Ceuta
Our port stop today was fairly brief, just 6 hours in the African city of Ceuta (pronounced ThE-uta by the residents). Ceuta is a city of about 85,000 people that is surrounded by Morocco, but is part of Spain. Now I can click Africa off as a continent I have visited! I hope to be back to visit many other parts. Ceuta is very small geographically and is located just across the Strait of Gibraltar from the Rock of Gibraltar. The only access to Ceuta from Europe is by ferry, private boat or helicopter. Ceuta dates back to 425 AD when it was inhabited by the Romans, Since then it has be occupied by the Moors, the Portuguese and most recently the Spanish since the 17th century. The population is part Catholic and part Muslim.
We met our tour guide at the ship and set off on a walking tour of Ceuta.
The main city center is small but has 2 large churches, one being a cathedral which is only open on special holidays. We did get to walk through the other very ornate church. Two of statues displayed in the church are used during Holy Week in processions throughout the city. One thing we found amusing, than among all of the ancient artifacts was that the votive candles had all been converted to electric.
We stopped at 3 different restaurants for some of the local food food items. There are similarities and differences in the food and drink in Ceuta from what we experienced in mainland Spain, I never realized how much potato is in all Spanish cuisine however. It seems to show up in everyitng. While good, it just becomes too much starch for me. We had one cold tomato soup they called similar to gazpacho but I am certain it had potatoes in it. In Ceuta they don’t drink what they call sangria but it is similar, made with red wine and the one i had was sweeter with less spice added.
At one of our food stops we watched a religious processional that lasted about 25 minutes. I never quite figured out what the procession was celebrating but there were many local people there and the procession had multiple icons that were carried through the main thoroughfare, some by children. The heaviest icon had a number of strong young men dressed in white shoes and pants underneath the bier. Every 100 feet or so the processions stopped and they changed out some of the men.
We had no time in Ceuta to spend walking around beyond our tour but we had a good time and enjoyed the people we met.
Back on the ship we relaxed in our room before dinner. The cruiseship brings around a cart at about 3PM for tea and scones. We were in our room today to enjoy. The scones are delicious.
Tonight we head up the Guadalquivir River to Seville. We will be docking in the center of Seville tomorrow where we will stay for almost 36 hours.