2025 Volendam, Gibraltar...

We had a late arrival into Gibraltar so I was able to capture the approach in the day light. For sure the rock is the prominent site and I took a whole bunch of photos... Surprise, surprise today we did a ships tour of Gibraltar. Ann, Cathy, myself and our Guest Services friends Marie, Eric and Duko piled into a van and off we went to explore the highlights of Gibraltar with our driver Jamie. We left the port and drove under the airport runway towards the Spanish border just meters away from Spain we saw Customs at work. Next, we passed the Great Siege Tunnels, the tunnels were carved out of the rock by hand during the Great Siege which took place between 1779-1783. From here we drove to Europa Point. This site is located at the southernmost point at the end of the Rock of Gibraltar on this location you will see a lighthouse and views across the Straits of Gibraltar into North Africa and Morocco and the Spanish towns along its shores. Next, we drove up the rock to St Michael's Cave…we wandered through its huge caverns and taking in its’ light show. St. Michael's Cave has a long history, as a military site, hospital and current status as a tourist attraction and event venue. On the upper rock we spent some time with the famous Barbary Apes at the Upper Apes Den. The Barbary Macaque Apes are the only ones to be found within the continent of Europe. At present there are over 300 apes that roam through the upper rock. Legend has it that in 1942 the population of apes fell to just 7 and Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill ordered that the population of the apes be replenished as he believed as long as there are Barbary Macaques Apes on the Rock, Gibraltar will remain under British rule….so far this has rung true. As we drove down the upper rock we passed the Moorish Castle, a medieval fortification and proud symbol of the long and colorful history of Gibraltar. The guide dropped us downtown and we took in a few sites like the; Governor House, City Hall, Main Street and the Casemates Square. The ladies stayed in town to shop and Duko and I explored the passageways in the old town on our return to the ship. We had a great day in Gibraltar.  As for blogging...  it took 15 attempts to post this blog, not good!!!!