Welcome to the Mediterranean!

Heading further south we ported in Cadiz, Spain for a nice, long day in this peninsula town.  It was suny and gorgeous outside and I ended up spending most of my day hanging out with Brett, the other male singer.  We first headed to a really nice beach that was packed with Spanish visitors and surrounded by a couple of old fortresses right on the water.  It was the first time I was able to lay out for a while and enjoy some warmer water!  I was thrilled to just sit and soak up some rays…FINALLY!

Afterward Brett and I wandered through some of Cadiz’ narrow streets.  They are lined with tall buildings that have lovely windows and terraces towering above.  Around every little corner you would find the next picturesque stop when a few passages would open up onto a beautiful little square with a fountain and café.  It was really nice.  On our walk we heard locals singing some sort of folk song and stopped for my first serving of gelato on the trip!  As some of you may know, I became obsessed with gelato last time I was in Southern Europe (see offexploring.blogspot.com) and was thrilled to eat the sweet stuff again! 

Finally we came to the largest site in the town, the cathedral.  We walked in and saw that there were nets strung across the entire ceiling to catch any falling plaster from the old ceiling ornamentation and walked around to the back of the church which opened onto the ocean.  From here we decided to pay a few euro and climb one of the bell towers to the top of the church.  We headed up and were blown away by the view.  This city is just marvelous, surrounded by water on three sides, we were able to see our ship, the incredible gold dome of the church, and tiny white roofs with laundry hanging to dry, all with the backdrop of the blue Atlantic Ocean!

After dinner in town of shellfish soup I headed back and got ready for the evening’s events on board.  Tonight was a special event because the ship brought on a local flamenco group to do a special performance out on the pool deck!  Sitting in port out in the beautiful night sky over Cadiz the staff had moved all the lounge chairs to set up a stage and seats for the performance.  The place was packed for the presentation of the traditional local dance to this area of Spain.  There was a singer, guitarist, 2 male dancers, and three female dancers.  The dancers wore traditional costumes and did the signature footwork with their wooden-heeled shoes.  It was a stunning performance and the audience LOVED it! 

Following this once-in-a-lifetime evening the singers took over the stage and as we sailed away from this stunning port the dance floor was opened up while we sang Beatles music all night!  It was an awesome event and it was nice to see so many people take advantage of a unique experience like that.

Finally to catch us all up, yesterday we ported only for a few hours in the morning in Gibraltar, a tiny town built on the rock of Gibraltar on a peninsula at the very southern tip of Spain, just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco…Africa!  It's considered the gateway to the Med and we were happy to enter through this gate, for sure!  I didn’t know what to expect from this tiny town, but we had heard it was a very special place, unlike anywhere else in the world.  This TINY town is basically a miniature England, but with better weather!  Ha!  The famous rock of Gibraltar was the main exploration point of the day, though. 

A few of us got up early and walked into town, directly to the cable car to take us to the top of the rock where we were met with more than just a great view.  On the upper rock live some very famous inhabitants, the Barbary Apes!  These animals are native to Africa, namely Morocco and Algeria, and they are actually only existing in the wild in Europe on the top of the rock of Gibraltar!  It’s really amazing to ride the car up and see dozens of these adorable monkeys just roaming free.  The apes just had babies, too, so we were able to see them with their own tiny little baby apes as well!  I had never seen anything like it, but I had a blast trying to get as close as possible and taking way too many pictures for my own good!  Ha ha!

It’s been a fun couple of days, but I am pooped… hope to hear from you all soon!

Tripp