Our second visit to Gibraltar came under perfect weather. Marsh, Mike, Cathy and Sharon were off the ship early, taking a Princess tour to Europa Point and the WWII Tunnels. This was our third visit to Gibraltar and we’ve never been to Europa Point. The drive was very winding and included drives through several tunnels. Our guide explained there are more miles of tunnels on Gibraltar than open roads and that the buses which are used are shorter and rounder, allowing for movement in the tunnels. Soon we were to the point with a beautiful lighthouse and we had a chance get out of the bus and walk around.

Our next stop was the World War II tunnels. If you remember, we visited the Seige Tunnels when we were here last week. Those were built by the British Army between 1782 – 1799. Today our visit was to the tunnels built between 1939 – 1945, when the territory played a vital role in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean theatres of the second world war. The total length of the tunnels increased greatly during the war, from 7 miles (11 km) to 25 miles (40 km).

We learned that at the start of the war, the civilian population was evacuated from the rock and the tunnels became a garrison for 16,000 British troops plus enough food for 18 months. There was also an underground telephone exchange, a power generating station, a water distillation plant, a hospital, a bakery, ammunition magazines and a vehicle maintenance workshop. The WWII tunnels also housed one of Gibraltar’s most secret places – the Stay Behind Cave, built for Operation Tracer, a plan to maintain a secret observation post manned by six men within the Rock if it had fallen to a German invasion. It was not rediscovered until as recently as 1997.

After our tour, we spent some time in town, visiting Jury’s for lunch and then The Spirit of the Rock, a gin distillery for a tasting. We walked the length of Main Street before catching the shuttle back to the port. Back on ship, Cathy, Marsh and Sharon had a nice swim.

For dinner, we had a reservation at the Japanese restaurant on the ship, Makoto. There is a fixed price 6 course menu, or you can order a la cart from a pretty extensive menu. We all enjoyed our meals and the view going through the Strait was very nice as the restaurant sits in the mid-ship sphere.

Tomorrow: Sea Day