Day 10 (May 12) Gibraltar

After a calm but windy overnight sailing we approached Gibraltar around 8:30am.  We had already eaten breakfast and found a spot up in the Crow's Nest on Deck 12 where Ian was giving a scenic cruising commentary.  WE passed through one very severe rain squall, and little did we realize this would be repeated throughout the day.  The rock looked as stunning as previous pictures had portrayed it.  We docked promptly and we easily found our tour which would take us all over the island.

The tour was wonderful and took us on a drive across the very short international airport that separates Gibraltar from Spain.  Speaking of driving, they drive on the right side because of the large influx of Spanish visitors.  It's been this way since 1929.  On the point of the country, there's a lighthouse,  a mosque, a war memorial and another memorial to Poland's General Sikorsky who was killed in an airplane crash during WWII. One can see Morocco sone 14 miles away.   We then climbed the rock on some really steep roads to caves filled with stalactites and stalagmites. 

There were apes outside as well as at several other stops.  While cute, they were aggressive whenever they saw shopping sacks as they associate them with food!  We then visited the Great Siege Tunnels which were part of the 34 miles of tunnels.  

At the end of the tour we were dropped off in town where we enjoyed a fish and chips lunch before walking to the aerial tram gondola for another trip to the top of the rock where it was very windy.  In fact the gondola was closed after we reached the top due to the high winds.  We then wandered our way back to the ship and purchased some placemats and Angela found some shoes.  All of our day's activities cleaned out all the money we brought ashore.  

It was about a 25 minute walk back to the ship in a rain squall where we departed promptly at 5:30 as everyone was on board.  We were served a very good Mediterranean BBQ before enjoying a flamenco show in the World Stage.  The game show 'Name That Tune' was next in the Billboard onboard area.