Day 142: Gibraltar, United Kingdom

Sunday, 28 May 2017
At Sea — Atlantic Ocean

Stats @ Ship’s Time 9:00p (CEST) … UTC 7:00p (28 May)
Temp: 66.4F (19.1C)
Position: 35.57.72N / 5.47.05W

Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through
travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.
~ Eudora Welty ~

Our port of call today was Gibraltar.  We’ve been here a few times, but this was only our second time spending time ashore.

The first time was in 2003 when we did a TransAtlantic from Barcelona back to the US … with mom.  The two other occasions were both service calls.  One was rather recent … a cruise ship detour for a medical emergency … late at night … the city a-twinkle with lights beneath the dark silhouette of the Rock.  The other was years and years and years ago.  I was a little girl and don’t remember it, but mom tells me that we were crossing from the US to Italy on the SS Cristoforo Colombo when we made that service call.  Apparently vendors came out to the ship to hawk their wares … no recollection of that at all.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory.  It was ceded to the British in 1713 by Spain … who would like to have it back, but the people who live in this tiny piece of the UK maintain that they are British.  They have voted to remain so in many-a referendum.  But is that about to change?  How is Brexit going to impact relations here with Spain, which is so much closer to Gibraltar than the UK is.  What about the open border with Spain … that odd airport runway crossing that is open only when there is no airplane coming into or taking off from Gibraltar.  Will that border have to be closed if Gibraltar remains part of the UK?  That could have a disastrous effect on the livelihood of many citizens on both sides of the border.  These are some of the questions the locals will be wrestling with in the months ahead.  None of it, however, affected our day today.

Since we had done the typical must-sees in 2003, this was to have been an easy day for us — lazy even.  Yeah, right!  We ended up walking a little over 19,700 steps, so I would say our lazy day wasn’t such a lazy one after all.  At least we did not rush off Insignia when she docked at  8:00a.

It was 9:30a when we left the ship and started the 45-60 minute walk from the North Mole where we were docked to the cable station that goes to the top of the Rock.  We kept our pace steady until we reached Main Street, which runs from one end of the city to the other.  Then we added a bit of sightseeing to our walk.

First we stopped at the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned … a Roman Catholic church from 1462 that was built on the site of an old mosque.  It was heavily damaged during the Great Siege of 1779-83, but some of the older structure can still be seen.  Our next stop was the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity … Moorish in appearance, it dates back to 1825.  For me the highlight of these church visits was the beautiful stained glass windows.

Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned

Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity

Next, we stopped to check out the Trafalgar Cemetery.  The signage at the door said the land, originally known as the South Ditch, had been consecrated in 1798.  Though the name commemorates the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, only two of the graves here belong to men who died after being wounded in that battle … the rest are people who died in yellow fever epidemics that ravaged Gibraltar during the first decade of the 1800s.   The tombstones of several others from the battle were moved here from St Jago’s Cemetery in 1932 and set in one of the walls.  Otherwise, the majority of those who were killed during the battle were buried at sea … Nelson’s body was transported to London for a state funeral and burial at St Paul’s Cathedral.

At the cable car station, we picked up a couple of one-way tickets (£12.50/person … ~USD $17)  and queued up for the next cable car run to go up the Rock of Gibraltar.  Our wait was minimal and soon we were being whisked up over 1,350 feet (412 m) to the Top Station, enjoying views of Gibraltar spread out far below us as we ascended.  The ride — in operation since 1966 — takes a mere 6 minutes and is the speediest way to get to the top.

When we arrived at the Top Station, it looked quite different from the way we both remembered it being in 2003.  For one thing, the open space we walked around last time seemed to be taken up by a bigger cafeteria.  There were far fewer apes — Barbary macaques, actually —  wandering about as well … and they weren’t nearly as aggressive as last time.  Most importantly, a thick haze veiled the scenery, limiting my shutter clicks to a minimum.

Insignia is the smaller of the two cruise ships docked way down there.

Spain is in the distance … just beyond the airport runway that serves as the border.

After walking around for a while, we began our trek down the Rock.  But first we stopped at the ape feeding area closest to the station.  Here we found some more critters … some quite young and in a playful mood, running and chasing each other.  Walking down a bit further, we came to the second feeding station.  This area seemed to be the domain of macaque families, with many of the females nursing youngs … one looked to be no more than a week old.

Grooming Time!

Last time we walked down the Rock, we started from the Siege Tunnels, so it didn’t take us as long to get back to the city as it did today — 2½ hours with some inadvertent detours.  From where we started walking, the signage wasn’t clear and we weren’t sure we were headed in the right direction until we got to St Michael’s Caves.  Then we knew we were going the right way.  Seeing the sign for the Windsor Bridge, we decided to follow the recommendation to use it as a shortcut.  This suspension bridge — Gibraltar’s newest tourist attraction; 233 feet (71 m) long and crossing the 164 feet (50 m) deep gorge at the Royal Anglian Way — is indeed a shortcut … but not if you enter it from the wrong direction … which we did [sigh].  We ended up partially re-tracing our steps and crossing it twice … more steps on the Fitbit!!!

One needs a head for heights to cross the Windsor Bridge.

Further down, we came to a junction with a sign pointing to a rustic — meaning unpaved and studded with sharp rocks — pedestrian-only trail.  We decided to be adventurous and veered off from the main road to take the trail.  It turned out to be a shortcut that put us on the back streets of the city.  From there, it was easy to follow the map and get back on Main Street.

Devil’s Gap Steps, painted with the Union Jack during the 1967 Referendum,
have become a symbol of Gibraltar's wish to remain British.

To return to the port, we took Queensway Road and followed a series of smaller roads — less interesting than Main Street, but shorter … our aching feet were appreciative of every step saved.  We were on the ship a little after 2:30p.  After grabbing a quick lunch from the Waves Grill, we returned to the cabin to relax on the veranda.  A cool breeze kept us comfortable until it was time to get ready for dinner with GM Victor and our friends in the Main Dining Room.

Tomorrow is another port of call in Spain.  We don’t arrive in Seville until 11:00a, so I hope to have a quiet morning as the ship sails up the river to dock in the heart of the city.

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