World Cruise--A Day In San Francisco

The postings on the Queene Anne World Cruise Facebook page from those in San Francisco awaiting the ship’s arrival for the start of their portion of the cruise didn’t look promising. Lots of pictures of rain and one in particular of the Golden Gate Bridge that was barely visible from all the rain. So, when we awoke our first morning in SF, we were pleased to see that, although a bit dreary, the rain had let up and almost to a stop. From our balcony, we could see Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, a clear view of Alcatraz Island and a partial view of the Golden Gate that we had sailed under around 4 AM. (We slept through that.)

The forecast still called for a chance of rain. We shrugged, packed the umbrellas (for insurance that it wouldn’t rain again) and set off.

But let me back up a bit. This was the first day of entry for the ship back to the US so all the passengers had to go through immigration and once through you could not reboard until the whole of the ship had been processed. Added to that, Bob’s doctor suggested he change up his medication a bit and he hadn’t brought enough to do that so we had to find a pharmacy for the office to send the prescription. The CVS we found was not in their system (we would discover later the store was closing) so we found a Walgreen’s on the map that was not quite a mile away and decided to try that.

Luckily, the immigration process was going well and we were able to leave earlier than planned. The weather that was supposed to be rainy turned out to be drier and warmer than expected. We Googled our way to the Walgreen’s and the pharmacy gave us the contact information the doctor’s office needed. When we tried to call the doctor, Bob’s phone went dead and wouldn’t place the call. After several frustrating attempts, he used mine. (Later he turned the phone off and on and backed it up and it started working again.) All set—or so we thought.

We walked back down to the harbor and Fisherman’s Wharf where we wandered around a bit and grabbed a hot tea and sweet roll to share at a bakery and rested a bit. Near the bakery was an arcade that featured “antique” arcade games. Some of them were not quite as antique as we are but it was fun looking at them.

We had a little more time to kill before meeting our tour guide at Pier 33 for our afternoon excursion so we wandered toward Pier 39. The Wharf has several piers, all numbered and easy to find. They are all relatively close together as well. Pier 39 is probably the busiest as it had a slew of restaurants and shops and snack places and a view of the herd of very noisy sea lions.

We needed to get lunch before our tour so we found a place where we got some clam chowder and a tuna salad on sour dough that was not as good as I remembered the sour dough being from our visit years ago. It was a little disappointing.

After lunch, on our way to Pier 33, we got a FaceTime call from a granddaughter who had just had her wisdom teeth removed. We talked a few minutes and commiserated with her, complimenting her on her chipmunk cheeks that we promised would go away. I love the technology we have today that can help us keep in touch no matter where we are in the world.

Our arrival was a few minutes early but so were all the others who were on the tour. We filled the Mercedes van which was quite comfortable and set off for our trip over the Golden Gate and on to Muir Woods where all the large redwoods are. Still no rain but a bit of a mist now and then. The umbrella insurance was working.

Our driver took us over the Golden Gate and to the area set aside for viewing. I remember being there before when we drove ourselves. It does give you good opportunity for photos. I did not remember the sailor monument as it was dedicated in 2002. A bronze plaque with a dedication on it is worth repeating here:

                 The Lone Sailor

This is a memorial to every one who ever sailed out of the Golden Gate in the service of their country - in the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the Merchant Marine.

A ship heading for sea passes directly by this spot at the northern end of the Golden Gate. Here the sailor feels the first long roll of the sea, the beginning of the endless horizon that leads to the far Pacific.

There is one last chance to look back at the city of San Francisco, shining on its hills, one last chance to look back at the coastline of the United States, one last chance to look back at home.

Thousands and thousands of American seafarers have sailed past this place, in peace and war, to defend this country and its sea frontiers. Many of them never returned. This monument is dedicated to the ordinary sailors and marines who sailed from this place and did their duty.

Carl Nolte

The rest of our drive to Muir Woods took us up a mountain on winding roads and back down into a valley. The area is really beautiful and some of the views of the bay were spectacular. It was a little cooler at the park than it had been on the Wharf and I put my quilted vest back on. I think it was more from the dampness. It had rained eight inches over the last couple of days. Thankfully the path was part boardwalk, part paved walkway. A few places had some muddy spots but were easily navigated without too much trouble. We had worried that our shoes would get muddy with not good way to get them cleaned again. (The laundry room had a sign saying “Do not wash shoes in the machines.”)

Just as we arrived at the park, Bob got a message that he could not get the prescription because it was too soon for a refill. This wasn’t really a refill, it was a new prescription for extra meds. Gotta love insurance. Though we had been told there would be no cell service at the park, he found he had two bars and made a call to the pharmacy. She said she would see what she could do and we said we’d pay for it if we had to.

The misty feel was becoming a little wetter but still not bad. There was a front moving in and by the time we arrived at Sausalito, a stop on our tour, you could feel the temperature dropping and the wind picking up. We were to have an hour in the little town area that had shops and restaurants before the tour would end back again at Pier 33. We had planned to take the ferry back to the Wharf from Sausalito and decided that we would leave sooner than later. Sausalito didn’t interest that much with the weather changing.

The ferry ride was smoother than I anticipated given the wind picking up as it was. The ride was scenic and would have been even nicer with a little sunshine. Arriving with enough daylight left and a shorter walk to the Walgreen’s who had texted the prescription was ready (and with no cost to us) we decided the plan for the rest of the day was the walk to the pharmacy, followed by dinner somewhere on the Wharf and then back to the ship.

It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. We made it to Walgreens, picked up the meds, passed on buying the sundries on our list since most of the things were under lock and key. Things I would never expect people would want or could shoplift. It would have taken forever to have someone follow us around and unlock everything we needed.

Serenaded our dinner

We found a wonderful Italian restaurant on Pier 39 for dinner. Bob had seafood pasta that was loaded with more seafood than I’ve ever seen on that dish before. I had a heaping plate of ravioli with a meat sauce that was excellent. And to top it off was a side order of tasty garlic sourdough bread that was the real deal.

I was glad we had about a fifteen minute walk back to the ship. It was a chance to walk off the huge meal. We both ate more than we should have but it was so good.

Back on the ship, I gave in to my legs and knees and back that were protesting all the walking we’d done. When I checked my phone it showed over 10 miles for the day’s walk. I took a hot shower and plopped into bed while Bob went on to see the evening entertainment. What stamina.

This post is too long to contain the second day of fun in San Fran. So I will have to do up another. Tune in for some amazing modes of transportation in the next post.

World Cruise--Sea Days, Guatemala, Cabo

So far our days at sea have been very good. There are usually two between ports, just enough to relax before a busy day. There will be longer stretches soon but they seem to be filled with plenty of activity. The speakers have been very interesting especially George Kourounis who is quite an explorer and has done a lot for National Geographic and Angry Planet among other shows I’m not familiar with. Look him up on YouTube. He is amazing.

Evenings have been filled with some great entertainers and a couple of the Captain’s cocktail parties, one for the World Club (those who have sailed Cunard before) and another for the 1,043 world cruisers aboard. The World Cruise party featured all sorts of hors d’oeuvres including caviar and a cake that they never cut. We suspect it might have been fake and just for show.

Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala was a nice warm up. Not quite as hot as Cartegena had been and we spent a good part of our day on an air-conditioned bus. Our excursion took us to a drive through safari zoo. It was a little more than an hour from the ship but it gave us an opportunity to see the countryside and the volcanoes in the distance. Guatemala has over 30 volcanoes several of which can activate at any time and some were smoking a bit.

The zoo was nicely planned out with fenced in zones for the different animals. Once a vehicle passed through a gate, an attendant would close it again. That explained why the lion and tiger didn’t meander into the antelope area for dinner not to mention the fact that they would be fed raw beef regularly and probably weren’t hungry. Curiously the male lion and female tiger were together in the compound. They seemed to get along quite well and it appeared the male lion was a bit amorous. What was up with that? A new species?

The safari zoo reminded me of one back home but at this one, you didn’t feed the animals. There was quite a variety of mostly animals from Africa in the drive through part of the park. After a soft drink and serving of French fries (excellent fries, probably cooked in the tasty kind of oil), we walked through a smaller area that housed animals and birds native to Guatemala.

It was a nice getaway from the ship for a few hours. The only regret is that we had to view all the animals in the drive through park from the bus and it was difficult to get good pictures. When we stopped to get a close up view of the giraffes and were offered the opportunity to feed them, I got a great picture of the younger one. I tried to get a photo of the capuchin monkeys that were caged nearby (they were called capuchino here, pronounced like the coffee drink). Now I’ve had some experience with capuchins in Costa Rico and I know they can be quick and mischievous, but I felt confident in putting my camera close enough to the enclosure to get the picture between the wired sides. It was even double wired halfway up to keep them from reaching out. It didn’t work. That little stinker stuck his arm through a hole and grabbed at my camera before I knew what was happening. Luckily he didn’t get hold of it and I didn’t drop it. It did startle me pretty good. I’m sure he had a good chuckle over it.

And before I forget, our tour guide began by introducing herself as Karen, the good Karen. I later told her I was the other good Karen on the bus. She laughed. As a matter of fact she laughed a lot through out the whole excursion.

After two days at sea, our next port was Cabo San Lucas. We’ve been there before and done whale watching and seen the manta rays jump out of the water so we passed on the water excursions. I remembered Cabo as being a nice place to walk where there were a lot of nice hotels and shops. It has changed, greatly. There are a lot more bars and the hawkers have multiplied exponentially to great degree.

Greeting the guest from the tenders

Before I get ahead of myself let me say there were nearly 3000 people to get off the ship by tender since there was not a pier at Cabo for cruise ships. People on excursions get first priority of course and we figured that by mid morning the rush would be close to over so we played a little pickleball before we had to go to the Royal Theater to pickup a tender ticket (the method for organizing the operation).  As we entered by the long passageway to the bottom of the theater, a staff member was there by a mat that had two white stripes on it with the picture of a shark between the lines. We were asked to step over the lines as a way to see if we were mobile enough to bridge the small gap between ship and tender. Clever way to eliminate some who claimed to be mobile but perhaps weren’t as much as they thought.

 The Royal Theater had to be filled with about 700 or more people. We sat and waited, knowing the last of the excursions had left and thinking it wouldn’t be too long. We were wrong. It was an hour and a half wait.

As eleven o’clock passed, our plans were now changed to include lunch as there was no way we were going to make it off and back on for lunch. The tenders took 50-60 people at a time. Ship’s tenders as well as local tender boats were being used. When it came our turn, we realized why the long wait. The sea was a bit rough and the tenders were having trouble bouncing up and down and keeping the little ramp in place for passengers to board. We’ve been on more challenging tender trips but this certainly slowed progress. It was all good. By the time our number had been called we had mapped out our shopping excursion.

Cabo has a marina area with a boardwalk around it that made for a pleasant walk in temperatures that were in the 70s and nice sunshine with a little breeze. We followed the little blue dotted line on my Google Maps app, dodged hawkers and their goods, declined numerous offers for boat rides and fishing and finally made it around the busiest area of the boardwalk. A little farther and we turned off on a street and followed it around to find our destination. Walmart.

There was a need to get a few things like wire hangers that take up less space in the closets, a storage box that Bob wanted for his underwear to keep in the bathroom (TMI?), body wash for me (I don’t care for the smell of the ship’s), cups with lids to carry coffee from the buffet, and air freshener (there is a funky smell in the shower that doesn’t seem to go away). While hangers and storage boxes were easy, body wash and air freshener was a bit of a challenge since everything was in Spanish. I spent a good deal of time translating with my phone before I actually found a body wash that was in English.

All in all, it was a good experience. Even trying to explain to a Walmart employee eager to help but didn’t speak English that we wanted bar soap to wash with. Thankfully there was an English icon on the self checkout and a helpful attendant to make sure we did it all right. We had to buy a bag to carry our goods back but that will come in handy as a nice big laundry bag. All in all, prices were good.

Bob had a taste for something from home, MacDonald’s. Just around the corner from Walmart we were able to satisfy his craving. The menu was partly in English and the counter help spoke it well. We enjoyed our “Mexican MacDonald’s,” two Big Boys, a medium fry and two Cokes for $13, and made our way back to the main dock where the tenders were picking up guests to return to the ship. Our wait was much shorter this time and the seas had calmed a good deal. Curious though, as we waited we saw foodstuffs that were being loaded on a tender for the ship. Croissants and other bakery in containers as well as some other produce. Even after questioning a few waiters onboard, we were assured that all the morning bakery was made on the ship. Hmmmm.

We did not get to visit the famous arch at Cabo but did catch a glimpse of it as our ship passed. Unfortunately the sun was shining directly into the camera and I couldn’t get a good picture.

Bob attended the sabbath service in the evening before dinner. He did that on our other world cruise and enjoyed learning more about the Jewish service. They haven’t thrown the Gentile out yet.

 

World Cruise--Cartegena And Through The Canal

 Cartagena, Colombia, is a place we have visited almost half a dozen times. On the previous visit, we discovered that there was an aviary right at the port that we could walk through and enjoy the collection of birds they have. Since we have done the old city several times and have no desire to go into the main city, we opted to explore the aviary again.

We were a little concerned when we heard that there was now a charge and someone mentioned $70. While it’s beautiful, we didn’t want to spend that kind of money for it. As it often turns out, you need to search out the facts for yourself and when we arrived at the port we planned to do just that.

This morning was the first one where the ship felt stable enough to safely play some pickleball but the temperature had climbed to the mid 80s with the humidity rising as well. Half the pickleball court was shaded and there was only the two of us so we stayed in the shade and just smacked the ball back and forth for a while. It was still a pretty good workout but we only lasted about 45 minutes.

After stowing our paddles in our stateroom, we grabbed our water bottles and hats and headed out for the aviary. Did I mention there were a total of four large ships in port? The walk to the aviary is not far and there was a gentle breeze blowing which helped with the heat. We arrived to find that it was still free albeit wanting some donations since the aviary is a shelter for injured birds, or so they say.

The crowd was quite large but once we got past the place where many had stopped to get a tropical drink or get into the gift shop, it wasn’t quite so bad. They have added a monkey who was being held by one lady tourist as we entered one section. He seemed quite content until it took too long to get the picture I guess and he bit her. A little later we would see a sloth that the attendant was draping over willing tourists. No thanks. At least the sloth didn’t look dangerous and I think by the time he would have opened his mouth to bite, you would have seen what might be coming and avoided it.

Our time in Cartegena was a bit short. We had to be back on board at one and were supposed to be on our way shortly after. For some reason we didn’t leave until 2 but we would still make it in time for our scheduled passage through the Panama Canal.

We awoke the next morning early to be up in time to watch the beginning of our trip through the new locks of Panama. This would be our fifth trip through the canal but the first through the new locks. Queen Anne is much too large to pass through the old locks. As a matter of fact, the Promenade Deck was closed for the day. Sometime late evening or through the night, the crew had lowered the railings around the deck and moved the lifeboats in a bit. They overhang the side of the ship by about twelve inches or so and to prevent scraping against the sides of the locks, they were pulled in a lirrle as were some lights that also extend out past the side of the ship.

As we neared the first lock at the Agua Clara locks, tugboats met us. These are special tugs (if I heard correctly, they came from Spain) that are high powered for maneuvering the large ships to keep them centered in the lock. Some guide ropes appeared to be used as well as we could see attendants on shore tossing ropes over to the ship.

The ship uses its own power to move from lock to lock once the water level is reached and the gates opened. There were three levels going into Lake Gatun and three levels at the Pacific side when we exited. It took much longer (about 2 ½ to 3 hours at each end) than I remember taking when we went through the old locks. Not quite as much fun for me. The “mules” that are used at the old locks are more interesting to watch and there are two locks side by side so you can also watch another ship going up or down in the lock.

I’m not going to go into all the explanation of how the new locks work. I posted that after our last trip when we did an excursion to see them when they were first finished. If you are interested in a bit more information click on my link here to the earlier post.

Bridge of Americas

Once through the locks, it is about a five hour cruise through Lake Gatun and “the big ditch” to get to the Cocoli locks on the Pacific side. The weather was beautiful and it was so peaceful and restful to sit on the balcony and enjoy the fresh air and lush  green scenery. 

Once we reached the Cocoli locks, the sun was beginning its late afternoon descent and as we exited to pass under the Bridge of the Americas, we could see the skyline of Panama City. Always impressive and even more so as the sun was beginning to set. The multi colored structure is a museum. I think that's new since our last visit. I don't remember it. 

By the way, for those who are as curious as my husband, the cost for the ship to go through the canal was $415,000. Bob is still wondering if they paid cash or use a credit card.

I haven’t said much about life on the ship but we are enjoying wonderful meals, have gotten to know tablemates to one side from Britain and the other side from Scotland. Have shared some hilarious stories. Two gala nights (one red/gold themed and another just formal). Bob is happy to get more use out of his tux. Lectures have been very interesting and I’ll post more about that next time. For now, it’s on to Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.

 

World Cruise--New York City to Miami

 Always as a safety measure, we fly into our embarkation port at least a day early and especially during the winter months so we arrived with our five bags of luggage and two carry-ons (plus Bob’s backpack) on Friday afternoon. When we booked our world cruise on the Queen Anne, we thought we would have to start in Hamburg, Germany, as that was the origin of the world cruise. It would have required a long plane flight plus a night or two in Hamburg. Then we found that there was an option of starting instead in either Southampton or New York and still be able to have all the benefits that come with doing the complete world cruise. As we Americans say, it was a no-brainer.

The flight to New York had a tail wind so we arrived a bit earlier than expected. At CLE we had been dropped off in front of the outside baggage check so we didn’t have to schlep bags through the airport. In New York, we opted to get a wheeled cart to help with the luggage. Bob was shocked to find the price was $6 to use one. We remember when it was only twenty-five cents or half a dollar and you could return it to get your money back. But, this was NYC or rather Newark, NJ.

Our luggage was quickly retrieved and we headed for the taxi stand. The attendant entered our destination, printed a ticket, handed it to Bob and pointed to an SUV (five bags of luggage). The driver loaded it up and drove a little ways from the departure stand to be sure we understood what the cost was to get to Brooklyn and our hotel. It was then Bob looked at the paper the attendant had handed us and saw the $90 plus the $43 dollars in tolls. He shook his head. “Well, guess it’s our only choice.” We drove on.

The drive was about 45 minutes through some traffic that obviously wasn’t being reduced all that much by the recent increase in tolls. Outside the door of the Hampton Inn, the driver began to unload our suitcases while Bob ducked inside to get a luggage cart. Before we could begin stacking the luggage on it, a gentleman from the hotel was there and loaded it all for us. I’m not sure what his position was in the hotel but he turned out to be extremely helpful and especially with luggage.

Craig (we learned his name later) took the cart up to the room while we checked in and got a regular key. Bob always likes to use the key on the app but they said it didn’t always work properly. By the time we were up to the room, Craig had almost all of it unloaded. He apologized for the room being so small and we laughed. “It’s going to be a lot smaller than this on the ship,” we told him. He offered to put some of the bags in storage but we assured him we could manage for one night.

The suggestion Craig gave us for our late lunch was perfect. It was about a four block walk to Juniors restaurant, in the cold I might add, but was well worth it. The onion soup and the matzo ball soup were delicious as well as the pastrami and corn beef sandwiches. The “famous” cheesecake was too tempting to pass up so we got a piece to go and took it back with us.

Got to see the new pickleball courts in
Key Largo

On our way back to the hotel, we found a Target in an indoor mall and I purchased a pair of sunglasses and endured the teasing of “you always forget your sunglasses.”

Our evening and the next morning were spent indoors. While it wasn’t quite as freezing as back home it was still cold. When it was time to go to the ship, we again had lots of help from Craig and a great Uber driver (the price wasn’t a sticker shock). Luggage was handled at the drop off for the ship much to the Uber driver’s surprise and I assume relief. We were ready to board and begin our three and a half month journey.

The Queen Anne is large. We haven’t been on a ship quite this size in a while. Just for instance—most times we have to walk 4-6 times around the promenade deck to get a mile walk in. This ship was only 2.5 laps. Lunch was had in the Golden Lion although we passed on fish and chips, the specialty, and settled for sausages with gravy and potatoes. Thankfully not a big helping. We then began our exploration of the ship as we usually do our first day. It would not be completed before dinner. There was just too much to see and the parts that were outside we skipped. We had a bigger chore awaiting us—unpacking.

While the QA is large, the storage space in the rooms is not. I had planned ahead and brought several plastic baskets that we could store some things in on the top shelf above the desk area. We organized closets with “gala” clothes (the formal nights) and regular clothes and managed to get most everything in a place hoping to remember each place later. Bags were a bit tricky to store under the bed but eventually we worked it out with our room steward and he removed some of the storage units he used under the bed so ours would fit. We can slid two open suitcases out like an extra drawer.

Meals have been wonderful. We have an assigned table for two between two others that have some lovely couples we’ve grown fond of from Scotland and the UK. Lectures have been interesting. Weather finally warmed up as we neared Miami and the sun came out!

Our personal excursion in Miami was to rent a car and drive to Key Largo to meet some friends for lunch. Bob wanted to try out a Tesla. So, of course it was to be an adventure starting with the fact that the returned Tesla had not been cleaned yet and only had a 60% charge on it with no place to charge it at the rental place. We took it anyway and knew of a place in Key Largo where we could charge it. When it came time though, we discovered that the car did not have the adaptor needed to fit the charging station. We went on and met our friends, had a great time catching up and eating at one of our favorite places in Key Largo and then started back north to the Tesla Charging Station on the map that was 24 miles away. By the time we got there we were at 6% battery power.

There were a few other problems with the car along the way. To begin, just trying to figure out how to get the doors open. We never did figure out the passenger side. Bob had to stretch across to open my door. We called his brother who had a Tesla and asked how to set the cruise control. All in all it was quite an experience and we decided against a Tesla in our future.

From Miami, our next port is Cartegena in two days. The sun is shining. It’s getting warmer and we have finally finished our tour of the ship—well most of it. I suspect there are places we still haven’t discovered.

Cruising Home

Arrecife

When we first planned this travel adventure to India, we decided that rather than have a long flight home, we would take a transatlantic cruise. I’m so glad we did since India was quite an intensive tour.  We found that Oceania had just the perfect timing to fit in with our plans. After our flight to Barcelona and a two night stay, we boarded the Oceania Marina. I’ve posted already about our time in Barcelona and our exciting trip to Gibraltar but I’m resting for the next leg of our journey.

Agadir, Morroco

After our port stops in the Canary Islands followed by two stops in Morroco and a nice overnight stay in Lisbon with a day long excursion to Sintra and Cascais, we have begun the last segment of the trip to Miami. (Here’s a few pictures from some of the stops we’ve made.)

Casablanca

This segment has a total of eight sea days, five in the crossing and a couple more thrown in here and there. I promised myself when I toted my computer all through India and beyond that I would spend some time working on the novel I started. It’s another Casey Stengel mystery and I really need to move it along.

Sintra, Portugal

Soooo, that’s all for our travel adventure for now unless something unusual happens that makes a good story. After all, there’s nothing I enjoy more than a good travel story.

Adventure In Gibraltar!

Now we’ve done some daring things in our travel but booking an all day tour without an absolute guarantee that we could make it back in time to the ship was a new one for us. Malaga, Spain, was as close as we were going to get to Gibraltar which has been on the bucket list for a very long time. We have passed it in the middle of the night, in the foggy morning, and we scheduled one cruise to stop there but had the port canceled upon boarding the ship. This was going to be our one shot, miss the ship departure or not.

I had been assured by the tour operator that we had plenty of time to get back but in reading the description of the tour, it had mentioned that there could be a problem with traffic. We loaded a backpack with overnight underwear, medications and a few sundries just in case. Bob had already checked on hotels in Malaga and flights to Las Palmas, the ship’s next stop after a day at sea. So we had two days to get there if necessary.

The day before, I had a message from Eduardo, our driver, who said he would be at the terminal to pick us up at 9:30. I guess we were a little anxious because we were outside the cruise terminal a little after 9. He arrived a little before 9:30 and we were on our way in a very comfortable large minivan, just the two of us. We breathed a sigh of relief. One of our concerns was having to share the tour with others who might take longer to see things and shop.

The drive to Gibraltar was about two hours, mostly on freeway. Eduardo talked about the area we passed through. It was a nice drive mostly along the shore of the Mediterranean.

Our arrival at Gibraltar was in a bit of a fog, the rock itself being a bit obscured. Eduardo parked his taxi and led us to the immigration building. Gibraltar is part of the UK and not the European Union, thus we needed to have our passports and we had been urged to be sure it had been stamped on our entry into Spain. No problem there. Immigration had stamped it at the airport and then insisted we go through a second immigration check at the pier after we had already checked into the ship. One stamp had an airplane and the other a ship. Go figure.

There was no problem going through immigration and Eduardo met us on the other side. Apparently there is a special pass for tour operators. He texted another tour guide, the local one who would take us around the sights on Gibraltar. A few minutes later we met Tarek, a very happy and jovial guy, who loaded us into his minivan and pulled a short distance over to the airport. We needed a pit stop after the long drive and this was the best place for it.

Refreshed, we rejoined Tarek and he started our drive to the top of the rock. To get into the city, you have to cross the airport runway either by walking across it as pedestrian traffic or, in our case, using the tunnel under it to drive to the other side. The pedestrian crossing is closed whenever a plane is due or is taking off obviously.

Our first stop was at the Pillars of Hercules monument. Mythology says that Hercules was the one who made the passage between Africa and Europe. It was a show of strength for love of a woman. While the clouds threatened to cover our view, there were times of clear vision of a beautiful view of the sea and the area below us.

Next we were able to explore St. Michael’s Cave, one of many caves inside the rock. This one has been made into quite a light show. As you wander through the large stalactites and stalagmites, blues, purples, magentas and all sorts of other colors are projected seamlessly on the walls of the cave and blend with music that eventually crescendos into quite a light show before it all starts over again. There is even a large area where you can sit (a natural auditorium of sorts) and watch the whole sequence all over again.  Apparently there are concerts and theatrical productions done here on occasion. The auditorium area seats about 400.

Legend has it that St. Michael’s Cave was somehow connected to the African continent by a tunnel and that is how the Barbary Macaques (monkeys) were able to get to the island. No tunnel has been found. It is most likely that the Moors who inhabited the island at one time brought them with them as pets.

The monkeys are everywhere as you venture up the rock to the top. They are especially congregated where the feeding station is located. There is a department of the government that takes care of them. Tarek told us they all receive rabies shots which is a good thing as they have been known to bite tourists who get too close or might have something to eat in their hand.  At one point, we had one who was trying to get into the van through a half open window. Why? Well, they seem to know that some of the guides have peanuts to coax them with and create some fun for the tourists even though it is not allowed.

After viewing the feeding station, I went to get back in the van and felt a push on my back that sent me flying onto the seat with a squeal. I turned to tell Bob it wasn’t funny and realized quickly he wasn’t to blame. There was a monkey inside the van who had pushed me away to get in. Tarek quickly got me out of the van and as soon as the monkey found what he was after, a bag of peanuts, he grabbed them and ran. Tarek seemed to know each monkey by name and scolded the one who scampered off in a hurry with his prize.

We got to the top of the rock but the clouds that surrounded us did not afford much of a view. Once in a while a quick clearing would emerge only to be followed immediately by another part of the clouds covering us again. All the way up however we noticed heavy metal rings and at one point a heavy metal chain. It had been used back in the day to hoist large cannons up the rock for defensive purposes. I cannot begin to imagine that struggle.

The Siege Tunnels were another part of the Rock that we were eager to see. They seemed to go on forever (30 miles of tunnels) and were well documented with scenes of soldiers from the past. There were many sieges that took place on Gibraltar but the Great Siege that lasted well over three years began in 1779. It was during that time that excavation on the tunnels began mainly as a way to get cannons into strategic places.

During WWII more tunneling took place in order to provide a garrison for soldiers and storage for water and food, medical supplies, generators, and other supplies. I cannot imagine living in those tunnels even for a short duration.

When we finally finished our exploration of the Rock, Tarek took us to a square in town that was surrounded by restaurants and gift shops. He pointed out a Burger King on the corner and told us that Eduardo would meet us there in an hour. We parted company after a hearty thank you and found lunch of fish and chips at one of the restaurants (we were in the UK after all).

At the appointed time, Eduardo met us at the BK and we opted to walk to where his taxi was parked just over the border in Spain. It gave us the opportunity to walk across the airport runway. After all, how many times do you ever get to do something like that.

Our two hour drive back to the ship got us there with plenty of time to spare. It was a wonderful day and exciting excursion and another tick off the bucket list.

 

Barcelona--Weather Alert!

After fifteen days of heat and high humidity we arrived in a somewhat, or what felt to us, chilly Barcelona. I cannot recall any other visit to Barcelona where the sun was not shining and the clouds were certainly threatening rain. Hotel Turin was not quite ready for us yet. The last couple of times we stayed there, we lucked out and got into the room upon arrival. We locked our suitcases in the available lockers at the hotel and decided our first order of business was a cup of coffee or tea at the Bar Lobo next door.

The Bar Lobo is quite a busy sandwich/sweet place. I opted for tea and a croissant while Bob went for his favorite, grilled ham and cheese sandwich called a Bikini.

We still had a couple hours to kill so we decided the next order of business had better be to buy some umbrellas. We hadn’t packed our travel umbrellas because of the need to keep the weight of the luggage down for our domestic flight in India. It certainly looked like we would need them.

At one end of La Rambla almost to the statue of Columbus (who points the wrong way to the New World) there is a little corner convenient store where we knew we could get water and umbrellas and we hoped some cough drops to help with the head colds we acquired along the way.

Too tired and out of ideas, we headed back to the hotel and decided we would just wait out the last hour in the small lobby. To our delight, the receptionist said our room was ready. Gratefully we gathered our bags and checked into our room. We were tired. It had been a long night and neither of us had slept much on the plane. Ah, the joys of travel.

On our last visit, we had found a nice restaurant that had good Paella and we tried to find it again but couldn’t. We settled for one of the restaurants that line La Rambla at one section. We had surprisingly good seafood Paella.

Done for the night, we strolled slowly up La Rambla back to the hotel. The rain had kept a lot of people away in the afternoon but it was dry now and pleasant and the crowd was growing. Always fun to people watch there.

There was a time difference of seven and a half hours between Kolkata and Barcelona. (Have no clue why there is a half hour difference in India.) We hoped for a refreshing restful night and were rewarded.

Unfortunately, we awoke to a rainy morning. So much for an open top Hop On Hop Off ride. Besides, we’d done that so many times before we almost knew the route by heart. I got out my GPS My City app and we connected with AT&T International service and decided to explore the Gothic Quarter where the cathedral was located. We’d been by there before but really hadn’t delved into it.

Umbrellas at the ready, we found our way to the cathedral which was the first stop on the walking tour. Many time we had passed this and taken pictures but we’d never gone inside. For 9 Euros each (excluding the tower) we were soon inside and enjoying the beautiful architecture and interior of the massive structure.

The early beginnings of this cathedral date back to the 3^rd and 4^th century. When the Arabs invaded and burned the city, some of the basilica survived. In 1046, a second cathedral was built and that was followed in 1298 with the present day Gothic cathedral.

Inside the cathedral and below the altar area, is the tomb of Saint Eulalia. She was said to be horribly tortured and then burnt at the stake for her faith.

We quietly walked about as did others and listened to the commentary that Bob had managed to get with a QR code. There were signs posted frequently reminding people to be silent. Suddenly our phones buzzed and squealed with an emergency warning. It reverberated throughout the cathedral as each and every phone got the same message. The problem for us was that the message was in Spanish. We shrugged and chuckled and didn’t think anything more of it.

When we finished the interior of the cathedral, we found that there was also a courtyard to explore. When we looked outside we could see it was pouring rain. The perimeter of the courtyard was covered so we ventured out. At that point, we could hear the rumbling thunder. The warning on the phone became clear. It was a weather warning.

We dawdled as long as we could and watched the thirteen geese that inhabit the garden area. The geese represent the number of years this young woman lived (290-304 AD).

The gargoyles were spewing water like I’d never seen before. The rumbling seemed to fade and we thought the rain was letting up a bit so we decided to move on. We had passed a Churros y Chocolate shop nearby and used Apple maps to get us there. By the time we arrived, our shoes were soaked. The water running downhill and around a corner had rushed up past our ankles.

The respite from the rain was only surpassed by the perfectly done churros, crispy, sweet and deliciously dipped in rich creamy hot chocolate. My favorite Spanish delicacy and Barcelona knows how to do it right.

Later we would discover that the airport had flooded and flights were delayed or canceled. We hoped those coming to board the Oceania Marina the next day would not miss the ship. We were thankful we were there now. A taxi ride to the port and we would soon be on a slow boat to home, crossing the Atlantic without having to squeeze into an airplane seat for several long hours. Sweet.