Day No. 139 - International Sweatpants Day - Gibraltar

Under the headline "You're not what you wear!", Der Spiegel takes a look at the subject of sweatpants! - Oh yes, today is the day of the jogging bottoms - we have spontaneously postponed them until tomorrow, as this would coincide perfectly with the weather forecast. - They may be outlawed at some schools and on Klinsmann's team bus. - But not on our bus. - Clothes may make the man, but at home you're allowed to be slouchy. Or how do you see it?

Gibraltar here we come. - Yes, the weather looks a little gray. - But when we wake up this morning, at least the weather forecast tells us that no heavy rainfall is expected during the day. So we confidently make our way across to England.

The cab ride from the campsite to the checkpoint takes just a few minutes. Once there, it quickly becomes clear that there is nothing to cross over here. After all, we are only going onto a headland and not onto the island. - The checkpoint is nice and charming. We try "Good morning" and get a friendly "Welcome and good morning" in response. - The first red telephone box is right behind the checkpoint. - Real British. - Torgit promptly starts singing "Rule, Britannia" again - unlike in Brittany, where she used to hum this, it's halfway right here. 

"Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves."

As we walk on, both the road and the pedestrians first cross the runway of Gibraltar airport. - It can take a little longer here. Not only does the barrier go down before every take-off, but the sweeper also cleans the runway first to ensure safety. But we get through quickly today. When do you ever have this perspective? Like a pilot on the runway?

"...wind north/east, runway zero-three, - I can hear the engines up to here

Like an arrow it passes by - And it roars in my ears

And the wet asphalt shakes - the rain dusts like a veil

Until it takes off and floats towards the sun..."

But you could also go cycling or jogging here, or even...

As Gibraltar is not too big, we first try to continue on foot. - We stroll a little through the town in the direction of the cable car, because of course the cable car also has an English name. - We pass the marina. As you can see, there are some valuable boats on the quay. We sit down comfortably on a bench and let our eyes wander.

Later, when we arrive at the cable car, we realize that it is not running at the moment. The office is closed. Do we really want to attempt the ascent on foot? - "Coincidentally", there are plenty of cab companies here. This makes it easy for us to avoid the many steps. We quickly make our way up towards The Rock. - We stop on the way and get our first view of Africa and the industrial port of Gibraltar. Apparently it's not only worth refueling your car, but also your tanker.

Many large ships are anchored here. But we soon continue towards the summit. The Rock, Gibraltar's limestone monolith, may not be that high at 426 m, but as it rises almost vertically out of the sea, the sight is still spectacular. Once at the top, we come across the famous monkey colony. The Barbary macaques are unique and not at all well-behaved. Like thieving magpies, they grab everything you don't have on your person. And beware, zippers and car doors are no obstacle for the little cuddlers. - All in all, they seem relatively peaceful. But also a little lousy. So we deliberately keep an arm's length away here too. - The view from up here of the runway where we were just standing, but above all of the many steps, confirms our decision to take a cab.

Soon we are driving downhill along the serpentine road familiar from the James Bond movie "The Living Daylights". But why does our cab driver have to reverse at almost every bend? It all looked so smooth in the movie. - Okay, so we don't end up in the water.

Altitude seems to make you hungry. - Torgit asks our cab driver for tips on where to eat. As he mentioned earlier that he has Italian ancestors, we trust his tip to try the Mamma Mia restaurant next to the square. - They serve pizza from the stone oven. The fire is roaring, the place may not be fancy, but it makes a good impression. I don't usually like food photos, but as this is the first pizza I've had in months, let's make an exception.

Right next door is the Gibraltar Botanical Gardens. This is definitely worth a short visit. Not only the cacti, but also the banana trees are worth a look.

We march on towards the south of the headland. Contrary to the recommendation of our GPS, we try to move directly along the water. This is how we come across the beach areas of Rosia Bay, Camp Bay and Little Bay.
Of course, we don't understand why there are big "No camping" signs at Camp Bay of all places. The view from down here alone, of the villas hanging above us on the cliff, was worth the walk. A waterfall rushing down from above reinforces this impression. - From down here, a tunnel leads to the southern tip. This is also passable for pedestrians.

The end of the tunnel also provides a view of the lighthouse. This is somewhat reminiscent of the North Sea. The southern tip is nice, but only nice. We set off on the bus towards Market Place.

Conclusion of the day: If you're already down here, you should have seen Gibraltar. Today was nice, but not a highlight.

Our dinner today is limited to oranges. - Mamma Mia has not skimped on the cheese. The satiety lasts until late in the evening.

Insight of the day: You can like monkeys, but you don't have to.