GIBRALTAR

This morning, at around 8am, we arrived at our first port-of call, Gibraltar. We’ve been here a few times before and have done ‘the rock thing’ on our previous visits (seen the apes and visited the caves), so our plan for today was to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, and then take an equally leisurely walk into town.

We eventually stepped onto the quayside at about 10am. The walk into town isn’t far, taking only about 20 minutes. We took a small diversion on our way around, enjoying views across to the airport and the Spanish mainland beyond, eventually arriving at the main square and city gates, and joining the throngs of visitors as they milled their along the busy main street. Signs in many of the more upmarket shops specifically welcomed visitors from the Spirit of Adventure, and offered generous discounts to anyone wishing to part with their money. They clearly knew we were coming.

I was captivated by this little piece of graffiti art…

… very ‘Banksie-ish’…

We weren’t there to spend money, though, and were not interested in any of the many jewellery shops. Instead, our first objective was a small cemetery, known as ‘Trafalgar Cemetery’. Although it is named after the Battle of Trafalgar, only two victims of that particular battle are buried there. The remaining graves are mostly the resting places of those killed in other sea battles, or casualties of the yellow fever epidemics that swept Gibraltar between 1804 and 1814.

Our next objective was the Alameda Botanical Gardens, an extensive 15-acre garden featuring – amongst the many botanical specimens – many statues, an open-air theatre and a small zoo. The theatre was locked up, so we didn’t get a good look at it, and neither of us fancied the idea of looking at animals looking mournfully back at us from behind bars; instead, we simply enjoyed a meander through the park with its occasional glimpes out into the harbour, the rock towering above us and the cable car taking visitors to the rock’s upper reaches.

Our walk back to the ship was equally as leisurely, stopping off at a couple of smaller parks along the way and walking along a stretch of the town’s defensive walls. It was nice to walk and not have to wear masks all the time. Crucially, the weather was hot and sunny throughout our visit, and we managed to get to see some parts of Gibraltar that we’d never seen before.

Despite the unambitious nature of our visit, both Tracey and myself felt quite drained upon our return to the ship, and ended up napping for almost an hour, before enjoying the last of our visit sitting on the balcony as the ship left the port (at 5pm).