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| The Rock of Gibraltar |
We were up early, eager for our lovely scenic sail in
through the Strait of Gibraltar, but the first thing we heard was the sound of
a fog horn. Upon looking out the window,
we realized that we wouldn’t see much at all, the fog was so thick.
As Location Guide Brett began his commentary, he announced,
“To the right we can see… fog. To the
left we have… fog. Okay, I’m
finished.” However, he went on with a
history of the area dating back to the Phoenicians. As sailors, they used the Strait of Gibraltar
to enter the Atlantic. To scare others
off, they told people that to sail beyond that point they would fall off the
face of the earth. This apparently
worked quite well because others avoided it so they wouldn’t meet their
death. Gibraltar also has a place in
Greek and Roman mythology, where the Rock of Gibraltar on the European side and
its Moroccan counterpart on the African side became known back then as the
Pillars of Hercules as one of his twelve tasks.
Literally within seconds the fog lifted. Even though we are on the starboard side of
the ship, we discovered that we had a magnificent view of the majestic Rock of
Gibraltar rising out of the waters. For
once we lucked out as we were docked on the side that offered us a beautiful
view of this iconic landmark for the entire day. We quickly called Alice and invited her up
for a view from our verandah. At that
point we arranged to go into town together.
Alice wasn’t doing an excursion in Gibraltar, and ours was a short
afternoon excursion.
Shortly after the ship was cleared, we headed ashore; I
always feel rather guilty being rolled along like a queen rather than doing my
share of walking, but the town was just far enough away that I wouldn’t have
been able to cover that territory on foot – at least not at this point. Alice found a computer store where she hoped
she could get her computer issues resolved so we continued on our way, finally
reaching what looked like a nice touristy shopping place. We did a little browsing before deciding we
should head back.
After a small lunch, we headed out for our shore excursion, Panoramic Gibraltar and Elegant Tea. Because the buses were small, we were
told that I couldn’t take a walker or a wheelchair. It was quite a hike to the bus so by the time
we arrived, I was happy to climb aboard and take a seat. Soon our small group of 17 was on its
way. Our tour guide Peter explained that
Gibraltar is a British Territory, having been won from Spain back in 1704. Its strategic location on the southern tip of
Europe at the meeting point of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic makes it a
very desirous piece of property, and today it continues to be a bastion of
English military strength.
Interestingly, being British, Gibraltar has all the same rules as the UK
except one: in Gibraltar they drive on
the right. I’m sure it would be quite a
challenge for people to drive on the left being so isolated from the UK and so
close to Spain. In fact the area is so
small that within a few minutes we had arrived at the Spanish border. Interestingly, in order to get there we had
to pass the airport. This wouldn’t be a
big deal under most circumstances, but in Gibraltar the road literally
intersects with the airport’s one runway!
As we returned from the border, we had to wait for a traffic signal and
Peter commented that he had thought maybe we were waiting for a plane to take
off. Fortunately we weren’t delayed for
that reason and were soon on our way.
As we continued, we started to skirt the Rock of
Gibraltar. We slowed way down for a
couple minutes to get a rare glimpse of some Barbary Macaques (Apes) who had
come down from the cliffs of the mountain.
These are the only members of the monkey family that are indigenous to a
European country. Gibraltar has a belief
very similar to that of the Tower of London.
In the Tower, it is believed that if the ravens leave the monarchy will
fall. In Gibraltar if the Barbary Apes
leave, it is believed that the UK will lose control of Gibraltar. So they definitely want to protect these
unique little creatures. We were happy to be viewing them from the safety of
the bus: we have heard stories of
monkeys being attracted to very shiny things and just helping themselves to
jewelry, cameras, glasses, etc., and not being pleasant about returning them!
We made one photo stop at Europa Point. From here we got magnificent views of the
lighthouse, the highest point of the Rock, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic
Ocean, and Morocco! Quite a crossroads
of land and sea!
Our Elegant Tea was served at the Rock Hotel. One of the hotel’s claims to fame is the
marriage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono back in the late 1960s. We were more interested in the vistas we
could see as well as the delectables we snacked on while there. We had tea, sandwiches, pastries, and of
course scones. We did miss the jam
though. The scones were only served with
clotted cream. (We still think Ty Hwnt
I’r Bont in Llanrwst, Wales has the best scones in the world!)
After having skirted the bottom of the Rock, we arrived back
in town, passing by the Trafalgar Cemetery where many British sholdiers who
died in the Battle of Trafalgar were buried, as well as the American War
Memorial. It was from Gibraltar that
General Eisenhower, General Montgomery, and Sir Winston Churchill planned their
attack on North Africa during World War II.
The tour was very short, but we thoroughly enjoyed our stay
and look forward to coming here again.
Gibraltar is the only repeat port on our entire cruise. We will be back on May 13th.
BT
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