Gibraltar

Bay of Giralter
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5.09.2007 Gibraltar, United Kingdom

Gibraltar is the famous piece of rock located at the western entrance of the Mediterranean, with Spain to the north and across the Strait, Morocco to the south. The Strait of Gibraltar, a channel 36 miles long connects the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, is 27 miles wide at the west end , eight miles at the narrowest and 15 miles between Gibraltar and Almina Point near Ceuta, Africa It’s strategic location has always made it very important in history and very valuable to the Allies during WWII. Despite efforts by Spain to get it back, it remains a British Colony and now that it has self rule the inhabitants insist on remaining a part of The UK.

West side of The Rock
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This tiny but important outpost is full of natural caves, 30 miles of man-made tunnels in the mountain and water catchments that stretch across the mountain face. The mountain is inhabited by many Barbary Apes which seem to ignore the tourists. We have passed Gibraltar many times but have never docked at the harbor around behind The Rock on the Rosia Bay which was quite surprising. We had taken a tour of Gibralter when we attended my first Home Life Convention as President in nearby Marbella, Spain in 1998 with our daughter Liz and our new son-in-law, Derek. Liz had qualified for attendance and it was a great experience for Sallie and me to have them with us.

Port Tereminal
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We docked this afternoon and Sallie and I went into town by taxi and up the cable car to the top. A large Carnival ship, the 3000 passenger “The Princess”, was docked across from us and the town was crowded and hot, too. The ride up was crowded and we didn’t stay long but the views were as dramatic as we had remembered. When we came down we couldn’t get a taxi and ended up walking the entire length of Main Street before we were able to crowd in a crowded van to get back to the ship. Gibraltar has a strong taxi union that prevents cruise ships providing complimentary shuttle service into town as Silverseas normally does. They jam you in and charge a fortune for a short ride before you transfer to another taxi if you wish to go across town as we did. All the drivers are trying to convince you that the only choice you really have to see The Rock is a personally conducted tour by them.

Cable Cable Ride
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It may have been Sallie’s low point of the cruise but we recovered in time to meet Joanne and Don for drinks and dinner while sharing misery after their exhausting 5 hour tour. To night we turn our watches ahead 2 hours-the most at one time since leaving. The time is always based on the time at the port we will be in the next day. Actually, tomorrow we will be exactly 5 hours ahead of time at home but this will be the first cruise we have ever taken where we will not have to adjust to time change because in the next 12 days as we sail west we will turn our watches back a total of 5 hours as we head west. This fully corrects the date which changed for us when we crossed the international dateline on Feb.19^th in the South Pacific. When we get home we will have turned our watches back a total of 24 hours. Am not sure yet how we have been affected by day light saving time but will know when we hit New York on May 22.