Iberian Voyage 10 - Gibraltar

Friday April 12

Gibraltar was a great surprise for both of us. To be honest we had done no research about the trip. Sometimes it is good not to have certain expectations.

Breakfast etc all as usual. Our Red Group bus was the last to leave today at 9 am.

Our local tour guide Chris had a very heavy British accent which was no surprise since Gibraltar is British Territory. We brought some English money in case we saw something we could not live without. Chris told us what we needed to learn in an interesting and funny way.

Fresh water for Gibraltar is made by desalinating seawater. This man-made waterfall is the result of the discharge of excess water from the desalination plant.

Our first stop, a photo opportunity. It was incredible windy and quite a bit cold.

Weather was good enough to actually see Africa/Morocco.

Our second stop was St.Michael’s Cave. This was a natural cave with stalactites and stalagmites. 

There was a colored Lightshow though which made the next photo look like an angel appeared. (Video will be included when back home)

There was also a theater for another Lightshow. Chris showed us to the best seats but I was dripped on and had sat on a wet chair. No problem though. That’s what stalactites do.  

A bit of waiting at the gift shop/bathrooms. I thought this map was interesting. 

The roads on the “Rock” (mountain) were very narrow and that’s why there were only little buses. Our driver Bettina was incredible. Drivers have to have patience though because sometimes things come to a screeching hold. 

Going downhill we stopped soon to “meet” the Gibraltar monkeys . 

We were warned that they were wild animals and sometimes react in a way unexpected … like bite. Our fellow travelers are really great reasonable people but by golly we saw people which must be crazy … petting and even kissing the monkeys. Really?

Well, it was interesting. Soon we were on our way to “The Tunnels of Gibraltar”. The tunnels were really amazing and played a big role in the WWII preparing for the possibility that Hitler’s Army would come so far. The embedded link is really very interesting reading. 

There was quite a crowd and word was that all the hard-hats were gone. Joana managed to find a few for our tallest people. 

To get to the open look-out point we had to walk quite bended over but the view was incredible. It was actually to see the airport runway. 

On the way out Chris pointed out this sign. The mountain is actually decided by a fault line. 

The little bus brought us down into the city. 

Surprise. Surprise. Lunch was fish and chips. Very British. 

Afterwards we had the choice to take the bus back to the ship or stay in town and take one of the two later buses or walk to the ship. 

James and I decided to have a look around in the city. It didn’t take long to figure out that it wasn’t for us and we decided to walk to the ship. 

These signs in a shop window were kind of funny though. 

We had the map on the phone and there were some signs for pedestrians to the port. 

This is a monument “Evacuation of the Gibraltariens 1940-1951”  obviously still a not forgotten topic.

We were so happy about the weather. 

At 5 pm was a discussion inn”Spain and Portugal”

At 6 pm the Aperol Spritz party with live music 

At 6:45 pm Port Talk as always (about the following day)

At 7 pm dinner

This is a culinary cruise so today several tapas were on the table as appetizers. 

The QR code is a new thing for us. It gives you the menu which is really helpful. I applaud the wish to reduce the use of paper. 

After dinner: “trip leaders fairytale”  which included audience participation. 

Both activities were hilarious. We had a lot of fun.

And by now it was late. Time to go to bed. The time will change during the night going backwards 2 hours because we are going to Tangier, Morocco, in the night. It might be a bit rocky. Fingers crossed. 

🤞