Hercu-liz & Co.
The Atlantic side; Algeciras in the background
Ancient tourist attraction: long ago a Moor king brought apes to Gibraltar (then an island), Spaniards kicked out the Moors in 1496, and the British in turn gave the Spaniards the boot in 1703. Spain then laid unsuccessful seige to the rock for a couple of decades. The apes prevailed through all of this, and seem to be gentically ticked-off over the historic human commotion - Liz was attacked by one, just as she was in China a year ago, although this time she wasn't 'pants-ed' by the nasty little critter.
Due to the efforts of the Royal Engineers and natural processes, Gibraltar is fairly hollow. The lighting for a enormous auditorium built inside a limestone cavern caused moss to grow on these stalactites..
Alice, Ed, Tom & the top of the rock
Tom with two big apes
Gibraltar's airport: Four times a day, traffic is stopped on the road (picture center) so that flights to and from the mother country can use the runway.
More apes, and the peak of Gibraltar
This being January 5th, the eve of "Little Christmas" which is a big holiday in Spain, the colony put on a parade. A decidedly small-town affair, it reminded us of Mt. Shasta's 4th of July parade, although sans beer trucks.
Tom, Liz and Alice hiking out over the airport runway: The frontier and La Linea, Spain lie at the edge of the runway.