Gibraltar ROCKS... pun intended!

Yesterday we hopped a bus from the base and went on a tour of Gibraltar, our first family trip since arriving in Spain 6 weeks ago. I realize I must be somewhat geographically challenged because I honestly had no idea Gibraltar was an entirely separate country and it's "owned" by the British. Who knew? You knew? So what?! Gibraltar is connected to Spain by a thin stretch of land and it's the entrance to the Mediterranean. You can look in one direction on the rock and see Spain and in the other direction you can see Africa, Morocco to be exact. Pretty cool, huh?

The drive to Gibraltar was interesting because it was obviously new territory for us and we saw some things we'd never seen. For instance, there is this old building structure along the way where storks build these HUGE nests and we actually saw the storks sitting in their nests when we passed by. Did I get a picture? Well, no I didn't, because I didn't realize we'd be seeing really cool stuff along the way! I missed taking a picture of the storks, but thought I'd have a second chance on the way back, which didn't happen because they weren't in their nests when we drove back. My husband said they must have been out making their deliveries.

When I realized I was missing out on photo ops, I got the camera out, ready for whatever might come next. I got a pictures of these... While you may think these strange-looking things are devices used to send signals to aliens, I assure you, this is not the intended purpose. These are windmills. Go ahead and click on the picture for a closer view.

We stopped about halfway to Gibraltar for potty a break and snack at this place... We ate these sinful doughnuts and they were SOOOOO GOOOOODDD!
As we approached Gibraltar, we readied our passports (ooh... aah... our first stamp from another country since arriving in Spain) and searched out the huge rock that is Gibraltar. Unfortunately, it was a really cloudy day and we were unable to see the entire rock due to the fog and clouds. We have postcards though and know that the rock is doggone big! Here's the best picture I could get of the rock...
Here's a picture I found online to give you an idea of what it would look like on a clear day...
We had a few hours to shop and eat lunch before our tour continued up the rock to see the sights, which included a couple of caves, breathtaking views of the water and land surrounding the rock, a Moorish castle, lighthouse, mosque and of course the infamous Barbary Apes. We walked the streets and ducked into stores. The boys found stores that sold Wii games and Legos, so they were in hog heaven. They also spied a Burger King and insisted on having lunch there, however, my husband and I had a craving for English fish & chips. We were in British territory, after all.
Narrow streets meant we had to watch where we walked.
When did you last see one of these?
Here's the Moorish castle perched atop the hill...
Here's the lighthouse at Europa Point...
And here's the mosque of King Fahad of Saudi Arabia...
We could see both the lighthouse and mosque from the same location on Europa Point, and when we turned around to face the water, to the right we saw Spain beyond this ship... and to the left we saw Africa... I used the zoom lens on this picture so that it would be a little clearer among the clouds.

We visted a couple of caves - St. Michael's Cave, which is a natural cave with stalactites and the like as well as a huge ampitheater built for live performances...
... and the Great Siege Tunnels, which were manmade during the 1770s and 1780s...
Are you thirsty for more or are you bored? Hold that thought! I'm saving the best for last. I invite you to stand by for my next post when I show you beautiful aerial views from atop the rock, as well as the infamous Barbary Apes, which were the hit of the day for our family. I have lots of pictures to share with you, so do come back for another visit.