Gibraltar

Day 53, 19 May 2009

19.05.2009 - 19.05.2009 0 °C
View MV Discovery - 2009 on dpedler's travel map.

Spent the afternoon in Gibraltar – five hours solid walking in fact. So another tiring day on these sore stressed pegs!

As we entered the port the P&O superliner, Ventura was docked. I’m so glad I’m not on that oversized apartment block. As the captain correctly surmised: “it might have size, but we have elegance” – so true.

Places visited today include:

Main Street shops – very British right down to the Bobbies

Cathedral of Saint Mary the Crowned

Trafalgar Cemetery – next to the Southport Gate. The graves are those of British sailors who died at Gibraltar after the Battle of Trafalgar (1805)

Cable Car to top (at 450m) and from the Ape’s Den down

Upper Rock Nature Reserve

St. Michael’s Cave – amazing acoustics and used for classical concerts; magnificent stalactites and stalagmites beautifully illuminated; its size is impressive

Ape’s Den – home of the tailless monkeys (not apes at all). Legend has it that when the monkeys disappear from Gibraltar, so will the British.

100 Ton Gun – installed in 1884; it can fire shells weighting 910kg up to 8 miles!

When I think back on Gibraltar: lots of babies in prams (yes, very odd), LOTS of tourists, lots of cheeky monkeys, and very cramped for space. A nice day in a nice spot of the world – although I could have used more time.