As soon as we disembarked the ship, we were approached by taxi drivers who wanted to give us city tours including the sites in the Gibraltar mountain nature reserve for 30€ per person in an 8-person van. (Though the Gibraltar £ is the official currency (not to be confused with the British £), Euros are accepted everywhere.) This would have been a good deal, but we did not want to wait for a van to fill, nor did we want to be climbing in and out of a van for part of the day. Instead, we walked the roughly 3/4 mile from the port to the public bus station at Casemates Square in town. There we purchased an all day pass for 3€ per person (a steal) and took a #2 bus to the far southern end of Gibraltar, called Europa Point.
Europa Point is the location of a lighthouse (quite picturesque) and Harding's Battery, with a 55-ton cannon and a small museum in the battery detailing the geological origin and history of Gibraltar. We found this fascinating, especially when we learned that the Mediterranean Sea opened and closed millions of years ago, and then 5 million years ago it opened and stayed open, and Gibraltar was the site of the largest waterfall in history as the Atlantic Ocean filled the Mediterranean Sea. Because if its strategic location, Gibratar was the site of many conflicts and pirate attacks over the centuries but is now a British territory. It was a foggy day, but from Europa Point we could see Morocco in Africa.
The Europa Point lighthouse
Harding's Battery with the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim mosque behind it
In the museum in Harding's Battery
In the hazy distance is Africa (more specifically Morocco)
We walked over to the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim mosque but were disappointed to discover it is closed in Fridays. I had come prepared with a scarf to cover my head and a pair of socks without holes to enter the mosque. ;-) We walked back to the bus stop (the #2 ran every 15 minutes) and took the bus back to the base of the cable car which travels to the top of the mountain. While our day had been cheap so far, the cable car cost about 20£ per person, or $48 total, but we may not ever get back here again so we paid by credit card and took the six minute ride to the top of the mountain. We were hoping to see some of the Barbary apes for which Gibrater is famous; well, it would have been more of a trick to not see them. They were everywhere, but the cutest set was a family with three babies who ran around chasing each other and playing.
Map of the Rock of Gibraltar and nature preserve
Apparently we weren't very exciting spectators
I think this is my favorite photo of the entire trip
So hazy, but you can see the Pacific Princess at its berth in the port of Gibraltar
While we had a view off the west side of the mountain toward the harbor and the Pacific Princess, there was dense fog on the east side that blocked the view of the beaches down below. The mountain has a sharp ridge which runs along the top, with steep drop offs on either side. At this point, we decided to walk down the mountain toward the north to see the signaling station, siege tunnels, military museum and Moorish Castle. And this is when it started to get tricky. The switchback road was very steep but certainly walkable but, in the interest of time, we took a cut through path and this was very rough and steep with small jumbled rocks. It was Mt. Tapioi on Raiatea all over again.
The view off to the right down to the Atlantic would be totally obscured...
...but then it would clear a little just for a few seconds.
This would have been the wise way to go down the mountain...
...but we chose this way instead...
...and this way...
...and eventually this way (when we got lost).
The signaling station appeared to be closed, but we were able to tour the siege tunnels and military museum and continued our way down the mountain to the Moorish Castle. At a lookout just before the castle, we had a clear view of the Gibraltar airport with its runway that is crossed by a major road. When planes take off or land, crossing barriers come down to stop traffic until the plane is safely parked or has taken off. We were very lucky to be there while a small plane taxied and took off and watched as the traffic backed up and then resumed travel one the gates were opened. We climbed to the top of the Moorish Castle but didn't dawdle; the walk down had already taken three hours and we needed to get back to the ship. Luckily, just past the Moorish Castle are a set of about a million stone steps down to the city center. Oy vey I was tired!!
The gates are closed and traffic is stopped from crossing the runway
The plane begins to taxi
It turns to take off
It is airborn
Traffic again crosses the runway
The Moorish Castle
Steps going down...
...and down...
....and down...
...and still more.
Casemates Square
Once back at Casemate Square, we still had to walk back to the Pacific Princess and stopped at a pharmacy along the way to buy more sudafed and nasal spray and throat lozenges. The prices were much cheaper than at a store near Port Everglades and we're now set for the remainder of our cruise. We reboarded the ship at about 4pm after almost 7 hours of walking and we were bushed. Still, we were showered and were in the PES Lounge at 5pm to watch as we sailed, and then went to the Club Restaurant where I had salad and salmon again...and sorbet for dessert, of course. We had skipped lunch, and this was definitely a day where we burned more calories than we consumed!
The Cabaret Lounge show was vocalist Brenda Cochrane (we had seen her two cruises ago) and we then sat in the Casino Lounge to listen to Jere Ring for about an hour. We finally left when we were nearly napping as we sat there. We move clocks back one hour for the first of six times tonight and I am elated about that. The only thing better than a day on a cruise is a 25-hour day on a cruise.
And, finally, Captain D made the not unexpected announcement this evening that we will be precluded from going to Ponta Delgada in the Azores due to a series of winter depressions crossing the Atlantic. However, we are substituting a stop in Funchal, Madeira just one sea day from now. We have twice been to Funchal and loved it, but were kind in looking forward to seeing new territory. No matter; several passengers who have been to both say that Funchal is definitely the preferred stop. This will have us sailing over 300 miles further south across the Atlantic to Bermuda and will lessen our anticipated swell height by one meter. I think that's a very good thing.