Gibraltar

Our second stop in the Mediterranean. Both Madeira and Gibraltar were one-time stops on our summer itinerary, so we tried our hardest to see the sights.

Gibraltar is a British territory on the southern tip of a peninsula extending from Spain.  The famous Straight of Gibraltar is the narrow straight between Europe and Africa.  From The Rock of Gibraltar, you can see both Spain and Morocco; two countries, two continents.  It's pretty amazing to think about when you're there!

Carissa (my roommate) and I got off the ship together, here in Gibraltar.  We walked through the town and managed to find the cable cars to the top.  The view was spectacular.  On one side of The Rock it looked as though you could see half of the sea.  On the other side, we were standing in the UK, but looking at Spain and Morocco.  Three countries at once! (Well, one territory and two countries, but still!)  We decided to hike down The Rock and pick up the cable car at the half-way stop instead of taking it all the way from top to bottom...We were still enjoying the fact that we were on land after a week at sea.  Upon reaching the mid-point cable car stop, we found that it only stops there during high tourist season, which it was not.  So back up The Rock we went. We didn't know where the path would let out if we hiked to the bottom.  So basically, in walking half-way down and then back up again, we hiked the entire height of The Rock. Steps, and steps, and steps and more steps.  The results?  A sore butt!

You can almost visualize the globe in this photo!

Later that day, we headed back to the ship.  We hadn't noticed just how far we'd walked that morning and realized we better step it up to make it back in time.  Then we took a wrong turn.  Then we back tracked.  Then we were RUNNING to the ship to make it back in time for work!  Just the first of many experiences like this one.  It's unavoidable.  The life of a crew-member.

After that brief work meeting, I got off the ship to return to a nearby wi-fi location I had spotted while running.  It was at a place called the Seafarer's Mission, but, for a reason I don't remember, it was closed.  I was almost in tears upon discovering this.  I sat on the stoop and managed to get a weak signal and literally cried tears of joy when Victoria connected to Skype.  What can I say?  The number of life adjustments I'd encountered were overwhelming and, well, she's my person!
 

So. Many. Stairs.

A little too close for comfort.  They were vicious!

Carissa makes the encounter look sweet and not scary at all.

And all I could sing all day was Waka Waka.  Carissa will tell you!