Day 9……Gibraltar
The Ruby Princess sailed into
Gibraltar harbor about 7:00 am this morning and I was up and ready to take a
photo of this famous historical place.
Gibraltar is part of the European
Continent and it’s only eight miles across the sea from Northern Africa. Because of its strategic location and 1400 ft
elevation, it used to control who entered and exited the Mediterranean from
Atlantic Ocean. In the year 711 the
Moors crossed over from North Africa and conquered Gibraltar and then Spain in
the name of Islam. (These Islamic
terrorist have been at it for a long, long time.) In 1462 the Spaniards beat them back and in
the process gained control of Gibraltar. They would hold the “Rock of Gibraltar”
until 1704 when the British captured the town and fortress. It has been in British hands ever since in
spite of many Spanish and French attempts to recapture it. During WWII Gibraltar was a key naval and air
base against the German U-boats. Britain
granted the colony substantial self-government in 1964. Spain continued to want the territory back
and at the request of the UN, residents were asked to vote on who they
preferred Britain or Spain. Britain won
overwhelmingly. It remains a British
colony to this day.
Mary Alice had booked us a shore
excursion not to Gibraltar, but to Marbella, Spain, a resort town on the Costa
del Sol. We met in the Princess Theater
shortly after 8:00 am and in groups of 22, we were all herded into small
tourist busses. After about an hour more
or less we arrived and were dropped off in the middle of downtown. The driver
told us to meet him in two hours and so we were on our own so to speak.
We spotted a luxury hotel and
knew they would have a good cup of coffee, so we checked it out. MA spoke to the maître d’ in her usual excellent
Spanish. The hotel was offering the biggest breakfast/brunch buffet I had ever
seen. She explained we just wanted
coffee and weren’t guests of the hotel.
With a big smile, he said “no problem”, seated us and we had a great cup
of European coffee, so strong I had to use milk to thin it, just like the
locals.
When we got up to leave she asked
the waiter for the check and he directed us back to the maitre d’. MA told him we needed to pay for our
coffees. Again, with his huge smile he told
us the coffee was on him! I don’t know
what all she said but that’s a first for us in our travels.
We strolled around, spent a
little time with an author who was one of the speakers on the ship. He had written a novel incorporating the Pan
Am Clipper ships into the plot. MA was thrilled to meet him. We climbed back on
the bus and headed for another sea side resort town, Puerto Banus. We checked
out several posted menus (expensive!). Eventually we found the exact right spot
and split a really good pizza.
Back on the ship, the Ruby Princess
moved away from the dock shortly after 4:00 pm and we are now on our way to Cartagena,
Spain. I have to get ready for supper so,
as usual, later! WW
Park in Marbella |
Last view of "The Rock" |
Wayne and MA,
ReplyDeleteAgain thanks for the update.
I really enjoyed your commentary on Gibraltar and the area. I have heard about "The Rock" all my life and knew it had significance in WW II. Maybe you will get more "free" treats on this trip :-))
Have a safe and God Blessed day - dave b.