As we discovered on our earlier cruise of the Mediterranean, it′s typical for cruise ships to sail at night and dock at a port the next morning for sightseeing. Although we see a different port city almost every day, since these cities are relatively close to each other they often share similar cultures and histories. Gibraltar, however, has a more mixed background than most of the stops so far, especially because of its English connections. Speaking of English connections, what could be more English than the red telephone box? This one was in the dock area not too far from our ship.

Regarding yesterday′s Alhambra debacle, Seabourn now admits they completely "dropped the ball" and failed to get us Alhambra tickets even though our travel agent ordered those tickets and paid Seabourn for them. So today we decided to forego an organized tour and simply walk the city of Gibraltar ourselves. We also wanted the exercise and could not have picked a better place to do it as the whole downtown is about the same linear distance as Solana Beach (about 2 miles long). There is limited "flat" land to build on (2 miles by say 1 mile) and the majority of the residential area is pasted on the hillside, with apartments and businesses on the flatland. No shops were open when we took our walk but there was nothing in the retail area that attracted our attention anyway. We passed on the chance to look at caves in the Rock and to watch indigenous monkeys.

Gibraltar has been important for centuries because of its strategic location connecting the Mediterranean with the Atlantic. Like other places we′ve seen on this trip, there′s an area of walled city, defense towers, and assorted ancient ramparts for cannons and other military equipment.

After our walk we spent the rest of the day just lounging. In fact, it seemed that everyone, crew and all, vegged–out with some shopping, sunning, napping.

This evening we are going to dinner with six people from Bakerfield, California. We first met them at the boarding gate for the flight from Paris to Nice. They also stayed in the same hotel we did in Monaco. Interestingly, the people who do the private jet trips and/or go on Seabourn cruises are a small enough set that we bump into each other. Last night we talked with a woman from one of those jet trips and I recognize three other couples from past journeys.