GIBRALTAR, BRITISH CROWN COLONY

Gibraltar is a British Crown Colony located at the southern tip of the Iberian Penninsula. It's area is only 2.6 square miles but it is home to more than 32,00 people.  It is bordered on the north by Spain. 

Arial view of Gibraltar           Photo: Public Domain

The dominant feature is the 1,398 feet high Rock of Gibraltar, a monolithic limestone overlooking the bay and spanning almost the entire area of Gibraltar.

Rock of Gibraltar                       Photo: Public Domain

 

History has it that Gibraltar is considered to be one of the two Pillars of Heracles (Hercules).  The pillars are fabled to have been set there by Heracles (Hercules) as a memorial to his labor of seizing the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon. 

 

Gibraltar is also noteworthy for being the home to over 300 Barbary Macaques, the only wild monkey population in all of Europe.

 

The Norwegian Sun docked in Gibraltar on Friday, November 18, 2022.  Sunrise was 8:01am and sunset would be at 6:11pm.  Weather forecast called for a high of 63 degrees with scattered showers throughout the day.  

 

On a previous trip to Gibraltar I rented a car and drove to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar to view the monkeys.  I have also taken the ferry from Gibraltar over to Tanger (Tangier) in Morocco.  The distance is only 15 miles and the ferry crossing takes about an hour, operating 4-5 times a day.  

For this port stop my concentration was local transportation, Casemates Square, Ocean Village and Europa Lighthouse.  

 

As I stepped off the Norwegian Sun it was just beginning to sprinkle. With umbrella in hand I walked to the first bus stop, called "Reclamation Road".  

Walking route from pier to bus stop "Reclamation Road"

Exiting the port terminal heading to the bus stop

Leaving the port complex heading to the bus stop L-R: Marci Inman, Sharon Sparlin

 I boarded the first bus that came by.  

Gibraltar bus network

Route routes available from the "Reclamation Road" Stop

It was bus #8 and  I purchased an all day pass for 9 pounds from the driver.  It's easy to remember where the "Reclamation Road" bus stop is as it is right next to the Evacuation Memorial Round-a-Bout. 

Evacuation Memorial

I rode bus #8 to end of the line, "Both Worlds" stop.  This is the turnaround point for bus #8.   

Looking toward Tangier Morrocco from "Both Worlds" stop

After a 10 minute wait I boarded bus #8 again and headed back into town.  Next stop for me was "Waterport Road/Ocean Village" stop.  It began to aggressively rain so I quickly darted into Las Iguanas Restaurant and waited for the rain the pass.  I found this to be a very nice place to stave off the rain while enjoying a local beer and a bite to eat.  

Heading to Las Iguanas

Inside Las Iguanas

 

Once the rain subsided I walked to Grand Casemates Square.  The Norwegian Sun docked less than a mile from Grand Casemates Square.  It's here you will find over 113 shops between Main Street and Casemates Street.  My Rome2Rio app indicated the distance from Las Iguanas Restaurant at 0.3 miles and would take 6 minutes. 

View on the walk to Grand Casemates Gate

Grand Casemates Main Gate

Just inside the main gate

Next order of business was locating the main tourist information office in the Casemates area to secure my Gibraltar passport stamp.  Again I turned to Rome2Rio for my walking directions.  It indicated a distance of 0.4 miles and a time of 7 minutes.  Here are a few photos from my walk to the tourist office. 

 

 

Finally I was able to locate the tourist information office.  Physical address is 13 John Macintosh Square.  It is adjacent to John Macintosh Square, a small public park.  It is also across the street from the entrance to Irish Town.  

Map showing Tourist Office location

With my passport stamp secured I set my sights for Irish Town. 

Gibraltar passport stamp secured

 

Beginning of Irish Town

A couple blocks into Irish Town I ran across a cute little Irish pub called The Three Owls  so made a brief stop for some liquid refreshment. 

I then walked to "Market Place" bus stop and boarded bus #2. My destination: the Europa Point Lighthouse,  stop name is "Europa Point" and is the end of the line for bus route #2. 

Bus #2 Europa Point stop and end of the line

The Europa Point Lighthouse was inaugurated on August 1, 1841 in a brief ceremony witnessed by about 10,000 people. The first upgrade of the lighthouse was 1864, when the single-wick lamp was replaced with a Chance Brothers four-wick burner.  Further changes occurred in 1875 and again in 1894 when the amount of light emitted was increased. A three incandescent mantle burner was added in 1905. The lighthouse became totally automated in 1994 and converted to light- emitting diode (LED) operation in 2016.   The cylindrical tower is painted white, with a wide red horizontal band in the middle. The height is 66 feet and it stands 161 feet above the high-water mark.

Europa Point Lighthouse

Also at this stop is the King Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Mosque. The building was a gift from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and took two years to build at a cost of around £5 million pound sterling. It was officially inaugurated on August 8, 1997.  It is the southernmost mosque in continental Europe, and is one of the largest mosques in a non-Muslim country.

King Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Mosque

Time was quickly slipping away so I felt it was time to head back to the ship.   Bus #2 took me back to the "Market Place" stop, next to Grand Casemates Gate.  From there I boarded bus #8 back to the "Reclamation Road" stop, the closest stop to the pier.  Then it's just a very short walk back to the ship.  My iPhone "Steps" app registered 10,659 steps / 4.9 miles for the day.  Next stop - Malaga, Spain.