Not the prison in San Francisco Bay. Or the Sean Connery movie. No, not the wrestler, either. I’m talking about the British colony of Gibraltar. As I write this, I’m sitting in my flat (that’s “apartment” to you Yanks) looking out at the Mediterranean (or is it the Atlantic?) and watching a 737 taxi across the main road on this side of town.
I’m wrapping up a week here doing some work for a local company that bought our product from the UK office, who in turn discovered they didn’t have anyone available that could actually install it. So I got up last Sunday and headed out to the airport for a 3 hour flight to Orlando, where I transferred to a British Air flight into Gatwick, followed by another 3 hour flight to Gibraltar. If the 16 hours of travel weren’t enough, there was no one to meet me at the airport so I had to wait an hour to get in touch with my local contact and get to the office, where I proceeded to work for 6 hours.
Here's the view from my office window:
 |  |
| That's Africa on the horizon out the left window pane.. | .. and that's Europe (Spain) out the right half. |
That’s enough to try the patience of most folks, but apparently I wasn’t done. It’s hot and VERY humid here, and there’s no air conditioning in the place they rented for me (along with the warning that was kind of a dump, but lodging’s hard to find), no telephone, no Internet, and the television didn’t have the right kind of plug for the outlet. Then, just to be sure I was acclimated, I stayed up until 11pm and finally, after 32 or so hours, I went to sleep..
The next day after work I at least discovered another plug that I could use on the TV, which was basically the life preserver for my sanity.. I also managed to find some decent food, and with the discovery of the night before that it cools off enough at night to keep the sliding doors and windows open, enjoyed a movie on the telly (along with some Dr. Pepper I found at the nearby petrol station!).
By Thursday, I had enough work done to leave half an hour early (you know, by 6:00) and catch a quick tour up the rock to see the sights, which primarily means the monkeys. While our driver offered to get one to sit on your shoulder for a picture, no one spoke up right away. However, I was the last one exiting the van, and the monkey sitting on top decided he’d take matters into his own hands and hopped on so he’d get his peanuts anyway.
I’m done working now and getting ready for the 19 hour trip home, which includes a flight to London’s Gatwick airport, an hour car ride to London’s Heathrow airport, a long flight to Chicago, where I’ll meet up with my niece who was going to fly home to Dallas alone but now has a first class seat next to me instead.
In the end, I got a lot done, saw as much as I could have hoped, and ended up enjoying myself despite the way things started. Maybe I’ll be back in a few months (although I better not go without Kristie next time!).
Here are the rest of my pictures from the trip.