Wendy's Platter…travels

[*Note: We are skipping Days 67 to 69 which will be returned to at a later time. Had to write about Gibraltar while it was fresh in my mind.]

November 22, 2025

We qre through the loocking glass in Gibraltar.

Looking over the edge of the glass wall and through the glass floor, I felt a little like I had become Alice and had traveled through the looking glass. This was another world with a 1,000+ feet of vertical limestone dropping into two deep blue bodies of water, the Mediterranean on the right and the Bay of Algeciras on the left, more commonly known as the Bay of Gibraltar. We were standing near the top of one of the most strategic, geopolitical limestone monoliths in the world…the Rock of Gibraltar.

Turning 180° from our skywalk perch, the continent of Africa loomed in the not-too-hazy distance with the mountain of Jebel Musa standing above its neighbors to continually face its brother, Gibraltar, on the European continent. There are plenty of myths and legends to connect these two rocks, including the Greek who claimed that the mountains were once joined, but Hercules stood on each of the peaks and with the strength of his great thighs, pushed the two apart, separating Africa from Eurasia.

Although no mere mortals were there to verify that version of how the two mountains separated, geologists have confirmed that two mountains were once co-joined and geologic forces tore them apart and uprighted the Rock of Gibraltar. It is possible that Hercules helped, but there is no actual proof.

Whether it was Hercules or Mother Nature at work, the end result takes your breath away when you are looking straight up from the base, or straight down from the top…or even from afar, as you observe the rock for the first time and begin to grok the magnitude of the rock, and then start to piece in its part in history.

Our journey started from our Airbnb in Lagos, Portugal. With a family of thirteen between our three family groups, we divided ourselves between three vehicles and managed to get off roughly on time. The drive from Lagos to Gibraltar would take about five hours depending on stops along the way. The Murphy car took a detour into Sevilla for lunch and a quick look at the city Nick, Skylar, and I had just visited a few days earlier. They, too, were enthralled by the narrow streets of the medieval section of town. The Douglas car was electric, so they had planned stops to hit charging stations enroute. We decided to drive straight through.

As we wound our way through the streets of La Linea de la Concepcion at the southern-most tip of Spain, we turned a corner and caught our first glance of the Rock. We were awestruck. We were soon through the border, got our passports stamped and headed towards our hotel.

Much like Thiers, Gibraltar is vertical. Our hotel, appropriately named The Rock was perched on the side of the Rock very close to where the Gibraltar Nature Preserve starts. Our rooms faced the harbor in the Bay of Gibraltar and the port of Algeciras across the bay in Spain. But our balconies, Skylar’s room and ours, shared a balcony with a separating wall, had a 180° view. That meant, that if we looked south, across the water, we were looking at Africa, Morocco to be specific.

In addition to its strategic location, Gibraltar has become a fueling station for freighters. While we watched, several smaller boats approached the freighters, to fuel them. The harbor also houses many boats and yachts, one of which Skylar recognized from Seattle.

His apartment on the 30^th floor in downtown Seattle, allows him to spy on the waterfront. The yacht in question was one of the first hydro-powered yachts, supposedly commissioned originally by Bill Gates. Seattle…Gibraltar…the yacht gets around.

Standing on our balconies, Skylar and I couldn’t wipe the wonder off our faces. We kept looking at the view, looking at each other across the low section of wall between our balconies, blasting into huge grins, shaking our heads and returning to taking in the view. Finally, Skylar, who had a symposium he could attend remotely, plugged into his computer from his balcony and used the spectacular view behind him as his backdrop for his remote meeting. Even the Google folks attending the meeting in Cupertino and from around the world, had to have been impressed.

Although the English have controlled Gibraltar since 1713, Gibraltar’s history includes the Moors from 700 to 1400s, the Spanish from the 1400s to the 1700s, and then of course, Great Britain. Gibraltar is self-governing and has a parliament with elections every four years. Although Gibraltar is not a part of the Commonwealth, its citizens have the rights of UK citizens and the UK provides defense, foreign affairs, and external relations.

The Rock Hotel was old school, English posh. By the time we were settled into our rooms it was after 8:00 pm, and our lack of lunch had caught up with us. We decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. We all felt very underdressed for our surroundings, but the wait staff made us feel comfortable. Although the menu had mostly English menu choices, the preparations showed a strong influence of the confluence of cultures that is Gibraltar, from the middle east, to Morocco, to Spain, to France. It was exactly what we needed after a long travel day.

Friday morning we were picked up in two vans by our guides for our tour of the Rock of Gibraltar. Both of our guides were born and bred in Gibraltar. As our guide navigated the insanely narrow, steep drop-off roads, with switchbacks that required 3 to 5 point turns of backing up, turning the wheels, backing up…etc, he drove it without losing a beat as he discussed historical facts, pointed out landmarks, explained about the Barbary macaques that would try to approach us in hopes of getting food. As he took the roads faster than any of us would have dared, he pointed out that he learned to drive on these roads as a teenager more than forty years earlier. We were in safe hands.

Most of the Rock of Gibraltar is a Nature Preserve. Our guide gave us all wrist bands that would get us into the various caves and exhibits on our route. Just inside the gate to the preserve was a lookout point with a monument to the Pillars of Hercules. In front of us was Jebel Musa Mountain in Africa and we were standing on the other the other pillar.

The Cave of St. George….spectacular!

The entrance to the Cave of St. George led us deep into multi-room caves of stalactites and stalacmites. Adding to the spirit of the cave was a colored light show that highlighted the different rock formations. The path through the cave led to a large auditorium-sized room where they had installed theater seating. Our guide told us later that the space is used for concerts as the acoustics are stellar.

From the Pillars of Hercules, we headed to the Skywalk platform at top of the Rock…and this is where I started this story. Taking in the 360° view, from what seemed like the top of the world, on a warm November day, without a cloud in the deep blue sky, with the deep blues of the waters below us, left us in a state of awe. Our camera phones were busy trying to capture the beauty and the moment.

With a land area of only 2.6 square miles, there are more than 34 miles of tunnels inside the Rock. For the past 240+ years, engineers started creating tunnels with crowbars and gunpowder to enhance the British defenses against the Spanish and the Moors who attempted to capture Gibraltar from the British as they were distracted by the American Revolutionary War in 1779 through 1783. The British were successful in holding Gibraltar, but it marked the beginning of the creation of strategic tunneling.

Bringing cannons up the Rock to place in the tunnels was another engineering feat, accomplished by installing iron rings in the rock face at intervals going up the Rock and steep roads by having 50 or more men lifting the huge cannons with a system of pulleys. For one 100-ton gun, it took twenty-one days to haul it 1,200 feet to its position which computes less than 60 feet per day.

With the start of World War II, Gibraltar once again took center stage and with the addition of extensive tunnels and larger rooms to become a city inside the Rock with a hospital, a bakery, vehicle maintenance shop, bunking facilities, etc with the intention of being able to house and feed a garrison of 16,000 along with enough food to last them for sixteen months.

Eighty years after the end of WWII, the tunnels have been preserved to tell the story of war and resilience, ingenuity and spirit. Displays, including an actual Spitfire airplane mounted from the ceiling of the maintenance workshop within the Rock, historic photos, and vintage videos throughout the tunnel explained the functions of the different areas. Perhaps my favorite were the stories of men and women (very few) who were stationed in the Rock, and how they coped with life in a cave during a war.

The WWII tunnels told the story of Gibraltar during the war but also the stories of the Gibraltarians. When the war was declared, all Gibraltarians who were not soldiers or working essential workers were considered “useless mouths to feed.” Almost all women, children, and old folks were summarily, and quickly evacuated. They were sent to French Morocco, Great Britain, Madeira, and as far away as Jamaica, unable to return to their homes for many years, even after the war ended.

Unlike the Moors, Spanish, English, and Neanderthals, the macaques, looking back at Africa, have consistently occupied Gibraltar.

But the tunnels and their place in the history of Europe was not our only surprise. Sitting on a rock ledge, framed by a deep blue sky with the coast of Africa as a backdrop, were the macaque apes (not monkeys…no tails!). Macaques are the only apes in Europe and are indigenous to the Atlas mountains of North Africa, probably arriving in Gibraltar with the Moors who occupied Gibraltar from 700 to 1492. The macaques are so much a part of the Rock culture that Winston Churchill, in stating Great Britain’s intention to hold on to Gibraltar, said that as long as there are “apes” on Gibraltar, Gibraltar will remain under British rule.

Protected through feeding programs to ensure they get a healthy diet (as they often poach junk food from tourists), and a birth control program to keep the population appropriate to the Rock, the macaques are regulated and microchipped, but wild in their rocky domain. Currently, the macaque population is stabilized around 250 to 300. We were lucky enough to see some of the all-too-adorable babies.

Under the Rock.

So many tunnels! Many opened out on the face of the Rock, strategically placed for cannons, but revealing spectacular views over the Straits of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, the Bay of Gibraltar, and the Atlantic Ocean. Our guides drove us to each of the cave entrances and attractions, filling us with history, local lore, fun facts, and an appreciation for the cultural splendor of Gibraltar.

Dropping us off at the marina in town, we walked to our guide’s favorite restaurant to have lunch and watch the boats swaying in the gentle waters of the bay. Surprisingly, the restaurant had no trouble seating all 13 of us and proceeded to send us a parade of interesting dishes, including the gambas pil pil, a Basque dish of prawns cooked olive oil, spiced with garlic and chili flakes in an flat earthenware bowl, still bubbling from the oven. Everyone had a similarly unique and delicious dish.

Part way through lunch we watched two different bridal parties walk towards the back where they were having their receptions. The wait staff managed to keep up with it all.

In front of the restaurant, in the clear waters of the marina, fish appeared as we approached. Clearly, these fish had been trained to show up for morsels from the hordes of tourists that find Gibraltar. The bright sun dancing on the water, the layers of friendly fish, the seagulls taking a sudden interest in our presence all added to the allure of the day.

Although we had a solid five-hour drive home to Portugal ahead of us, we took a couple of hours to explore the small downtown of Gibraltar. Some of the narrow streets were pedestrian only, making for a very pleasant stroll past the English standards such as Marks and Spencers, along with resorts shops of Chanel and Dior, plus small mom and pop shops that keep the Gibraltarians supplied.

Reluctantly, we headed back to Portugal, constantly looking in our rearview mirrors to catch our last glimpse of the Rock. The five-hour ride home was filled with swapping our Gibraltarian discoveries.

Tomorrow is a “chill” day at our Airbnb where we will fully understand why the Northern Europeans head south to Spain and Portugal in the winter months. More blue skies and beautiful weather is forecasted for this November day.

©2025 Wendy Platt HIll

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