enjoying the view from our hotel and then back to the airport. An entertaining date weekend. We had epic views of the rock across the runway for the three hours our flight was delayed (photo below)
Additional information
- Easy flights to Gibraltar from London
- Stayed at the rock hotel, walls were thin, views were nice, food was edible, and it was £100 a night for a sea view
- The buses were pretty frequent and an easy way to get around (£1.80 for a single), and we had no choice as the two times we tried to take a cab at the rank, there were taxis but no drivers.
- Taxi to the airport and back cost c. £10
Gibraltar, 15 December 2019
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