The Last Post

2011 10 10
La Linea, Spain

The Airport at Gibraltar - Note the Intersection
thanks to wikipaedia

Gibraltar is all that is left of the British Empire.  Visiting here has been a priority with Meredith.

Behind the Light is the Runway

The absolute best part of Gib, as the locals call it, is getting in.  From our in La Linea the border between Spain and Gib is a five minute walk.  To get from Spain to Gib walk across the border.  This takes twenty seconds and in that time you are vetted by Spanish Immigration and UK immigration.  Then you get to the fun bit.

I caught this jet taking off
traffic on the intersecting street (at the top) is stopped at a
traffic light

Leaving immigration control you encounter an intersection with traffic signals.  The cool bit is that the street with which you are intersecting is the runway for the international airport.  When a jet is taking off the lights stop all ground traffic from crossing the runway so the jet has a clear path.

These Little Fellows are Protected.  Rumour has it
when the Macaques Leave Gibraltar so will the British

After this things are a bit mundane. You go up the mountain, get the usual cursory introduction to the three year seige of Gib by the Spanish, look at some caves and tunnels, watch some macaques void their bowels on your tour bus and return to walk around the ubiquitous narrow winding streets full of overpriced shops.  Arriving back at the boat you are happy to have been to Gibraltar but are quizzical as to what happened to all your enthusiasm.

Shopping On a Gibraltar Street inside the Fort

The Fortification sheltering the Tourist Shops
from Attack - all real business is done downtown.

Prices here are crippling.  Thirty Seven Dollars for two burgers with a side of fries and a diet coke at a nondescript cafe.  We are not sure what was ground up to make the tasty patties but suspect it was horse.  For sure it did not come from any part of a cow. The electronics stores, reputedly source of great tax free bargains, were charging more in pounds than any American retailer would ever charge in dollars for the same item.

Walking through Morrisons, a big UK grocery chain, we found prices ranging from thirty to four hundred percent higher than their Spanish equivalent.  You wonder why the Gibbers don't just drive to Spain and buy their groceries and wine for half the price.

Which is what we are going to do today. We can't afford to buy British.