I went to Gibraltar to see monkeys. Well I guess they are technically apes, but I prefer the word monkey, so that's what I'm going to call them. They live on top of the rock and their familiarity with people makes you forget they are wild. They have no qualms about crowds engulfing them or having people in their faces snapping pictures. They are not afraid of darting between feet or hopping on top of cars. I even saw one giving a man high fives, in exchange for a few snacks of course. Be warned however, the monkeys of Gibraltar are sneaky and not all as friendly as they seem. I saw one leap onto a man's back, open his backpack and start pulling out the contents. I heard another story about a monkey grabbing unguarded cookies from a stroller, tipping it over with a child inside. Lucky the mother was able to catch the stroller before it hit the ground. Frightening tales (not a pun, the monkeys don't have tails) aside, I will admit their cuteness is hard to resist. I was tempted a few times to reach over and start petting them, but after watching one viciously tear apart an orange juice carton, I kept my hands to myself. Besides being a big rock with monkeys on it, Gibraltar is also a town. It's a British territory and looks like a mini England; complete with pubs and red telephone booths. All the signs are written in English and the prices are listed in pounds. There are countless restaurants promoting fish and chips specials. Passed between different powers throughout time and currently fought over by the British and Spanish, it also has a history worth reading about. At least on Wikipedia anyway.
