World Cruise Day 70/152 - Gibraltar, United Kingdom - Monkey business

Cruise day: 70/152

Ports days: 22
Sea days: 48
Countries: 10
Continents: 4
Ports: 15

Let's start by talking internet.  We all hoped the internet would improve once we got to Cádiz.  It did not.  I found out why.  The part we need is on the ship.  The technician required is not.  In addition, the system needs a software upgrade that is being done ahead of the antenna amplifier upgrade.  So, we will continue to limp along until probably Malta.  And, there doesn't seem to be any guarantee that the new amplifier will fix everything.  At least the internet is working slightly better than when we were extremely south, but it is still hit or miss and well below the standards that we expect from Viking, especially on a world cruise.  Viking, are you listening?  People are not happy.

We docked in Gibraltar early this morning.  From the ship's perspective, the sun rose behind the famous rock.

If you look at the photo above, check out the massive yacht on the right side.  This yacht was anchored in Cádiz yesterday and was backing in to dock in Gibraltar this morning.  Arlona looked it up. The Yas was originally the HNLMS Piet Hein, a frigate in the Royal Netherlands Navy from 1981 to 1998. It was then sold to the United Arab Emirates, rechristened as Al Emirat, and sailed from 1998 to 2005.  Once decommissioned, it was acquired by Hamdan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who had the ship completely rebuilt and christened as Yas in 2015.  At 141 meters (463 ft) in length, she is one of the largest motor-operated yachts in the world. According to the website superyachtfan.com, it can sleep 60 in 30 cabins and has a crew of 56 in 26 cabins.  It cost $180M to build and costs between $10M and $20M to operate it each year.  I can almost hear Robin Leach now...

Our first tour this morning was to the top of the rock.  We rode a bus for the short ride to the cable car for the trip up the rock.

The first thing we saw upon arriving were the Barbary macaques that famously live free on the rock.  They roam free and are protected, and quite frankly, can be little pests.  They love food and shiny things.  We were cautioned to not bring any food, to keep backpacks zipped, and not have anything dangling or loose like sunglasses on the top of your head.  All in all, they're pretty cute and didn't seem to pay us any mind.

There seemed to be a disagreement over oranges and potatoes

A little morning yoga - downward dog - go

Sometimes, scratching an itch feels sooooo good...

Hey, good lookin'...

I guess getting de-bugged must feel wonderful

Check out the feet on this little one

There's nothing like a nice sunny day...

We took in the sweeping views of Spain to the east just past the airport and Africa to the south, roughly ten miles across the straits of Gibraltar.

The Rock!

You can see the runway for the airport on Gibraltar - a road crosses the runway and arms similar to railroad crossing arms block vehicle and foot traffic on takeoffs and landings

The large wall you can see in the middle of the photo is the old wall of the city - the sea came all the way to the wall before the land was reclaimed, expanding the city's footprint

Arlona, checking out Africa

After heading back down, we returned to the ship for lunch. Then, we were off again for our afternoon adventure.

On the way to our first stop, we entered the old city, through the wall that originally defined the city boundary and went right up to the sea.  Now, the walls sit a long way from the sea due to all the reclaimed land that was built up from the sea.

Our first stop was the Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park.  Essentially a small zoo, they take in animals that have been confiscated from ships trafficking in illegal animals as well as injured or at-risk exotic animals.

When our time was done at the park, we headed south to the southernmost lighthouse in Europe, at a place called Europa Point.

Mythology says that Hercules brought down two pillars.  According to the myth, those pillars were the Rock of Gibraltar and Mount Hacho in Africa.  Tearing them down split the European and African continents.  Here is Mount Hacho in Africa, less than ten miles to the south.

This is the southernmost mosque in Europe.

A memorial honoring General Władysław Sikorski who perished in the 1943 B-24 crash in Gibraltar

Look at the top of the peak on the right - see anything?

This canon is mounted there

We departed and headed north and east from Europa Point.  That route included a drive through one of the many tunnels carved through the rock.  Multiple tunnels have been carved as well as rooms. These have been used for military storage and defense, essentially turning the rock into a huge fortress. 

On the east side, we arrived at the airport.  A very unusual feather of Gibraltar's airport is that a road runs right through the center of the runway.  This creates traffic situations because whenever a plane is taking off or landing, they drop traffic arms and stop traffic from crossing the runway.  Once the plane clears the runway, the arms go up and traffic resumes.  Crossing the runway is weird as pedestrians also cross, exactly where the planes touchdown.

Just east of the airport, we ran right up to the Spanish border, the shortest land border in the world as just about one-half mile in length.

 

After this, we were dropped off in town at Casemates Square and enjoyed window shopping up and down Main Street.  You do see things that remind you that even though you are physically connected to Spain, you are definitely in UK territory.

As I was starting to write this up today, Arlona opted to step out on the veranda to see how our sail away was progressing.  She immediately turned around and hollered, "Rainbow!"  Today had rain predicted, but for the entire day, temperatures hovered in the 60s with mostly sunny skies and some wind.  Right before sailing tonight, the forecast came true and the rain came, but only for a short time, and then we were graced with this.

Dinner tonight was another Chef Thomas extravaganza - this time, seafood.

The starter tower on the right featured a deconstructed caesar salad, lobster on the half-shell, and caviar on toasted bread. Then, the main course had another salad, asparagus, roasted potatoes, crispy shrimp, a shrimp skewer, calamari rings, a crab leg, fried fish, and softshell crab.  Dessert had a solidified custard, pavlova, and fresh strawberries.  It was a terrific presentation and yet another wonderful meal.

As the sun was setting, we sailed past Europa Point and were treated to wonderful views.

Tomorrow, we will be in Grenada (Málaga), Spain.