Gibraltar

The best part about not having a plan while traveling is that the possibilities are endless. I was in Granada last week with the group of girls I met with in Madrid and they decided they wanted to go to Morocco so I tagged along with them down south. We had decided to go Gibraltar for the afternoon, and it was such an amazing place! I'll admit right now that while I've heard of Gibraltar and the Rock of Gibraltar, I actually knew nothing about it.

the Rock of Gibraltar

I'm fairly certain that almost everyone knows more about history than me, but for those of you who don't, here's a quick rundown of Gibraltar's history:

It is a British territory on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. The Moors had control of Gibraltar for seven centuries, then it was recaptured during the Spanish Reconquista, and in 1501 it was officially under the Spanish rule. Then in 1704 it was captured by an Anglo-Dutch force and in 1713 it became Britain's territory. The Spanish tried to get it back, but failed. To this day it's still a disputed area between Spain and Britain. 

taken from the Rock looking towards Spain

We took a guided tour, which is the only was to it. We got to see caves and tunnels that were used by President Eisenhower as headquarters during the Allied invasion of French North Africa, a cave full of stalactites and stalagmites that was once an emergency hospital and is now a concert hall, and we got to see and hold the infamous apes of Gibraltar (stories say that the monkeys made to Gibraltar from Africa through an underground passage that runs over 15 miles long under the Strait of Gibraltar).

It was such a strange experience being in Spain in the morning and walking 5 minutes into a British territory. Everyone spoke English, they used British pounds, and we ate a delicious dinner of fish and chips. All in all, I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to visit Gibraltar, it was a beautiful and interesting place!

Besos a mis amigos!