View of "The Rock" of Gibraltar.
We were looking forward to Gibraltar, as it was one of our favorite ports on our honeymoon cruise on the Rotterdam in 1999. While most European cities seem to change fairly slowly, we were surprised to see how much “the Rock” had changed in 8 years.
On our prior visit, we recalled walking between the port area where the ship docked and the downtown area on a single lane road with not much around but port facilities.
Cruise ship port and new condos in Gibralter.
Now, there is a new cruise terminal, and the area is filled with high rise condos and apartments, a 4-lane road, a Safeway store, hospital and McDonalds, and much more building in progress. Of course, we can understand why people would want to buy a condo in this beautiful destination.
The other big change was the high value of the British pound to the US dollar (about $2 to £1. Looking into the Burger King, a Whopper was a whopping £4.59. A $9.63 fast food hamburger quickly reminded us of the value of our cruise in US dollars. Plus, we gained greater appreciation for the cheeseburgers at the Terrace Grill back on the ship, thank you very much!
Since it was Sunday morning, the downtown was fairly quiet. Later, it got busier as Cunard’s QE 2 arrived in port and stores opened.
We` headed to the cable car (after a rest break for a cold pint) and rode up to the top of the Rock. (1 way tickets are £8.) What a view in all directions at the top! The facilities at the Top of the Rock are much improved in 8 years – with clean, new bathrooms, a café, gift shop and pub.
We found it quite interesting to watch a British Airways flights take off from the runway (located directly next to Spain’s border) and then bank hard left to stay out of Spanish airspace. The airport runway also bisects the major road between Gibraltar and Spain.
Despite many warnings about the monkeys at the Top of the Rock (often referred to as apes but actually tailless monkeys) many visitors still can’t resist their charms. The mothers have had babies in the spring – who are now extremely playful and cute! But, set your soda down for a second to take a photo, and the mother monkey has it, pours it on the ground and drinks it, and if you try to get it back she will hiss and bite. We also watched another monkey steal a bag of Doritos out of a woman’s bag.
After taking photos we started our walk down, choosing the path heading down to the right (toward the Moorish Castle). The hike down is long, but the views are terrific the entire way. We peaked into the Great Siege tunnels (which were closed), and worked our way back downtown.
Later at sail away, we went on deck 12 for Port Lecturer Frank’s commentary. As the Prinsendam sailed around THE ROCK, the sun came out and we were treated to a glorious view.
It was a formal evening with the 2nd seating show at 6:45. We missed it (soaking in the hot tub to relieve sore muscles) but learned from our table mates that Selima Wazir, a young woman who played the oboe and the English horn, was excellent.
There was some excitement during dessert when the fire alarm sounded (see other post) but all was handled by 11pm. Another great day!