Megan the Nautie Mermate
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A LADY SAILOR
I had English Style Fish and Chips at The Angry Friar. It is said that it got its name from a Friar who lived across the street and would come over to the pub to yell at the patrons for having a hard cider. It was literally named after The Angry Friar! Ha. Of course, I had to add a patio covered in trellised vines and a steeple framed by tangerine trees to the series....I mean really.
Lots of old glass in the windows - some of it needing repair simply added charcter. Colorful balconies combined with classic lines. Plants galore. There was some serious old world charm going on. The apartment buildings. Gorgeous.
It's just like any other day with better food. Seriously. I woke up at 2320 (1120 pm) to start my morning - even though it's still secretly the previous day. I actually set my alarm for 2300 but I get my wake up call at 2320 and this is when I get out of my rack.
When I opened my door there were a package of socks, a can of dust sprayer, a polo shirt and a memo pad tied to the handle - with a post it note that said, 'Merry Christmas'! Thanks Santa!
I meandered up to the bridge....I said, 'Merry Christmas' in a slightly sleep deprived voice. Everyone said, 'Merry Christmas' back to me in slightly sleep deprived voices.
The watch changed out and I said, 'Alright boys, guess what, we're going to listen to Christmas Carols alll freakin' morning long!!!!'. Then I proceeded to play both Glee Christmas albums. They loved this I'm sure. We listened to everything in my arsenal. Glee, Bing Crosby, The Elf Soundtrack, The Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Soundtrack, Pink Martini, Mariah Carey.....it never stopped.
I was relieved at 0600 and I said, 'Merry Christmas! There is Christmas music playing! Oh yeah, there is also an assload of traffic out there....have fun!'. Then I went down to my room and climbed back in my rack.
I woke up from my nap at 0720 and went down for breakfast. I ate pancakes, french toast, sausage and had TWO cinnamon roles. I figured because it was Christmas I was allowed to stuff my gullet!
I went back up to the bridge and watched the sunrise around 0830 - seriously, that is how late it gets light in the Mediterranean these days. You're killing me December! I of course took a bunch of pictures of the sunrise....I had to document a Christmas sunrise! I made my new watch partners listen to my entire Christmas Song arsenal all over again....it was glorious.
At 0900 the Captain came up to the bridge and I showed him how the radar was acting funny. Then he asked to see the service requisition from its last servicing....I couldn't find it in the bridge equipment binder (I swear I wasn't onboard for the servicing) - then I got scolded. Then he looked in the garbage log - and I got scolded again (I swear I wasn't onboard when the entries were missed). Then he looked at the Navtex Binder - and I got scolded again (I swear I wasn't onboard when the messages were annotated incorrectly). The scolding just continued until I got off watch. It went something like this, 'Megan the Nautiemermate, this is your forte! I'm surprised the binders slipped like this....we really need to plus up.'
At 1000 I got off watch and I proceeded down to the Cargo Control Room....really I was just looking for someone who wasn't going to scold me. I basically just killed time until the next meal hour....it's Christmas after all!
Lunch was exciting...there were tablecloths made out of real cloth on the tables! We normally have plastic picnic style table coverings....because we're sailors and that means we're slobs. Lunch was amazing. Roasted tom turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade bread. There was shrimp cocktail, salmon with capers and TONS of deserts - pies, cookies, fruitcake, candies.
When I got done eating I proceeded back up to my State Room where I posted my Feliz Navidad photos.
At 1300 I showered and put on my Pajamas. I crawled into my rack with a snack and a book. I fell asleep by 1500.
Ta Da! Christmas Day at sea!
(Not to be a cry baby BUT, this was the only day this week where I worked twelve hours or less and got 8 hours of sleep....I'm currently standing 6 hours on and 6 hours off and I've had two 18 hour days and two 15 hour days.....I can't describe the luxury of being asleep by 1500....that in itself was the best Christmas present I could have asked for!)
I walked through the Spanish town of San Roque to get a taxi that could take me to the Gibraltar border. The town had incredibly festive streets. There were decorations on everyone's balcony and a lot of lights strung around shop fronts and telephone poles. I found this hanging over one of the streets - Feliz Navidad! I loved how it made me feel a bit of holiday cheer even though I was so far from home. I loved how it wasn't in English and I knew exactly what it meant. I loved that it was backwards from my point of view.
Sparkly pretty things backlit by the sun?! Yes please!
One of my favorite parts about getting to the top of Gibraltar was seeing the Strait from a new vantage point. I could look left and see Morocco and I could look right and see Spain - without worrying about oncoming traffic! Gibraltar was very 'limey'. The stark white cliffs were stunning in the sun.
Being a little lower on The Rock you could see the ventilation holes / canon ports that are part of the tunnel system.
What I want to remember most about the views:
Algeciras Bay full of large commercial ships, the misty Mountains in Morocco, the circling white birds, cannon ports and all the history of the tunnels, and sun drenched cliffs.
Yesterday I went to Gibraltar - also known as The Rock. I had such a neat day! Neat seems like such a silly word to use sometimes but honestly, it was neat-o! Years ago my Mom and I discovered that if you only have a day or two in a new place it's a really good idea to take a city tour. Pay the money get on the bus and hop on hop off as much as possible. The amazingness of a city tour has never failed me yet! I'm often in port for just a few hours or passing through a new city for a day - the majority of my travel experiences leave me wanting more!
I knew that if I was going to see Gibraltar I had to take a tour. I found three shipmates and we all pitched in on a taxi tour guide of The Rock. Gibraltar is geographically tiny however; it is so packed with history it's almost mind boggling. It was first settled by the Arabs - crossing The Strait of Gibraltar from Morroco in about the year 700! They fortified a lot of The Rock and built some castles, etc. The Spaniards were able to snag it from the Arabs but they weren't able to hold onto it for long before the British claimed it. Now, Gibraltar is self goverening British Territory and feels like Europes melting pot. Modern Gibraltarians have family roots in Gibraltar going back 200-300 years. The rock played a large role in the Battle of Trafalgar as well as World War II and still houses a small military presence. There are over 30km of tunnels dug throughout The Rock used for defense purposes! Gibraltar is also the last known location of Neanderthals!
While the history was fascinating I of course was far more interested in seeing the monkeys! In truth, they are probably Apes...but they are fairly small. They are funny, clever and definitely overfed.
I strolled through town taking pictures of buildings (of course), stopped for some English style fish and chips and bought some hand blown glass.
I'm going to be posting a photo series in the next few days - stay posted! (Sadly, I'm out of time and they'll have to start being posted tomorrow.)