We checked out of our apartment, took the metro and the cruise port shuttle bus, and stepped onto the Emerald Princess, and into another world. This new universe is one where every whim is catered for. Hungry? Thirsty? Sleepy? Bored? Hot? Cold? There’s an answer for pretty much any problem, no matter how first world it might be.  For as long as our precious cruise cards are valid, we are Royalty, with passports to unlimited food, drink and entertainment, fresh fluffy towels, and nightly chocolates on the pillow.  We unpacked happily, knowing we could ignore the suitcases for a whole two weeks. Bliss.

Sunday was the first of our three Sea days, and I won’t bore you with the details – they involve balmy Mediterranean sea breezes and sparkling ocean, hot tubs and cool pools, sun lounges and a good book, all you can possibly eat – the usual stuff. All too soon we were docked at our first port of call, Gibraltar.

I’d like to say that long ago we decided not to “do” The Rock because it was what all the tourists did, and that we decided to explore off the beaten track. But of course that would not be true.  Having done my research, I knew that without prepaid tickets for the cable car, we’d be facing a queue of two hours or more. So I bought the tickets and stashed them away, ready for today. We would spend a couple of hours On Top, then see something of the town below, time permitting.

We walked off the ship and into town, distracting ourselves first with the unique airport. Gibraltar is one of only two places in the world where a road crosses the runway (Shetland Island being the other).  We googled the flight schedule and waited for the 11am Easyjet departure. Security guards closed the road with boom gates, the traffic to and from Spain came to a standstill, and we all waited for the plane to taxi past us and take off. Then up went the barriers, and cars, trucks, buses, cyclists and pedestrians poured across the runway, safe in the knowledge that they wouldn’t get mown down by a jet (at least not until the 11.30am British Airways arrival).

Boom gates go down for planes to cross the road

Caution – plane crossing

Easyjet departure

Traffic resumes

All clear

We strolled along the incredibly busy pedestrian area (how can so many people be shopping???), getting sidetracked  by the various bastions, batteries, gun emplacements and tunnels that result from a city that has withstood no less than 13 sieges in the last 800 years. Oh, and the very British mailboxes, double decker buses and telephone booths.  The shops and pubs are also very British, but most of the housing, particularly on the smaller streets, looks a lot more Spanish.

Military things

Will Superman emerge?

Eventually we found ourselves at the base of the cable car station.  Two queues snaked out onto the street, one quite a bit longer than the other.  We joined the “prepaid” queue.  It inched forward with glacial slowness. Surely this could not be the promised fast track queue?  It took at least 45 minutes just to reach the ticket counter, where with the best of British bureaucracy, they examined, stamped, consulted, fiddled and faffed with everyone’s vouchers before handing over tickets. Meanwhile the other queue simply merged with ours, meaning there was no actual fast tracking going on.

From this point, the line slowly disappeared into a building, down some stairs, up some more stairs, and onto a platform. The cable cars only hold 20 people and there is one every 10 minutes – you can do the maths. We quickly realised we faced another wait of at least another hour, probably more – and would we have the same wait to come down?  They refused to give us an estimate of the waiting time. So we gave up and left.  It was a shambles of a system. They do this sort of thing so much better almost everywhere else, by using timed admission if you book ahead.  There will be a stern email sent and a request for a refund of the considerable amount of money expended.

The cable car we didnt take

So with plans blown, we wandered desultorily towards the southern tip, Europa Point. At least from there we could see the Straits, and get a view of the Rock from a different angle.  It was a very hazy day anyway and the views from the top would have been disappointing.

Google Maps lost the plot due to the multiple levels – Gibraltar is very steep almost everywhere. So we followed our noses (and the bus route). It was very hot and quite tiring. Footpaths were sparse, and disappeared without warning – not at all walker-friendly (perhaps that’s why everyone who wasn’t in the cable car queue was in the pedestrian shopping bit).  Still, it was interesting seeing some of the back streets and the clifftop views from the higher roads.  And it was nice and quiet, except for the occasional motorbike and truck. There is a lot of construction going on. Gibraltar is also a bunkering port, and we could see a multitude of ships waiting to be refuelled.

Finally we popped out at Europa Point, and wandered down to the clifftop viewing points.  Africa was out there somewhere, invisible in the haze. We could see various stairways and tunnels in the lower part of the Rock.  There was a memorial to Sikorsky, the Polish general and war hero who was killed in an air crash here. And a lighthouse guarding the entrance to the once strategic Straits.

No, I wouldnt build on it either

South end of the Rock

The bottom of Gibraltar

Next stop – Africa

Sikorsky memorial

Lighthouse at Europa Point

Luckily there was also a bus stop, and with relief we boarded the bus back to town. The driver gave us both Seniors tickets (less than half the normal fare – I didn’t know whether to be insulted or pleased).  We still had some time up our sleeve, so we decided to try and find the Moorish Castle, perched part way up the Rock at its northern end. Again, we followed some steep steps, made a few wrong turns, and got directions from a helpful local and a home made sign. It was an interesting walk, although we weren’t able to visit the castle itself.  On the way down, we stumbled across the escalator(!) Another great place for a Sprint, albeit with a lot of steps.

Old Gibraltar

Start of the walk to the Moorish Castle

North end of the Rock

Better than Google Maps

Moorish castle

So a lot of walking at ground level instead of at height, and a chance to see some of Gibraltar that most others don’t visit. Perhaps a future cruise will bring us here again, and we will know to take a taxi tour to the top of the rock. Or maybe they will put in a larger cable car, and/or employ a better system. Cruising has a lot of upsides, but the crowds are definitely the downside, especially in a small port with one major attraction, like Gibraltar.  Elsewhere, everyone will disperse.

Spain

Europa Point from the ship

Today is another day at sea as we sail northeast to Marseille.  Ibitha is on the port horizon.  Lunch is done. Must be time to squeeze in a dip in the hot tub before afternoon Trivia, then deciding which dining room to frequent.