Gibraltar

Day #8

Cruise Day #4 - Gibraltar

We awoke to a spectacle of ships dotting the horizon. The view from our balcony was amazing as we saw Sagres, Portugal and other communities along the shoreline. Many wind farms were also plainly visible through the binoculars :-) We were just north of Casablanca, Morocco and south of the border of Portugal and Spain as we neared the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar . The shipping traffic was crazy but in an organized way.

We had our usual laps around the deck and coffee before heading up to watch the ship navigate through the channel that separates Spain and Morocco.

Off our starboard side is the coastline of Morocco as we pass through the Strait of Gibraltar

We rounded the corner and headed towards the Rock. It was plainly visible as we approached the harbor and the deck railings of the ship were crowded with cruisers trying to get that perfect picture.... here is mine... :-)

The Rock

As a bonus and perhaps a greeting to the ship, we were treated to a great display of dolphins playing in our wake. They were obviously enjoying the "push" of the waves.  

A quick breakfast and we headed to our excursion rendezvous point in the Lyric Lounge. On previous trips we all met outside on the dock but this made for possible delays as people failed to show up for their particular excursion (slept in, got lost, or just decided to not go at the last minute). To streamline this we assembled in the lounge and once off the ship in our group, we quickly left the dock area in our transport.

Out tour took us through the city to the base of the tram and most conveniently, to our first geocache of the day!  Bonus! The tram takes you up to the top of the Rock to the old gun emplacements that used to protect the colony. The view was spectacular and we took many pictures. One of the highlights/dangers of this place are the Barbary Macaques that live in the upper reaches. There is along story of their existence but I don't have the time to go into detail :-) You can read about them here   

The main danger is that they will go into your bags, backpacks & especially plastic bags looking for food. They will take whatever they want and leave so we were warned ahead of time not to entice them. We played the game and had no issues but also witnessed people being robbed of a bag of crisps... clearly oblivious to the warnings. These people were almost as fun to watch as the monkeys themselves.... I somehow saw the evolutionary connection :-)

Mother and baby watching the humans.

View from the top. Spain in the background.

The North peak with the Spanish town of La Linea De La Concepcion behind it.

Our return down the mountain took us about half way as we rejoined our transport for a trip to the historic Siege Tunnels. The Rock was tunneled out extensively during WWII and was able to support 17,000 men. The history of this fortress during this period is covered here

A panoramic view from mid mountain.

It is truly mind boggling to think that a city the size of the town actually exists within the rock... but it does. Next up we traveled over to the Siege Tunnels to explore the earlier tunnels that allowed the rock itself to be come a fortress. We entered the tunnel an walked down through the maze looking at gun emplacements and powder rooms. The highlight was when we cam to the "Notch" that housed the main gun emplacements. Lots of info here

The Notch.. remember this is all carved out!

Imagine the sound!

 The entrance to the tunnels also gave us a good vantage point overlooking over the airfield. You can see that the highway actually goes over the runway! On arrival of flights, this is closed and planes have the right of way. The town of La Linea De La Concepcion lies just past the terminal building. There is lots of history regarding this border and it's complete closure (between 1969 and 1985) in the past has caused long lasting resentment amongst older locals. Read the history and see more pictures here

Airport and highway to Spain. You can also see gun emplacements on the hillside.

Off we went with a quick stop at the local Museum to view some of the city's historic collections then traveled down to the most southern tip of Gibraltar and saw the Mosque of Two Holy Custodians, the Trinity Lighthouse and the restored Harding's Battery (details here)

Harding's Battery at Europa Point

Trinity Lighthouse.

We headed back towards the ship around the east side of Gibraltor and got dropped off at the town center. A quick pint and then a short 10 minute walk back to the ship.

Dinner and a great show followed then it was the 70's Dance Party on the Promenade.  As much as this is a repeat from other Royal Caribbean Cruises, the place was jam packed and everyone enjoyed the entertainment.

Off to bed with a big sleep in planned... another Sea Day tomorrow with Indian cooking on tap... :-)

FYI For complete wiki info on Gibraltar go here