Aug 5

Gibraltar



Woke up and it was a gray and foggy day in Gibraltar but the fog would break up and by 10:00 it was another lovely day.

Gibraltar was the port that Lauren was looking forward to the most and the Barbary Apes.



After breakfast we headed off the ship and found a taxi to do the Rock Tour with. The Magic was the only ship in port this morning so there was no lines for the Rock Tours which are right when you got off the ship, but when we returned in the afternoon there was another large ship in port and there were huge line ups. (this is when we returned and it looped all the way round into the terminal)

The tour basically takes you up the switchback road (just like Giants Head but with the Atlantic Ocean/Mediterranean Sea) on the side of the Rock of Gibraltar with a couple of stops at viewpoints, the St Michael Caves, the Barbary Apes and then your choice of the Great Siege tunnels or the Moorish Palace. We were with another family and they wanted to see the tunnels and that was fine with us.

First lookout.

The taxi driver gets your tickets and then meets you at the exit. The St Michael’s caves were amazing and I have never seen stalagmites and stalactites like this. There was a DCL tour going through at the same time and I wished we had taken the tour as the guide was giving some great information. Concerts are held in the caves as the acoustics are supposed to be very good.

We emerged from the caves and Lauren was able to find a machine that was selling Rock of Gibraltar coins so she was thrilled.

Next stop was the Apes.  A popular belief holds that as long as Barbary Macaques exist on Gibraltar, the territory will remain under British rule. In 1942 (during World War II), after the population dwindled to just a handful of individuals (just seven monkeys), British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill ordered that their numbers be replenished immediately from forest fragments in both Morocco and Algeria because of this traditional belief.

The ape does not know what to think of Lauren

 I knew Lauren would be in heaven and Sydney would be scared. The Apes are everywhere and we got to see old ones that would not move out of your way, and young ones that would not sit still, we even saw a mother with a brand new one that barely had it eyes open.

Lauren was in awe and probably could have spent all day there. One approached her, which she was hopping for , but this of course freaked out Sydney. The vans are just sitting on the road waiting for the traffic ahead, so Sydney was able to get in our van and be protected and Lauren got every possible minute watching the Apes.



The finally stop was the tunnels. It is hard to believe that men carved these tunnels out in the late 1770’s. They are 1 mile deep, we did not go all the way as it was only a short stop.

The view was amazing,

The ship has not left without us!

 The airport has a road that goes through the middle of the runway and you can see people walking on a sidewalk.

We did not have the greatest taxi driver, and it was rushed, he was hoping to get in 2 more tours today before the ships left, but it was still one of the highlights.



We got dropped off in the centre of the old town and walked around.

It was getting hot to we headed back to the ship, but not before getting lost.

The afternoon routine continued and we hit the pool, we also made it to a family craft activity and painted mosiac tiles.

Departing from Gibraltar

Can't have a day with no characters.

I finally convinced the girls to skip dinner and go to TopSiders for dinner. It was probably the best meal of the cruise, it is so quiet and relaxing up there. The waiter was not great but he actually had time to talk to us, I find the main dinning rooms so busy and noisy that you hate to ask the servers for anything.



We then went back to the pool of course, and after went to the Stage show, The Dream Goes On




Lauren was hoping to hit the club as they were having a late night drive in movie night, but she fell asleep. I tried to wake her up at 10:30 when it was starting but said she did not want to get up.

August 4

Cadiz

Looks like another nice day this time we are in Southern Spain and the City of Cadiz.

The plan today was take the Hop On Hop Off bus to the Victoria Beach, spend some time there and then take the bus around the rest of the loop getting off in the old town at seawall and walking back to the ship.

There was a long line waiting to board the bus, and it took quite a while to board and I think we had to wait for 3 busses, but it was a beautiful day and not too hot yet.

We made it to the beach, and the ocean was so warm.

After some time in the ocean we decided to hop on the bus, lots of Moorish style buildings, and the large walls around the old part of town.

 We missed the stop at the seawall ( got pictures though)  so we ended up back near the port.

 We did some shopping, found a Euro store and Sydney got some modeling clay, but Lauren was not able to find any coins.



We went back on the ship about 2:00 and brought lunch down to deck 4, for some reading, shuffleboard, and creating with the modeling

Tonight was Pirate night and the girls got dressed up.

After dinner we headed up to the pool, but as set up for pirate party was going on the girls had to go to the Mickey pool, it was empty too so the girls had fun.

We did head back to the room and watched almost the whole Spy next door and then rushed up stairs to catch Mickey saving the day and the fireworks.

August 3

Lisbon.

I was at a loss on what to do in Lisbon, the only DCL excursion that looked promising had an 8:00 AM meet time and that would be pushing my luck, so I decided we would go into the city centre and go to St George’s Castle or maybe take the #28 tram through the old section on Lisbon.


I got up early to watch the sail into Lisbon as I had read that sailing under the April 25 Bridge was beautiful. The April 25 Bridge is a suspension bridge similar in design to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a beautiful morning and sailing under the bridge was neat, the sound the ship made sailing under the bridge with cars on it was neat and and little scary  at the same time and I hoped to make it back that evening.

Since we were on our own this morning the girls slept in and we did not rush off the ship.

Almost at the dock.

 We got off about 10:00 and we just wandered towards the big dome on the hill. We found a flee market and Lauren searched for some coins, and Sydney found a lovely hat, it was her first attempt at bargaining and she got it for 3 Euros

We found the 28 tram but it was hot and the girls did not want to go on it.

Lisbon is full of lovely neat narrow roads and alleys so we just spent the morning exploring.

 We found a lovely bakery and tried a Portuguese pastry. Lisbon appeared to very inexpensive and we got 3 drinks and 1 pastry, and 1 huge gummy fish for less than 3 Euros. Lauren liked the pastry but Sydney was glad she had gone for the gummy fish.



We had found our way back to the port and it was hot, the girls had not complained once so I decided we should go back on before everyone got too tired.

 The girls had lots of things they wanted to do in the clubs, but the call of the empty pool was too strong and they spent another afternoon in the pool.

We did take some time out to visit a few characters.

Tried to rush through dinner so we could made it up to watch the sail under the April 25 bridge, but we were about 5 minutes too slow.



The evening show was Villains a new one we have not seen. I was not impressed but the girls who know Yzma and Kronk from the Emperors New Groove really enjoyed the show and Lauren mentioned that she wished that she had gone to all 3 performances.