Gibraltar. Excursion: Gilbraltar - A City Under Siege & Cable Car.

I didn't need to get up early for a change.  My assigned tour was after lunch so I had the chance to have a bit of a lie in.  Ha!  Announcements were made via the tannoy and one of the speakers is right outside our bedroom window!  In the end I got up and went outside to see the Prinsendam's arrival into Gibraltar.  Unfortunately you couldn't see The Rock very clearly due to early morning fog so my photographs are not great, but it doesn't matter.

Gibraltar in the distance

After lunch, while in the showroom in advance of my assigned tour, two guests rocked up at the looking very tired and disheveled.  It turned out that they were two of the four who had missed the ship yesterday in Lisbon and had just arrived from their unexpected journey to Gibraltar.  Needless to say, they cancelled going on their tour because they were so tired.  Ooops.

The mosque, Europa Point

For the first stop of the tour we went to Europa Point, the southernmost point of Gibraltar.  On a clear day one can see, across the Strait of Gibraltar North Africa, Ceuta and the Rif Mountains of Morocco.  Today it was hazy so we couldn't see anything except for the sea and horizon.  At the point stands the Gibraltar Trinity Lighthouse which was built between 1838 and 1841.  It is fully automated now.  Also at the Europa Point was a mosque (which we didn't visit though), which was a gift from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and took two years to build.

Our next stop was to the cable car up to the top of The Rock.  We visited the top station first where there were beautiful but hazy views.  We then then took the cable car to the middle station which is a request stop rather being a routine stop.  We had been told about the Barbary macaques but didn't see them at the top station.  We saw them at middle station, though, where we met up with our bus.  Some macaques sat on our bus roof.  We caught sight of one macaque with her baby, and mum met with another macaque for a grooming session with baby stuck in the middle.   The guests were thrilled to see them but kept a respectful distance from them.

The Great Siege Tunnels was next on the itinerary.  They are carved through solid limestone towards the end of 18th century by the British during the siege of Gibraltar.  I didn't get very far within the tunnels because the guide got talking to me so I missed out on exploring them properly.  Oh well.

Our final stop for the day was the Gibraltar Museum which was interesting.  Within the museum were some archaeological excavations. 

Nikki (our driver) and Graciella were made the tour interesting.  Although Nikki did the driving she also talked to guests during the journey.  Both women had a great sense of humour.  One of the things I can remember Graciella telling us was that when Lord Nelson died during battle his body put in a barrel and pickled.   He was then taking to Gibraltar where he was then transferred to another barrel of pickle and transported to UK and buried at Trafalgar Square.  Those who did not survive the battle of Trafalgar were also pickled but buried in Gibraltar.  Whether it the story is true or not - we found it very funny.  

Overall we had a great day.

The ship is now heading to Cartagena, Spain. 

PHOTOGRAPHS

Arrival

Pilot boat on its way

Europa Point in the distance with its lighthouse

Europa Point

Cable car up The Rock & views

Middle cable car stop and monkeys

Baby monkey sitting on mum's lap during mum's grooming time

Siege Tunnels & views from near the entrance

 Gibraltar Museum

Note the upturned cannon barrel with
a cannon ball in it, as part of the
museum's entrance.