s/v Milly: Gilbraltar - Gib, for short

The high street

Gibraltar was a surprise. Indeed, it is just a rock but a huge one with a ton of history and a good deal of eccentricity. It is a tiny island of British colonialism of years gone by with pubs and fish and chips or Indian food on every corner. Surrounded by Spain and North Africa, one would think that you would feel their influence but it seems that protectionism has made Gibraltar more British than London. We happened to arrive just before the annual festival celebrating the referendum in 1967 when the population voted resoundingly (12,138 to 44) to stay in Britain. Granted this was during Franco's dictatorship. Now, Spanish navy ships take little excursions to the Rock to flex muscles and Britain flexes them right back. Brexit has made the situation more complicated. Anyway, when we were walking it's streets, British flags and banners were proudly flying and hanging out windows.

We hiked, of course, filled our cupboards with British delicacies like pickled beets and onions, Branston Pickle and pork pies, and enjoyed our nonSchengen time in a comfy marina surrounded by English accents.

We often check out cemeteries. Trafalgar Cemetery was particularly cared for and peaceful.

Never changes. You'd think we'd learn!

Not to be disrespectful, but it does sound rather Austenish.

The Mediterranean Steps - a great vertigo hike along the east side of the rock, with a straight down, vertigo-inducing , plummet to the blue sea.

A small beach on the east side. The flat part above the recliners is a paved? water-catching slope.

The WWII guns pointed across the all-important strait which was never attacked.

A busy global harbour. The strait sees a quarter of the world's movement of all shipping. Including Milly. She's down there.

St. Michael's Cave, a natural cave that lead ancient people to believe that the rock was hollow. The caves were used as a military hospital! in WWII - damp and cold. Now strategically lit with spotlights for the occasional concert.

Gibraltar has seen it's fair share of battles and sieges. The Great Siege Tunnels dug, initially by hand, through limestone are impressive. They were excavated by the British during the French and Spanish siege of 1179-1783. The tunnel was built to cover a blindspot on the north face where there was a small notch for a cannon but too steep a slope to get it there.

Looking north over the current airport, then swampy open land, from the tunnel. The British devised a method of lifting the stern end of a canon so the ball followed the steep slope to the Spanish and French below. War is nasty!

The original tunnel to the location of the notch was 277m ending in a large chamber where not just one but seven guns were placed. Excavation continued after the siege to an amazing length of 1,200 m by 1790.

The tunnel above led to this WWII station where men kept watch over the east and south side of the rock. A lot more digging went on throughout Gibraltar during WWII when the garrison held more than 16,000 men and held enough supplies for a year under siege. The system of military tunnels now holds the "top-secret" British military bunker that monitors movement through the strait.