Saturday, November 21, 2015

The Med: Gibraltar and Lisboa

This is the last post on the Med cruise, the last two stops, Gibraltar and Lisboa (Lisbon). Two places I'd not visited before. The interest I had in Gibraltar was entirely about being able to sail out through the straits, the 12 mile wide opening to the Atlantic from the Mediterranean. I did take one of the ships tours around the exceedingly small territory of the UK, but the lasting memory was seeing Africa for the first time, and the sensation of going out through the straits.


The rock of Gibraltar. Doesn't look much like the Prudential picture.


From the other side.


From a distance.


Africa, from Gibraltar. 12 miles across the straits.

These were all taken sailing out towards the Atlantic.

Africa



And last, how I would have liked to have gone out through the straits:


Now, on to Lisboa. If I had more time there, it might have surpassed Italy as a favorite place. It has a huge harbor, and has been compared to San Francisco with good reason.



And then there is this bridge....look familar?



Yep, same person designed this one as the GG. 

The rest of the city was delightful. Old, shabby, chic, modern, it varied and was different every block. 






And last, the place we picked for lunch....I had grilled octapus, excellent. But here was my view out the door.  Study the picture. Do I know places to have a good lunch or what? 


So it ended. The next day flew to Heathrow, stayed a night and back to the states. Quite a trip. 








15 comments:

  1. Enjoyed the post. No time to visit then Apes?

    Steve

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    1. Did not, Steve. Could have, but going up to the peak didn't appeal to me. Gibraltar itself didn't appeal to me, but it's straits certainly did.

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  2. Interesting wavy paving design in the courtyard with the fountain. Was that done in stone?

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    1. Yes, it was in the stone. No idea how they did it.

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  3. I'm with you, I'd love to sail through the straits!

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    1. Wouldn't that be great? Perhaps in a Swan 47, or a Nonsuch 43....

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  4. Replies
    1. In many respects I am, Bruce. I've seen some remarkable things in my life.

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  5. Your photographs really are magnificent, Mike. The ones of the Med and Gibraltar reminded me again of my favorite series of books - Patrick O'Brian's naval history series about Cpt. 'Jack' Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin that began with 'Master and Commander'. The books take place during the Napoleonic Wars so the Mediterranean and Gibraltar are major scenes of action.

    Lisbon as it's shown here is very beautiful. If only this kind of attention had been lavished on American cities we'd all be better off. Which reminds me of a phrase I read today that might amuse you: War is the American way of learning geography.

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    1. I cannot take credit for the pics; they were for the most part taken by my travel companion L.
      I liked the quote, all to accurate.

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  6. Very cool. I've been to Africa, but never seen it from the sea.

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  7. Amazing! I would love to see those things, Gibraltar, Lisbon, and the peep show.

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    1. You're the only one so far to notice that, good call. Didn't go in, just had excellent food while watching people step over the fellow taking a nap.

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  8. Great that you took us all with you via snaps. Thank you :)

    XO
    WWW

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