The good life mum: Gibraltar

Today we woke up in Gibraltar, the sun was blazing and it was so nice to feel warm sunshine and see blue skies after all the cold, rain and grey we are used to in the UK.

The ship docked into port and everyone was itching to get off after 3 days captive on this massive boat. Gibraltar is probably one of the most famous rocks on the earth and is located at the southern most tip of Europe on the Iberian peninsula and is in between the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean sea. The shape is so different that the Greeks called it one of the pillars of Hercules with the other pillar on the African side of the strait. Gibraltar is only 3 miles across and is a height of 1400 ft.

We were looking forward to exploring and one of the more famous sights we wanted to see was the Barbary apes, however and strangely we were only give 4 hours freedom from the ship which is not the normal so we couldn't go and see them, plus there was a 90 step climb and doing this with a little 2 year old who has insisted on being carried everywhere wasn't appealing, as was the thought of meeting the Apes who we were told to be very careful about as they are a tad viscous, and after Sophie dog attack and that the apes are also keen pick pockets, it knocked a nail in the head of the visit.

So we explored some of the nearer plaza's and shops and one great thing about Gibraltar is that it is Tax free Shopping and we saw loads of the passengers buying up all the booze and fags they could carry and taking them back to the ship. We found a glass blower and it was interesting to see him blowing molten glass, more so for me as i have always wanted to take a class in this sort of thing, and they made the most beautiful crystal vases, bowls, glasses and jewellery, so much so that Ali bought two bowls to inspire him to get cracking on decorating our dinning room. Being tax free diamonds are the cheapest your can buy from here and so lucky me got my birthday present i had owing so not seeing the apes was a pretty darn good thing.