In the British university system, everyone gets a longer spring (or “Easter”) break that is about three weeks long. During this time, most people go home to be with their family and work on coursework that may be due after the break. However, Dickinson did one better and decided to take us to Gibraltar. If you don’t know where Gibraltar is, go get a map, find Spain, and then find the most southern point, THAT’S IT! Our program director decided to take us to Gibraltar because it’s a “British Overseas Territory” also known as a Colony. While we were there we studied the "identity" associated with Gibraltar since it's British but very diverse!
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| I was loving Gibraltar because they were more into the Jubilee than anywhere in England! |
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| The airport we had to fly into. See the thing that looks like a road on the far right side? Yes, that is the road to Spain that shuts down when a plane takes off or lands. |
When we first got to Gibraltar, we found our hotel and did a little exploring. It’s only 6 square miles but has an adorable Main Street. We walked up Main Street to the Cable Car that takes you to the top of the rock. We had the most BEAUTIFUL views of the Bay of Gibraltar and Mediterranean Sea. We also had out first encounter with the Gibraltarian monkeys. The story behind the monkeys is a little confusing but basically, Winston Churchill brought them over from Africa to “build sprits” since Gibraltar was being used purely for military purposes. Since we were without a tour guide, we didn’t get too close to the monkeys as we were told they were “wild animals”. This proved to be correct as one student had a monkey jump on their leg and when he tried to get it off, it bit him. But it’s ok, it was only through the jacket (meaning he hasn’t turned into a monkey… yet). Later that day, just the students (there are only 8 of us) found somewhere to eat and spent the rest of the night talking over several pitchers of Sangria!
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| Out for Sangrias! |
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| The Rock of Gibraltar. |
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| Dickinson College Humanities in England 2011 - 2012! |
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| The town of Gibraltar! |
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| On the cable car on the way to the top of the rock. My face is because the car just started swaying back and forth. |
The next day, we had our “academic day” where we visited the Museum of Gibraltar and had a lecture with two employees of the museum about the “Identity of Gibraltar”. We discussed how it became such a mix of people and why Gibraltarians want to still be ruled under the Queen. We then had some more time to walk around Gibraltar and had dinner together at this GREAT Brazilian Restaurant. It was the last time that the program was going to be there all together. I can’t believe that the program is almost over!
The next morning, Todd scheduled us a van tour of the rock. Our first stop was the monument to the “Pillar of Hercules”. Greek mythology says that Hercules travelled to Gibraltar and has his 10th task, had to separate Europe and Africa and the other pillar is there. We then saw St. Michaels Cave, which is a whole cave system inside the Rock of Gibraltar. There is even an auditorium inside for musical performances. We continued driving up the rock (with no rails on the side of the road, just the Bay of Gibraltar) and stopped to see the monkeys. However, this is where they are all fed and are used to the tourists. Our tour guide had nuts and was able to get the monkeys to jump on our backs. They were a little scary and some of the group was actually freighted by their presence. The last stop on the tour were the tunnels that were built as fortification. These are literally tunnels that were built inside the mountain with cannons poking out of them. In WWII they were expanded again for military purposes and are 32 miles long.
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| Pilar of Hercules. |
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| The monkeys steal food and shiny things... and bite. |
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| I don't even have the words... |
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| Performing inside the Rock of Gibraltar? Yes. |
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| I was a little afraid of the monkey on my head. |
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| A little skeptical. |
We were hoping for some better weather but it was raining on and off the entire time we were there. We really wanted to go hang out on the beach but it just was not sunny enough. Still, we ventured over to the Eastern side of the rock and visited Catalan Bay. The Mediterranean Sea was beautiful but very cold. We then took a bus to Europa Point, which is the most southern point in Europe. After the rain cleared, I was actually able to see the outline of Africa!
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| Dickinson Humanities in England 2011 - 2012 on the Mediterranean |
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| Touching the Mediterranean Sea. |
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| Africa is somewhere behind me. |
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| Europa Point: the southernmost point in Europe! |
Cheers!
