Over at Flikr I’ve loaded up a set of photos taken on Gibraltar. This is a place we visited because of old family ties that drew us back. I was curious to see this place where my great grandfather and my grandfather served in the British Army. Serving in the British Army was a way to escape the poverty of England and so my great grandfather left England first for India, where my grandfather was born in Karachi, and then other places around the British Empire till when my grandfather was about 16 and could enlist as well, they ended up in Gibraltar.
Some of the photos I’ve taken show the military nature of the Rock. It must have been an arduous place to serve a term. The road we walked down from the summit of the rock was one that the soldiers would have had to walk up many times, I’m sure.
Large rings in the rock were placed there to assist the teams of men who moved heavy guns up and down those same roads. We think sometimes of the enjoyment of the sun. I wonder if the soldiers rejoiced in it or cursed its heat as they were climbing.
It is from Gibraltar that my ancestors emigrated to Canada. I guess they were used to hard work but the introduction to cold must have been a real shock. yet they stayed, laboured again under adverse conditions and helped build Canada. I suspect most of us have gotten soft over the years. We owe much to our forebears.
Leo and I rode the cable car to the top of The Rock and then walked down. It was a long day of walking. We probably did 10 Kms and it was not all downhill. It was a good way to see the place. At the end of the day we had a meal in a place on the waterfront called the Ipanema where they served Brazilian style – endless meats grilled and passed on huge skewers. Wonderful end to a great day.
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