November 19 - At sea off the Portuguese coast

Another segment of my cruise is winding down.  Many of my new friends who boarded with me in Athens are leaving tomorrow when we arrive in Lisbon and I’ll be sorry to see them go.

Since last I wrote we stopped in Ceuta, Spanish Morocco.  The city, with a population of about 85,000, lies on a narrow isthmus at the northernmost tip of Africa roughly ten miles from Gibraltar across the Strait of Gibraltar.  Like almost every place here in the Mediterranean it has been inhabited by many civilizations including Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, Ottoman and now Spain.  It became a possession of Spain in 1415 when King John I of Portugal captured the city because of its strategic position and importance in trade. In 1580 after the Portuguese king died without a successor Portugal and Spain united and Ceuta became part of Spain.  Eighty years later when Portugal regained its independence under King Alonso VI, Ceuta opted to stay under Spanish rule and so it has continued until today.  There is a certain irony and perhaps a little hypocrisy about Spanish ownership of this land which is surrounded by the Kingdom of Morocco.  The Spanish have for nearly 200 years been arguing that the United Kingdom should give up Gibraltar, yet Spain refuses to cede Ceuta or a few other Spanish enclaves in North Africa to Morocco.  Ceuta, just like Gibraltar right across the water, has a strategic location since until the building of the Suez Canal it was the only marine access to the Mediterranean for trade or any other purpose.  The city has a much more European flavor than other cities in the rest of Morocco.  It’s also heavily fortified because over the centuries it has been attacked frequently.

Now I have to confess that I was lazy the day we were in Ceuta.  I had planned to go on an eight hour to the city of Tetouan across the border in Morocco.  That city sounded like an interesting place because when the Moors and Sephardic Jews were expelled, at different times, from Spain many of the wealthy families of both settled in Tetouan. Unfortunately I was up most of the night before and I just couldn’t get up while it was still dark to go.  I’ll just have to come back here some time.  I heard it was beautiful. I also heard that the tour came back two hours late because to come back to Ceuta the bus had to go through border checks at the Spanish Moroccan border.  A friend told me the line of vehicles waiting to cross was miles long and each was being thoroughly inspected. Apparently that crossing has been a favorite entry point for migrants attempting to get into the EU of which Spain is a member, and there is an effort to crackdown.

This is Ceuta

As we sailed after sunset I tried to get a shot of Gibraltar 10 miles away.  This was the best of the bunch which I thought wasn't bad for an iPhone.

Today we’re in the Atlantic on our way to Lisbon where about half my fellow passengers will disembark and we’ll get a new contingent.  As usual on sea days there was a full schedule of things to do.  My team won the cumulative trivia game.  The main restaurant was open for lunch (it isn’t on port days) and I had lunch with three team members and Barry and Merle, the wonderful duo who play in the Observation Bar every evening.  This evening I’m having a farewell dinner with two new friends Dennis and Chuck who will be leaving. 

I realize when writing this that it probably sounds pretty dull, but I promise I’ve been having a blast.  Here on the ship we forget about what’s going on in the rest of the world for the most part and our differences in opinions don’t seem very important.  We just laugh a lot and enjoy one another’s company and that’s what makes cruising so special.  For now, goodnight.