Chapter 3

Gibraltar, and Almeria

April 26, 27

Starting in Gibraltar, going to Almeria

Sunday, April 26:  Gibraltar, UK

When we got up and looked outside, we were already at the dock in the Bay of Gibraltar.  We could see “The Rock” from the ship and, of course, it did not look all that big from where we were.  Before the day was over, it would look a lot higher. 

 The Rock of Gibraltar did not look that big or high from sea level.

Susan and I had been to Gibraltar and took a tour previously, a couple of years ago, so we had some idea where things were.  Our friend Jyoti had gotten tickets for the cable car to the “Top Of The Rock” and back down again, so all six of us headed toward the cable car.  We apparently missed the shuttle bus from close to the ship to the cable car, so we ended up wandering around for a while looking for a shuttle or Taxi.

We wandered down the main street of the shopping area, looking for a taxi.

We finally found a taxi that would take us to the cable car station and the driver was giving us a sales pitch for a personal tour, rather than our “Do It Yourself” cable car tour.  By the time we did get to the cable car station, the wait was about 90 minutes.  We were there with our friends, chatting and carrying on, so the time passed reasonably quickly.  When the time came to divide up into car loads, we got separated from our friends and got put with another group of people who ended up being a tour group from the ship, complete with a tour guide giving a running commentary. 

We got separated from Jyoti, Joe, Murray, and Emily.

Our friends left on the cable car as we waited for the next one with our adopted group.  A cable car could take about 16 – 18 people and one left about every 8 to 10 minutes.  When our time came, we climbed on the car and it started up the hill, but when we got about a quarter of the way up, we stopped.  Hmmm, this was not in the schedule.  The tour guide explained that it was probably because the wind had come up some and the operators might have been afraid that the wind would exceed their limits.  Anyway, we soon started again, but now going back down.  We got to the lower station and stood there for a few minutes while the operators apparently decided whether it was safe to go.  They decided all was OK, and we started up the mountain again, this time making it all the way to the top.

The view from about where we stopped the first time.

For an abbreviated view of the ride up the mountain, check this video from the cable car.

When we got to the top and got off the cable car, there were no real signs saying what you were supposed to do or where to go, so we did the logical thing and just followed our adopted guide.  Of course, there were the famous Gibraltar monkeys waiting for handouts (or “take-aways”) from the tourists.  (Technically, they are Barbary macaques, but everyone just calls them “monkeys”.)

Two Barbary macaques at The Top of the Rock.

The guide led the tour group, and us, to an observation platform at The Top of the Rock and there was quite a view.  Make sure you check just how high we are in the photos just above and below: it will be significant in a little while.  The Top of the Rock is 1386 feet high while the peak just north of there, Rock Gun, is 1380 feet. From where we were, we could look past the Rock Gun, past the airport runway, and well into Spain.  From our previous visit, when we arrived via land, I knew the Spanish border was just a little beyond the runway. 

Just to reinforce the view, and how high we were, check this panoramic video.

It was a nice view from up here.

Our guide said that he could (barely) see Morocco coast from our vantage point, but all I could see was, maybe, a smudge on the horizon, since the day was somewhat hazy.

As we left the Top of the Rock observation deck, I heard some familiar voices: our friends Emily and Murray were there.  Our other friends, Jyoti and Joe had taken the cable car back down because Joe had bad knees and was not able to walk the somewhat uneven and rather downhill paths from there.  Since Emily and Murray wanted to see more of the sights, they had stayed at the Top of the Rock and found Susan and me.  Since our adopted tour group had worked good so far, Emily and Murray joined us as we followed the tour leader around.

There was a pretty good/steep downhill road from the top down to the next major attraction, St Michael’s cave, and the monkey’s provided continuous entertainment.  The local people, like the taxi drivers, did not like the monkeys because they will grab and take about anything loose that they think might be something to eat or drink.  A few seconds after I took the photo below, the monkey on the side of the car jumped inside the car, grabbed a carton of water or juice, ran out the back of the car and up the embankment on the other side of the road,  with the taxi driver yelling at him the whole time.

The monkey on the side was planning his attack.

The walk down from the Top of the Rock to St Michael’s cave was probably about a half mile and at a fairly steep downhill slope, down to the 980 foot level of the cave.  When we got to the gift shop at the cave, the tour group took a 15 minute rest, snack, and shopping break.   After the break, our adopted tour guide led the group into the cave and provided a running commentary, as well as appropriate warning about the slick, wet surface under our feet.  The cave is so named because some people believe they can see the form of the Archangel Michael in the rock formations.  Colored lights are now used to make the angel’s form more apparent as well as to enhance other areas of the cave.  Although there is some reason to believe that ancient people knew of and used the cave, recent knowledge only dates back to World War II when it was discovered by engineers blasting a tunnel in the rock. 

Can you see the Archangel Michael?

Unfortunately, after the discovery, part of the cave was destroyed to make room for a wartime hospital.  Today that part of the cave has seating for concerts and other performances. 

Some of the rock formations in the cave

Now the interesting part begins!  As we were leaving the cave, our adopted tour guide was telling his group that they were to get on their bus outside the cave entrance for the ride down the mountain and back to the ship.  We knew that we would not be able to get on their bus, so we asked the guide where could we get a taxi or shuttle to take us down the mountain.  He said that all the taxis on the mountain would already be in use for tours and such but we might find an available one at a cable car station at the half-way point of the line.  The other option was to walk back up to the Top of the Rock, which was about a half mile away and 400 feet higher than our location, so that did not sound good.  After a short discussion, we (Susan, Emily, Murray, and myself) headed down the road toward the mid-point cable car station.  On the way, we did a little Google search and discovered that the station we were heading toward did not open for the season until about 10 days in the future.  OOPS! We got to where the station would be and, sure enough, there were no taxis anywhere in sight.

The not-in-use cable car station was above this pylon.

We looked through part of the structure of the mid-point station, down toward the city and harbor: it was a long ways down there.  You can see a 10 story hotel in the photo above and we are a long ways above it.  We really didn’t have much of an option, so we headed on down.  The route was not well marked, so we make of Google Maps to help us.  Some of the route was paved road, some paved sidewalk, but quite a bit was just a gravel trail with loose stones and rocks and roots to trip over.  With a little luck, we made it to a long set of stairs for about the last 100 feet down to the city.

This was just a small section of the stairs.

We finally got down to the city area, but were still quite a ways from the ship, but by this time I think we had all decided that we were going to make it all the way to ship: no taxi for us!  The streets/maps were not easy to follow and I think we may have walked an extra quarter mile or so, but we did walk all the way to the ship.  We probably took about an hour and a half from leaving St Michael’s cave to getting to the ship, and we really did not stop to rest along the way.  We agreed that we all got our exercise for the day.

Another late lunch (with Emily & Murray) in Wave Grill and good relaxing the rest of the day.  The evening followed our usual pattern with drinks in Martinis, followed by dinner in the GDR, enjoying the primary entertainment in the main lounge, and finally enjoying some late night  Latin music in the Horizon Lounge.   Backing up just a little, the entertainment was sort of interesting/cute with, I believe, a husband and wife team: he is a violinist and she a dancer.  They told a minor story and played off against each other in a cute manner.  You can get a better idea just how it went in this composite video of the performance.

The ”Duo Esencias” performing

Sunday, April 27:  Almeria, Spain

The Marina docked at Almeria at 8:00, while we were enjoying breakfast in the Terrace Café.  Almeria is a port city in the Andalusia region of Spain and has a history of being under both Moorish and then Christian rule.  The city was established in 955 specifically to serve as a port for the Moorish ruler in the area: I suspect the fortress overlooking the harbor was built as soon as the city was established.

From the decks of Marina, we could look over the city at the castle/fortress, Alcazaba.

We had a excursion schedule through Oceania, but first we gathered our used clothes together and put them in a laundry bag to be done by the ship’s laundry.  Our cabin attendant had told us that today was the last day to send in laundry and definitely have it back before the end of the cruise:  since it was “included”, we certainly wanted to take advantage of it. 

We gathered for the tour, “Discover Almeria”, and about 20 of us boarded the bus.  We actually had a very short bus ride into the center of town and I’m not sure why they even bothered with the bus: we could have easily walked the distance.  Off the bus, our guide for the tour led us around to various parts of the city, pointing out things like the mixed architecture.  Although the city has been under Christian rule since 1489, there are still quite a few reminders of its Moorish origins and history. 

Balconies, wrought-iron in most cases, are popular here also.

As we encountered in Tenerife, most buildings had balconies, although these were more ornate and mostly wrought-iron.  In a small plaza in the middle of town, Plaza de las Flores, is a approximately life-sized statue of John Lennon, sitting on a bench, playing his guitar.

Our guide explaining the story of the John Lennon statue

Lennon visited Almeria in 1966 to play a role in a movie “How I won the War” and, while there, wrote the well-known Beatles song, “Strawberry Fields Forever”.  Apparently, people of the town were quite taken by him and, after his visit, had the statue created in his likeness.

We continued our walking tour, gradually working our way uphill toward the palace.  About an hour after we had gotten off the bus, we got to the base of the palace (although it looked more like a fortress to me) and took a short rest break in a small plaza across the street.  There were two interesting things at the small fountain in the plaza: a cat and a larger than life-size statue.  The cat apparently was very used to doing this as he did not seem at all bothered by the people and commotion around him.

The cat had a collar and looked well cared for.

The statue was of Jayran al-Amiri aka Al-Jairan, the first king (1014-1028) of the kingdom and the pose, in front of the fortress, did make him appear very powerful.

Statue of Jayran al-Amiri aka Al-Jairan

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see the cat just above and to the left of Al-Hairan’s foot.  After a short rest break and bothering the cat, our group formed up and started up the hill to the entrance of the fortress.

We had a bit of a climb up to the fortress.

In the photo above, you can see that it is a bit of a climb to the castle entrance, but even after that, there was the equivalent of several more flights of stairs to get up to the main level.  Most of the inside of the fortress was well restored, with lots of plants and small gardens.  This is a very dry area of Spain and water was considered especially precious when the city and fortress were built, but there were several water features that were apparently included specifically to show how rich and powerful the rulers were: they could even afford to waste water!

There were several water features like this, and many plants to keep watered.

The fortress was built in three stages: the first stage was the initial Moorish fortress built about the same time as the city, next was an expansion built still under Moorish rule, and finally, the Christian rulers in Spain had to add yet another major expansion to show their superiority.  When touring the fortress, the sections mostly blend one into the next, but sometimes there are obvious indications of when some features were built.

Looking across a little valley at another section of the fortress

In the photo above, you can see a statue of a person at the right end of the fortress, indicating that this is definitely a Christian addition.  Some parts of the fortress had not been fully reconstructed, possibly because the workers had just not gotten to that area yet, but also perhaps because some areas were being left incomplete to give visitors a better idea of what the fortress had looked like prior to restoration.

This area had not had much restoration work.

The section of the fortress furthest from the entrance and highest above sea level was the Christian built area, and it afforded us a very good view of the city and harbor, with the Marina in sight.  You might consider this photo the exact opposite of the first photo from Almeria, looking from the ship toward the fort.

You can see that we are well above the level of the ship.

After looking around for a while, we backtracked through the fortress, out the entrance, and back out into the town.  By now, it was almost 1:00 and some people were getting hungry so our guide led us to a small plaza that had several restaurants where people could get a drink or a sandwich. 

A very nice little plaza with several restaurants

One of the buildings adjacent to this plaza was a school and theater of the performing arts.

School (and theater) of the performing arts

Along one side of the school and leading to the plaza were a pair of parallel sidewalks with rather unique decorations.  Similar to Hollywood’s “Walk of Stars”, they had installed a number of stars in the sidewalks with the names of noteworthy actors.  If you look closely, you might be able to make out names like Omar Sharif, Ridley Scott, and A. Schwarzenegger in the photos below.  I believe that any performer who has acted/performed in this region of Spain is eligible to receive one of these stars.

You might recognize a couple of names.

After our pause for refreshments and to checks the Walk of Stars, we resumed our walking tour of the city.  Our next stop was the Cathedral Encarnación de Almería.  Our guide described it as the smallest cathedral in Europe, although it did not appear very small to me.  Matter of fact, from our first viewpoint, it did not even appear to be a church: it looked more like a palace or fortress.  My first thought was how much it looked like the Palace of the King of Morocco, in Casablanca.  The cathedral was completed in 1562 and employs both gothic and Renaissance styles with a few touches left over from the days of Moorish rule.

Does not look much like a church from here

When we walked around the side to the visitor’s entrance, it looked much more like a church.  There is actually a large courtyard in the middle of the structure, with the actual cathedral on one side of the courtyard.  We entered the main part of the cathedral and I still could not understand the statement about being the smallest cathedral in Europe.  It was certainly not huge, but I definitely could not consider it small.

There was almost no room for the pews.

After looking around a little, I realized what our guide had meant.  There were very few seats (pews) for worshippers.  There were about 5 rows of pews with room for about 8 people per row, so probably room for fewer than 50 people.  There was much more room in the choir section:  members of the choir could have outnumbered the worshippers by 2 to 1.  There was also plenty of open space around the perimeter of the interior, so some relatively minor rearranging could easily multiply the seating capacity.  I do not understand the reason for the very small seating capacity, and it sure seemed strange.

We looked around the cathedral and attached museum for a few minutes, then gathered outside for another walk through the city to where the bus met us and carried us the short distance back to the ship.  We had another late lunch in Waves, followed by a rest, then a glass of wine by the pool, then finally a cup of coffee from Baristas for a little caffeine buzz.  Dinner tonight was in the French themed Jacques and we were seated with a very pleasant Australian couple.  I am not usually a big fan of French cooking, but the cuisine in Jacques suited me quite well.  The primary entertainment was another “Song and Dance” show by the Production Company and Show Band, and we ended the night with “Dance Music” by the Rock the Boat band in Horizons lounge.

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 Chapter 4 - the cruise continues