Gibraltar

6:00 AM alarm rang and I was up and ready to go. I had packed my SeV vest the night before so I had all of my touring necessities ready to go. The camera battery was charged and I had plenty of room on my camera disk for a day of photography.
Breakfast was scheduled for 7:00 AM and we met as planned at the 15^th floor elevators. A hearty breakfast with eggs, salmon, sausage, sweet potato hash and a croissant. A little coffee, Orange juice and water and I was good to go for my first day tours.
The tour group gathered in the Princess Theater. I was taking the same tour as AuntE, and we were lucky enough to get in to the same tour group. Everyone needs to pick up a color and number sticker and we both came through the entrance about the same time and got “Cream 1”. Mom and KC were taking the same tour and they were seated with the group that left first. Our group was called and we filed out of the theater door on level 6, down two flights of stairs, scanned our room key/charge card/passage card (from now on called “ship card”) and walked a short distance to get our tour bus. Moura was our tour guide for the day and Umberto was the driver. We drove through the city and to the Cable Car to Signal Hill. The town is pretty, flowers and laundry outside the window and narrow winding streets. Our group of 20 got in line while Moura went to the ticket window to see what was going on with the line. She was told that the Cable Car opens at 9AM, and it actually opens at 9:30. We decided to wait the extra time and not give up our place in line. Soon we were moving and entered the building where we encountered multiple lines. Moura was talking to the Cable Car staff and our group ended up in two lines: one for groups and one for prepaid tickets. Not to fear, we were soon gathered and moved quickly forward. Some one asked how many cars transported passengers to the top, and he was told “There is one up and one down.” That must be British math meaning “two cars”.

We boarded ours and I was very lucky to get the downhill side window, thanks to AuntE.
The ride to the top was scenic as one would expect.

We disembarked and made our way to the observation deck, all the while getting plenty of warning about the Apes that inhabited the mountain. They are quite clever and will steal anything that they can get their hands on. While they appear to be well behaved, they are still considered wild animals and can hurt you. I later saw a woman who was scratched. I didn't get close enough and was glad for my zoom camera lens. I did NOT want my picture taken with them.
We gathered at the Observation Deck, learned about Gibraltar's history, took ROCK photos and then began our walk down the mountain.

We saw many flowers that are doing better with footholds on the rock than they are in my planters.

The Apes were abundant and enjoyed jumping on the taxis and vans.  One calmly sat on a concrete wall, while I saw another one raiding the contents of a van through the open window.  This was not his first rodeo!!

Many people were walking on Signal Station Road enroute to St. Michael's Cave. As we walked, we enjoyed the view of Spanish towns across the Bay of Gibraltar and the far shore view of Morocco across the Mediterranean Sea.

Every time that a van would approach us moving uphill, the line of trekkers would move to the left and hug the cliffs. How we all fit is a mystery to me!

We made it to St. Michael's cave and were delighted to find a gift shop and restrooms.

We entered the cave and I was astonished at the beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. One large room had great acoustics and was often used for concerts. There were multiple rows of seats. Moira mentioned that the “Miss Gibraltar” contents is held here yearly. We walked through the caves downs steps and back up steps.

Exiting the caves, I heard Moira say “We are in (the) green one”. AuntE heard the same thing. We were looking for a green bus. Well….she said “Cream 1” so we finally found it. We boarded the bus and the group took drove on Queens Road, turned left on Signal Station Road, then left on Rock Gun Road towards our next stop.
Umberto did a fantastic job backing the bus in to a parking spot at the bottom of the hill. The walk uphill to “Great Siege Tunnels” is listed as 250 meters. Off we went, up the hill to the entrance. About half way up, the parked and moving van traffic became heavy on the small road, and we had to squeeze between the cars. I walked in to the entrance, showed my ticket, and headed down the tunnel path. If you have put this together, the walk was UP 250 meters, enter the tunnel, down for 250 meters (a sloped internal walkway) to the end, turn around and BACK up for 250 meters, then down hill for 250 meters. I walked half of the internal path, then turned around and waited outside. Moira told us that the last half of the inside tunnel was very steep. Opt out for me!

I walked outside and looked out at the view. This was interesting.  Is that a main road crossing the air strip?  YES!  This area between Spain and Gibraltar was filled in and an airport built.  The traffic on the connecting road is stopped when a plane is taking off or landing!! AHHHH!

Outside I was able to switch lens on my camera and put on the telephoto. This allowed me to photograph the faces of the Apes without getting very close. They are cute, and one man told me that they are only 3 DNA markers away from us. Scary.

Tour over, we got back in to our van and returned to the ship. This tour was rated as “strenuous”. The balance of our tours are medium (I'm thankful for small favors). I met Mom and AuntE for a late lunch. They headed to the center area to see what they could see and I went to the upper deck to watch our departure. As I stood at the railing, I heard the frequent paging of three passengers to call customer service immediately. My guess is that they hadn't logged in upon return, or hadn't returned yet. Yikes! Day 1 of shore leave and three people are missing. Our departure was delayed about 45 minutes…hopefully the ladies were found.

As we pulled away from the dock, the “Ultimate Deck party” began. Lots of music, sunny skies, dancing, swimming, sunning and drinking.

I walked to the front of the boat to take more pictures and see what was going on. It was windy. I created a video so that you could see the departure, Europa Point, Africa, ships anchored and ships on their way.
Fun day and good to be on land for a little while. The ship looked HUGE docked. Moira mentioned that four large cruise ships were docking soon and that there would be 12,000 passengers looking for tours. The summer season is under way. I am glad that we rolled in alone.

I’m planning for an early retirement this evening, charge the batteries in me and the camera, and be ready to hit Alicante, Spain tomorrow fully charged.

Note: KC reported that there were four dolphins/porpoises zipping along beside the ship. They then dashed towards the front of the ship. They were PLAYING CHICKEN with a huge ship!!!