Cable Cars, Apes and A Culinary Showcase - Day 4 Sun Princess
By Cruising With Honey - 09:20
Day 4 Sun Princess
First port stop : Gibraltar
I MADE IT TO THE UNITED KINGDOM (technically).
Travelling is not just about finding out things about the outside world, but discovering elements from within, about yourself, and in Gibraltar not only did I conquer one fear, but two.
Let me explain.
Let me explain.
Today’s first port stop on my cruise aboard Sun Princess was in Gibraltar, and there are two elements of the shore excursion I signed up for that I fear: heights and apes (and all types of monkeys, really).
But to get the full Gibraltar experience, I had to get into a cable car which transports tourists to the top of the rock where the furry beings await. Now both sounded horrifying to me, but in the name of content, I had to pull my big girl pants up and just get on with it.
Built in 1966, the cable car looked sturdy enough as I stepped into the encapsulated metal can which would take me up 412 metres.
As the 6-minute ascent began, instead of thinking about the views, all I could imagine was that a family of Barbary Apes would be waiting to pounce on me, steal my hat and scratch my eyes out. That is, if I didn’t plunge to my death before reaching the summit.
As always, my imagination could not be further from the truth. The cable car ride was smooth and, as long as I looked out and not down, my heart rate remained only slightly elevated.
And, despite my fanciful thoughts, no furry animals were waiting to attack. Phew.
Two continents, three countries and the meeting of two bodies of water
I’ve always been obsessed with words and their etymology, and as I walked around the Rock of Gibraltar, the word kept rolling around in my mouth as I tried to guess where the name originated.
I knew a little about the history and the Arab / Moorish conquest of the Iberian peninsula for centuries. I also knew the Barbary Apes (macaques) are native to Atlas Mountains of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
As I did the mental gymnastics, I guessed that the first half of the word ‘Gibal’ sounded a lot like the word or ‘mountain’ in Arabic. But I had to know more. Thanks to Google, I discovered that yes Gibraltar is the anglicised translation of the Arabic word for Mountain (gibal) and the anglicised name ‘Tariq” Tar the 8th Century military leader Tariq bin Zayad.
Isn’t history just fascinating?
The view was spectacular in the early morning light. The Gibraltar tourism website explains:
“You can gaze down over the town below, look North towards Sierra Nevada over the Costa del Sol, look East over the blue Mediterranean Sea and South across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Rif Mountains of North Africa. In short you will view 2 continents, 3 countries and the meeting point of 2 great bodies of water.”
Oh. My.
As I walked around admiring the view, the apes pretty much kept to themselves. I even built up the courage to stand still long enough to admire their antics. Truth be told, they’re kinda cute.
Never trust my sense of direction, unless we’re in Gibraltar
Anyone that knows me, knows I have rubbish sense of direction. Google Maps has helped somewhat, but I rely on reading street signs and signs on building to get me back to the ship after a day of exploring.
My nephew and I started back to the port, following my 'instincts', but he had doubts that I was leading him astray. In all honesty, I had gotten us lost several times since we left Australia and he no longer trusted my 'instincts', so much so that when we ran into some fellow passengers from Sun Princess that we’d become friends with – Stephen and Cody – the three of them decided I had been walking in the wrong direction for 20 mins. “Fine, you three lead the way,” I resigned.
30 minutes later and we were NO where near the port. There were no taxis, no cars, no buses and we’d reached what seemed like the end of the peninsular. The three men looked sheepish, and I almost wasn’t going to say it, but I couldn’t resist:
“I was right, I told you so, I WAS RIGHT.”
The problem was now do is that we had to walk at least an hour back. Luckily, I’m great at talking to strangers, and can be charming, and within about two minutes, two incredibly lovely locals – Clive and Ian – ‘rescued’ us and drove us back to the ship. And now we have yet another great story to tell.
A culinary adventure awaits
Back on board, I was super excited to meet a culinary master I’ve been following for years, Rudi Sodiman.
He is a respected chef who has worked across many different cruiselines and now is the head of culinary arts for Princess Cruises. He’s a larger than life character who is passionate about elevating food in the cruise industry. I was excited to meet him.
Rudi and his team showcased dishes from across all the restaurants aboard Sun Princess with such excitement. Plate after plate of masterful and colourful dishes filled with what I could only describe as ‘food art’.
Seeing a snapshot of the culinary offerings on board Sun Princess reinforced for me the dedication of the food and beverage teams to constantly create meals that delight, satisfy and bring joy to the thousands of passengers on board.
And, yes, thousands of meals are prepared daily. It’s quite remarkable when you think about the variety prepared and the work that not only goes into cooking but preparing and ensuring the stockpile of ingredients are available.
It’s a 24-hour, round the clock process from preparing menus to having a plate set in front of you to enjoy. If there’s any team on board I admire the most, it’s the cooks, chefs, pastry chefs, dishwashers, waiters etc etc who work tirelessly to keep passengers' appetites delighted - and waistlines on the increase.
Sabatini’s for dinner was delicious. My only Honey Tip is that as much as that warm, delicious bread is tempting, don’t fill up before your appetisers and mains. Every time I cruise on Princess, Sabatini’s is my go-to for rich, authentic Italian nosh. And I’m happy to report that on Sun Princess, Sabatini’s is just as good as I remember.
As Day 4 comes to close, I still I feel as if I’ve only seen half of the ship. Lucky there’s still a few more days aboard.
Next stop, Cartagena, Spain
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