Day No. 139 - International Sweatpants Day - Gibraltar

Der Spiegel beschäftigt sich unter der Headline „Du bist nicht, was Du trägst!“ mit dem Thema Jogginghose!? – Ach ja, heute ist ja der Tag der Jogginghose. – Wir haben selbigen spontan auf morgen verlegt, denn dies würde sich prima mit der Wettervorhersage decken. – An manchen Schulen und in Klinsmanns Mannschaftsbus mögen diese geächtet sein. – Doch in unserem Bus nicht. – Kleider mögen Leute machen, doch Zuhause darf man auch mal schluppig sein. Oder wie seht ihr das?

Gibraltar here we come. - Yes, the weather looks a little gray. - But when we wake up this morning, at least the weather forecast tells us that no heavy rainfall is expected during the day. So we confidently make our way across to England.

Mit dem Taxi, dauert die Fahrt vom Campingplatz zum Checkpoint nur wenige Minuten. Dort angekommen, wird schnell klar, hier gibt es nichts überzusetzen. Denn es geht ja lediglich auf eine Landzunge, und nicht auf die Insel. – Die Kontrolle erfolgt nett und charmant. Wir versuchen es mit „Good Morning“ und bekommen ein freundliches „Willkommen und guten Morgen“ als Antwort. – Direkt hinterm Checkpoint steht schon die erste rote Telefonzelle. – Real British. – Prompt stimmt Torgit wieder „Rule, Britannia“ an – Im Gegensatz zur Bretagne, wo sie dies auch immer summte, passt hier halbwegs. 

„Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves.“

As we walk on, both the road and the pedestrians first cross the runway of Gibraltar airport. - It can take a little longer here. Not only does the barrier go down before every take-off, but the sweeper also cleans the runway first to ensure safety. But we get through quickly today. When do you ever have this perspective? Like a pilot on the runway?

„…Wind Nord/Ost, Startbahn null-drei, – Bis hier hör‘ ich die Motoren

Like an arrow it passes by - And it roars in my ears

And the wet asphalt shakes - the rain dusts like a veil

Bis sie abhebt und sie schwebt – Der Sonne entgegen…“

But you could also go cycling or jogging here, or even...

As Gibraltar is not too big, we first try to continue on foot. - We stroll a little through the town in the direction of the cable car, because of course the cable car also has an English name. - We pass the marina. As you can see, there are some valuable boats on the quay. We sit down comfortably on a bench and let our eyes wander.

Später, an der Drahtseilbahn angekommen, müssen wir feststellen, dass diese zur Zeit nicht fährt. Das Office ist geschlossen. Wollen wir wirklich den Aufstieg zu Fuß wagen? – „Zufälligerweise“ stehen hier jede Menge Taxiunternehmer. Da fällt es uns leicht, uns die vielen Treppenstufen zu ersparen. Zügig geht es rauf in Richtung The Rock. – Unterwegs halten wir und bekommen einen ersten Ausblick auf Afrika, sowie den Industriehafen Gibraltars. Scheinbar lohnt es sich nicht nur seinen Pkw, sondern auch seinen Tanker zu tanken.

Many large ships are anchored here. But we soon continue towards the summit. The Rock, Gibraltar's limestone monolith, may not be that high at 426 m, but as it rises almost vertically out of the sea, the sight is still spectacular. Once at the top, we come across the famous monkey colony. The Barbary macaques are unique and not at all well-behaved. Like thieving magpies, they grab everything you don't have on your person. And beware, zippers and car doors are no obstacle for the little cuddlers. - All in all, they seem relatively peaceful. But also a little lousy. So we deliberately keep an arm's length away here too. - The view from up here of the runway where we were just standing, but above all of the many steps, confirms our decision to take a cab.

Bald schon geht es über die aus dem James Bond Film „Der Hauch des Todes“ oder wie man hier sagen würde „The Living Daylights“ , bekannte Serpentinenstraße bergab. Doch warum muss unser Taxifahrer an fast jeder Kehre zurück setzen? Im Film sah das doch alles so fließend aus. – O. k., dafür landen wir am Ende auch nicht im Wasser.

Altitude seems to make you hungry. - Torgit asks our cab driver for tips on where to eat. As he mentioned earlier that he has Italian ancestors, we trust his tip to try the Mamma Mia restaurant next to the square. - They serve pizza from the stone oven. The fire is roaring, the place may not be fancy, but it makes a good impression. I don't usually like food photos, but as this is the first pizza I've had in months, let's make an exception.

Right next door is the Gibraltar Botanical Gardens. This is definitely worth a short visit. Not only the cacti, but also the banana trees are worth a look.

We march on towards the south of the headland. Contrary to the recommendation of our GPS, we try to move directly along the water. This is how we come across the beach areas of Rosia Bay, Camp Bay and Little Bay.
Of course, we don't understand why there are big "No camping" signs at Camp Bay of all places. The view from down here alone, of the villas hanging above us on the cliff, was worth the walk. A waterfall rushing down from above reinforces this impression. - From down here, a tunnel leads to the southern tip. This is also passable for pedestrians.

The end of the tunnel also provides a view of the lighthouse. This is somewhat reminiscent of the North Sea. The southern tip is nice, but only nice. We set off on the bus towards Market Place.

Conclusion of the day: If you're already down here, you should have seen Gibraltar. Today was nice, but not a highlight.

Our dinner today is limited to oranges. - Mamma Mia has not skimped on the cheese. The satiety lasts until late in the evening.

Insight of the day: You can like monkeys, but you don't have to.