
M and I just celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary and decided to do it with a two-week Mediterranean cruise, just like we did for our honeymoon except better with a few more stops. I decided instead of trying to cram information about every stop into one mega-blog post I would break it up so that I could give each place the care and attention it deserves. Our first stop was Gibraltar, a British territory attached geographically to Spain. I learned a lot of fun facts about Gibraltar on this trip, including:
- English is the official language but most locals also speak Spanish and Llanito, a specifically Gibraltarian dialect that merges English and Spanish with words from other languages such as medieval Genoese, Hebrew, Maltese and Portuguese.
- The local currency is the Gibraltar pound, tied to the pound sterling, but they print their own banknotes that are distinct from the pounds you would find in Great Britain.
- There is one university in Gibraltar, established only a few years ago, which is best known for biomarine science.
- Morocco is only 9 miles (14km) away across the Strait of Gibraltar.
- The whole of Gibraltar is only 2.6 square miles (6.8 square km), but over 30,000 people live there.
- John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married there.

Cool, huh? I was excited to see a hike on our cruise ship's list of excursions for Gibraltar, and then I was even more excited to see the hike labelled "strenuous" because sometimes I'm disappointed when what's billed as a hike turns out to be more of a leisurely stroll by my standards. So I asked M if he wanted to join and when he said no (as he usually does for that sort of thing) I booked the excursion with a tour group for myself. This hike was up the Mediterranean Steps, the challenging ascent up the Rock of Gibraltar, a 200 million-year-old Jurassic limestone formation that dominates the Gibraltarian landscape.

Our group drove up part of the way and then began our hike. The path was easy to follow and well-labelled, with restrooms at the entrance to the hiking path. At first, we moved very slowly as a group since the tour guide asked the more experienced hikers to stay in the back and let slower folks set the pace. About halfway through, though, he took pity on us and let folks go at their own speed while he stayed in the back to help the slower people. Unfortunately, this delayed the tour group quite a bit, with some members seriously struggling with the difficulty of the trail. It was challenging, and I would not recommend it unless you're in shape and have hiked before. Because the last folks in the tour group were running hours behind, I and a few others who finished the hike first ended up breaking off from the official tour group (letting those who stayed know we left so they could tell the guide) and finding our own way back down the mountain via cable car.

The view at the top, which I heard is normally excellent and allows hikers to see from Spain on one side to Morocco on the other, was completely obscured by clouds on the day we went. Although this made the summit a little disappointing, it led to some stunning photos on the way up with the sun filtering through low-hanging clouds and reflecting on the misty ocean. I enjoyed stopping at various points throughout and capturing the movement of the sun, clouds, water, and boats as the morning progressed.

At the top, we visited O'Hara's Battery, a must-see for military history buffs. We could visit the engine room and see the ammunition and the cannons that hint at the site's past. The exhibits were quite minimal by way of explanation, so if you're really interested in this topic I recommend you go with a proper tour guide or at least an audio guide.

Another surprise of my time on the Rock of Gibraltar was the prevalence of Barbary macaques, monkeys that can be found all over the Rock of Gibraltar. Our tour guide warned us to give them their distance and he did not need to tell me twice. I'm not here to disrespect wild animals or tempt fate by teasing or feeding them. (I saw one group of tourists getting the monkeys to jump on their shoulders and pose for pictures, and I gave them a very, very wide berth.) That being said, I did enjoy taking photos from a distance. The monkeys were everywhere! I even saw several sweet little baby monkeys with their moms.

After finishing my hike and getting down by cable car, I met up with M and S in Gibraltar City for lunch and a nice walk around. I had the best fish and chips of my life at a pub called Lord Nelson, and I understand Gibraltar is well known for British pub fare and Spanish tapas. By the time we finished our food and explored a bit, though, we were really sweating. Once we all got back on the ship, we were so relieved. S laid on top of our cool bed sheets and said, "Ahhhhh, I like cold things." I guess living in Dubai has given us as much a taste for appreciating air conditioning as tolerating the heat. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about our time in Gibraltar, and I look forward to sharing other stops on our 10-year anniversary journey in future posts! Until then, I hope you're enjoying your summer as much as we are.