It’s a dog’s life

 Last month we had a new four legged guest in the house. We were taking care of a dog for a few weeks whilst the owner was away from Gibraltar. His name is Franz and he is a Jack Russell. Now I am not a big dog person - I never had one before due to my asthma when I was growing up so this was going to be an interesting turn of events. 

At first it was more fun for the dog as it was a new place, new house noises and of course a new play friend (Buttons the pet bunny). The first few nights he would bark at all sorts of sounds at any hour of the night - this is also because we have a few cats living in our roof. But after a week the dog seemed to get used to the sounds of our flat. 

 

The dog walking is the fun bit as you get to see so many other people with dogs and also we have met many people along the way on our walks and everyone seems to have a story or tip on the area which we are walking through. On weekends Franz would get the really long walks as we had more time so we would take him up the Rock and on one occasion we took to the mountains in Spain.

Franz is absolutely mad about sticks, we went for a hike near Ronda in Spain and he spent most of the day chasing sticks. What happened towards the end was that he wanted my walking stick instead. At lunch he was busy happily eating as many pine cones as he could get his little paws on. This was quite funny to watch as Nadia wanted some for the house and the dog thought he also wanted them.

When his owner came back he was over the moon to see her walk through the door but as I am writing this, his owner is leaving Gibraltar on business and Franz is going to spend another week with us.

National Day part 2

This year National Day started like every year with a big breakfast but this time we decided to have it at a friend’s house. We had a full English breakfast washed down with plenty of tinto de verano.

The tradition is for everyone to dress in red and white so we also dressed like this and I always carry a Gib flag with me so I can wave it around during the day. After breakfast we moved on to Casemates for the political rally – this year it seemed there were loads more people who had turned up to listen to what our politicians were going to say. I personally do not pay attention to what these people have to say as when it comes down to the crunch they just say anything to please the crowds.

The climax of the rally is of course the release of 30,000 helium balloons which this year had a twist as at the same time, two confetti canons covered Casemates square in a blanket of red and white, as well as fireworks broke the cheers of the people.

Afterwards we winded down a bit at a BBQ at my friends Nick’s house to pass the time and enjoy a bit of sun but the day was not over yet.

As the darkness of the night drew nearer we went back to Casemates for the annual rock concert which compared to other years had a bit of everything so there was plenty of dancing done. Just before 10p.m we left to look for a good spot up in the Upper Town to watch the fireworks in the harbour. I do not like watching them close to the shore as the crowds can sometimes be huge. We found a spot just next to Moorish Castle where we could see the display perfectly. 

After the firework display it was back to Casemates to watch the remainder of the concert before ending the night after a long day of celebrations and partying. 

National Day Part 1

On the 10^th September is our National Day which is the biggest celebration on the Gibraltar calendar. It is a day where the whole of Gibraltar comes together and celebrates the Gibraltarian identity, and we also celebrate a turbulent time in our recent history which is the 1967 referendum where we chose not to be Spanish but to remain British. 

This year as always the week running up to National day has been a busy one with different events taking place around Gibraltar. The annual fair was also during the same week this year. It was changed just so it could be part of National week but I think I would have left it as before – this year not so many kids could attend as National week fell after the new school term has begun.

The highlight of this year’s National Week was the 1^st Gibraltar Music Festival which really was a mega concert with different local bands performing but also UB40. The night ended with a performance from Jessie J. 

National Day came and this year there was a nice change in the venue, from the Piazza to Casemates Square which is bigger and more spacious. This year the old format had returned - a political rally, which is a good thing in some points of view, but I still did not see the point of having UK MP’s coming here to say a few words to the crowd and then do nothing about the Gibraltar issue in the UK.

The most important part of National Day is of course to show the world that we want things to stay as they are now and this is shown by everyone dressing in our national colours - red and white, and going down to Casemates for the party and the release of 30,000 helium balloons.

The Fair is in Town

This week in Gibraltar is the busiest for most people and organizations in Gibraltar as it is National Week leading up National Day. National Day is the biggest party Gibraltar has -  it is even bigger than New Years but more on it will come as we get closer to the date. This week the Gibraltar Fair is in town.

The Scout group I am in decided to put a stall in this year’s fair in order to raise funds for the group and we came up with the idea of a climbing wall. We built it in just 3 days and just in time for the fair which started  last Friday.

The climbing wall has proved to be popular with the children and sometimes I wonder whether some of them maybe have some monkey genes in them as they seem to be natural born climbers. We have also managed to attract an audience of people who don’t want to give it a try but at least like to see other do it.

We also decided to do a climbing wall to open Scouting to the masses of kids and adults at the fair and it is proving to be quite a good tool for recruitment as we have seen many children sign up after trying the climb.

Of course, not everything has been all work on our stall - we still have had some good laughs whilst working on it. On Saturday night we had a group of 3 teenagers trying to race up the wall with a funny outcome - one of them lost his shoes on the way. One of the leaders has also come up with a game for us after we have closed for the night - to try and tap as many rocks on the wall without moving one of your hands. It sounds simple enough but it is a test of strength and flexibility – it is much trickier (and more fun) than it sounds.

We still have 5 more nights – I will not be there every night but I am sure I will enjoy it every time I am there. And if you are from Gibraltar, feel free to come and say hi at the fair or try our climbing wall!      

Nadia’s Birthday

Last Monday it was Nadia’s birthday and I decided to do something different instead of just going out for dinner, so I made up my mind to do a dinner under the stars on our roof terrace. Now the only problem was how to get the terrace ready without Nadia noticing what was going to happen. 

Anyways, I thought of the plan and how I was going to set it up and buy the supplies which consisted of getting as many candles as I could get my hands on and then hide them in the house without her finding them. Once all the candles were bought, I ran into a problem of how I was going to cook the dinner as the terrace had no power so I had to run a cable from the house which was easier said than done. But I did manage it all at the end!

After a few days of preparations, the big day came and I had told Nadia’s friends to keep her out of the house until I called her so I could get everything ready upstairs which in all fairness did not take as long as I thought I would but lighting all the candles turned into more of a challenge than I thought due to the slight breeze which did not help at all.

She came home expecting to see the house fully decorated but instead just saw some flowers on the table and a card with some instructions on what to do next. She walked upstairs to find the whole terrace lit up and the table laid out for us to enjoy dinner.

After some crying and lots of hugs and kisses came dinner with some nice white wine - nothing fancy, just some good home cooking. She had already gotten a present a few days earlier when we celebrated her birthday with friends – it was a nice new watch, but on Monday (her actual birthday) she got her other present which is a weekend away with me at a spa hotel up the coast - more on that later on.

I think she had a very nice surprise on the day and she enjoyed the dinner under the stars even if there was no birthday cake. 

Jellyfish a la carte

This summer being the one with the most jellyfish we have ever had, I have thought of some novel ideas in order to tackle the problem.

One of the more fun ones (at least for me as a diver) would be to bring turtles which eat them up and maybe this could boost out diving experience with the extra few turtles swimming around in the bay and our beaches – in my opinion, this would be a nice touch.

The other novel idea I came up with is to eat them. Last week, for example, an article on Europa Press said that a Spanish fishing boat went out after the jellyfish to try and help beach users in Algeciras, and in a space of 2-3 hours they caught about 2 tons of jellyfish, so why not eat them if there are so many out there.

Now the world of Google has opened a new look on this subject: 1^st whether you can actually eat them and of course the next question is can you cook them. As it turns out, you can indeed eat them and there is a whole range of different ways to cook these things, and I seem to have spent many years thinking that the only goal in a jellyfish’ life is to annoy the rest of the fish and the beach goers.

So for anyone out there who is getting annoyed at the jellyfish, here are some ways to cook them:

Sesame Jellyfish. 

Jellyfish Tempura 

And a twist to a British classic: Jellyfish and chips.  

Jellyfish Burger

I am not sure how this would taste but one can only wonder.

This is my spot

Like every summer there is the ongoing saga in our beaches of reserving your spot on the beach  - this sometimes brings up some unwanted tension between beach goers. On the beaches where there is sand this does not seem to happen that often as there is no markings on the sand or anything you can use to say this is my spot - all you need to do is get down there early so you have the 1^st pick of the best spot.

But in Camp Bay and Little Bay this is another story altogether, as the beaches are concrete platforms with tables and umbrella stands where you can set up camp. Growing up on these beaches I got used to respecting each other’s spot so the beach was evenly shared with the regular beach goers. But the wind and the sea changes are often and quite diverse so this sometimes complicates matters at the beach.

Some people just want to avoid conflict and go early in the morning to put up the beach umbrella and reserve their spot, which sometimes brings other tension but I will go into that later. The other kind of people in these beaches are the ones who expect their spot to be free but sometimes it is taken by someone else who is from another beach or maybe a tourist. Of course, they are not happy when they arrive and someone is in their spot, which really is a public beach but they claim they have been in the same spot for the last 20-30 years so there is some tension between them and the people sitting around the said disputed spot.

Now the other problem are the people who go in the morning to put up the beach umbrella on their spot and then don’t turn up at the beach until really late so you have all the prime spots taken but no one using them – this in my view is unfair for the rest of the users. This has been brought up in the media before and many people have complained in the past.

Best way to go about this is if you use any of these beaches make sure you don’t take a prime spot or find out from the local which spots are going to be trouble-free so at least you can enjoy the beach without any hassle.

I am still here

It has been a while that I have not written anything as I have been suffering from a bit of writers block, and I thought this would come much later than it has.

I have come back to carry on writing and today as it is still the summer I thought we could talk about the beach. Now this is kind of the worst part of my job at the minute because I park my car at the beach when I go to work.

I am not the kind of person who goes to the beach very often because I normally just fall asleep about after an hour of just lying in the sand, but this does not mean I don’t like it. In Gibraltar we are very lucky that we do not need to go far as all the beaches are all about 10 mins drive or less from anywhere in Gibraltar and we can even boast about having 6 beaches, which is quite nice.

My favourite beach is Camp Bay which has already been mentioned on some of my previous posts and by now some of you would have already thought why. The reason is that since it is a rocky beach with concrete platforms it is also home to the best snorkelling in Gibraltar - there is always plenty to see. The other good things is it that it has no sand which means there is no need to clean the sand off after going to the beach which for me is a plus but some people view this as a big down side.

Anyway I thought I will keep this short to just keep things going but there will be more posts coming up soon as the biggest day of the Llanito year is just around the corner.

The jellyfish are here

This last weekend has not been a good one for the beach goers, the reason behind this is that there has been an infestation of jellyfish in our beaches. If you have read my last post that I went diving on Sunday, please note that there were still loads of jellyfish in the sea but with all our equipment on it was very had to get stung by one because we were all covered up.

I don’t know why they have all come and decided to stay for the weekend but it has caused a lot of hot and unhappy people at the beach as swimming was a no go, unless you wanted to look like a person who has been given a proper lashing.

I guess this time we are lucky that the jellyfish that have come in can only give a nasty sting but nothing major. A few years ago we saw the Portuguese Man O' Wars come into Gibraltar waters, now these can pack a punch to be honest and sometimes they can even kill.

So I recommend to keep an eye out for the jellyfish and keep safe and hopefully they would go away soon - preferably before the weekend.

The diving season is picking up

This last week my underwater habits have picked up with not only a proper dive on Sunday morning but also by doing some try dives at the pool last Wednesday. Anyway the try dives were a new experience for me since this time I was the instructor – this is something I have always aspired to do.

It was bit of a grey area to start with because at the end of the day, when you do a try dive it is a make or break experience for the person trying it out. My 1^st trainee was a bit nervous about doing a dive, but I think I was more nervous than him. But about 8 try dives later I was very comfortable teaching people.

On Saturday my mind was made up to buy a new wetsuit as I have grown a bit fat and my current one was not stretching as much as it should and it was proving to be quite the squeeze to get into.

So I went down to Decathlon to get myself a new one which I was going to try the next day at the dive I had planned. Now if you have never tried on a wetsuit in a store changing room it proves to be quite the challenge. The wetsuit itself has to be a right fit, if it is too tight you won’t be able to get in, or if it is too big you will be cold in the water. So once you find what you think is your size then you must try it on which is the difficult part.

The dive on Sunday came and again I was up early in the morning to go do the dive somewhere out in the bay. The site chosen for us was Seven Sisters which is just at the end of the South Mole. The area is a set of rocky outcrops which rise from the sea bed, some break the surface and others don’t, but the area is known for the abundant sea life. 

My new wetsuit was going to have its 1^st sea trail, and the performance was much better than my old – it was much more comfortable. The only down side that it is only 5mm thick so this winter it could get a bit cold but I have been looking to buy a dry suit for the winter dives.

For all the scuba divers out there - enjoy your diving season and let’s make it a good and safe one.

Roll on the summer

The beaches are packed, the weather is hot and the Euro 2012 is over. Not that I am a big fan of football but most people seem to be and even if I don’t watch it I always get caught up in it. Also, last week has been one of the busiest and most stressful ones that I have had in a while but I am glad that is all over now.

Now the reasons why I have been so stressed out has not been work even though I am much busier at it than the old job, but this time it has been Scouts. Last Saturday the Group’s patron decided to visit us after 29 years since his last visit. So I have been running around and getting all sorts of things in order, apart from the management of the kids and other leaders. The climax was before the visit as it was all hands to the deck to get everything done before his arrival.

After a full day of rushing around and waiting for the Marquis to do his round with the kids you would think it would be all over, but I also needed to go to a party which my workplace had organized on the same night.

The party was being held at what I consider the best and most beautiful venue to throw a party at. The venue was the Mons Calpe Suite which is at the top of the Rock. Now you would think you will need to drive up to it but you don’t - you just need to go up in the cable car which leaves you  right at the doorstep and also gives you a sense of excitement -  it is also a novel way to arrive at a party.

Like I said before, I am glad that this week is over and I am looking forward to viewing flats as we might be looking into buying a flat soon.

All’s Well

Hi peeps, sorry that I have not been very active lately but I have been too busy with work to actually have time to do any post. Ido hope to be able to write a few more posts soon.

In Gibraltar all is well for now the Spanish have been quiet on land and sea - we still get the odd long queue or two but nothing like we had at the beginning of the month so life seems to be returning to normal, maybe because the Levante has come quite strong and does not seem to want to go away leaving all of us feeling hot and sticky.

This week there has been rumours going around Gibraltar that our cars are being targeted by some people in Spain which in my view is just asking for trouble in the long run. In all walks of life there is a small group of people who will try and make sure that the current tensions stay high and are not interested in what could happen to them if the situation gets out of hand on both sides of the border.

On our side going after unsuspecting cars and motorbikes would be easy but it would not benefit us and the image we try to show of a peaceful place to visit. Unfortunately we also have this kind of people who wish to do this but have not yet started acting out – I do, however, think that it is only a matter of time before this happens.

I just hope this all get resolved very quickly for all parties if not we are going to have a long mud slinging session ahead. On an happier note I am again house hunting but this time we are looking to buy so I hope in few months I will be happy to say we have moved into a new place, lets hope and see what happens.  

The Royal Visitors

This week Gibraltar had some very important visitors coming to the Rock. Prince Edward and his wife the Countess of Wessex came to Gibraltar as part of the Jubilee tours for the Royal household. Unfortunately we would have loved the Queen to have come to Gibraltar this year because it has been 58 years since she last came on a visit here but we were still overjoyed to get a visit from Prince Edward.

Prince Edward is no stranger to Gibraltar as he has visited us before in the past but for the Countess it was her 1^st time to our little Rock. Most of us had already put out our flag, bunting and even painted our homes and streets for the Jubilee, but flags were still going up and new banners appeared every day on different windows and homes.

When the Prince arrived on Monday the Government had given the day off for their workers so they could take to the streets and give a warm llanito welcome. He was driven to town where a huge crowd was waiting for him. After a quick dance show in the Piazza he was due to walk from there to the Convent where he would be based fro the next three days. Under normal circumstance it takes about 5-10 mins to get there walk but it took the Royal couple an hour and half to do this trip as everyone wanted to say a few words to him, take a photo and maybe a handshake.

The next day the Prince was busy with all sorts of visits and events around Gibraltar but the main event was going to be the Queen’s Birthday Parade. The Queen’s birthday Parade is an annual event but the fact that Royalty would be there made it a little bit extra special and of course the crowd turned out in red white and blue.

The parade in itself is a formal affair to which all the top people in the military and government are invited to watch apart from members of the public. Since this parade takes place in June it is normally bathed in sunshine which makes the military uniforms shine brighter.

The band went on with two guards in tow to await the arrival of the Royal party which was going to be reviewing the parade. Soon after the car with the Prince arrived to the crowds delight which let out a cheer as flags were waived. As the parade was going on, there were two flypasts along with the traditional gun salute.

After the parade the Royal party left for the convent to greet the guests at the garden party – this party is normally hosted by the Governor but this year the Royals were the guests of honour. I think by this time they must have been tired after soon many visits, but it was still not over.

The next day the Royals still had to visit the new airport before leaving back to the UK. Contrary to what some media sources were saying that he was going to inaugurate the airport he just did the new viewing balcony at the airport as the rest of it is not yet finished.

Anyways, it has been a busy time in Gibraltar with all the Jubilee celebrations but now we can enjoy the summer and see what else it has in store.   

Long Live the Queen and the Long Weekend

The Jubilee weekend just passed and we were getting ready to throw big parties and even have a sea pageant. The best part for all of us I would think is the fact that we have an extra long weekend and unlike in the UK the weather here is lovely and sunny so going to the beach is the order of the day.

There were also some events been planned like the street party which was held in

Main Street

and other areas of town. I decided to skip the street party as Nadia was not feeling too well so I stayed at home to take care of her.

The next day I thought it would be nice to go and see the pageant at sea but instead of going and just watching it, we decided to go for a picnic to Camp Bay and enjoy the boats sailing past in some lovely sunshine. We went to Morrisons to get some snacks and drinks and by the time we got to the beach they were about to start and we could see the boats lining up out in the bay.

At 12:00 the ships in the bay began to sound their horns and the flotilla set off and as they sailed past the tankers they too sounded their ships horns. As the smaller boats started to arrive we could see them full of people waving flags and people on the shore waved back. There were all kids of boats - from little fishing vessels to sailing boats.

The dolphin boats had organised parties on board just for this event – everyone was singing and enjoying the party mood out at see. Meanwhile we were on land but a lot of people had turned out to see the flotilla sail past at different points on the rock, many people came out with flags and banners.

Later on that day we at the Scouts had organised a bonfire for the occasion which was well attended by the public. But Gibraltar joined in with many other communities in lighting a Jubilee beacon from the top of Moorish Castle. Meanwhile the residents of Moorish Castle estate also planned another street party where well over 200 people enjoyed some food and drinks.

Paint the town Red, White and Blue

This year I have seen Gibraltar go very British but also very Gibraltarian, as the date for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee came closer and closer. The town seems to be painted red, white and blue with more and more people hanging flags outside of their windows and even some estates have gone all out and painted entire areas in our national colours.

The estate that seems to have painted the most is Moorish Castle - they have gone all out with the painting of walls, stairs and even the floor. This has been done in the past but never in the scale which I have seen this year as every inch of the estate has been painted.

Unfortunately when I took the pictures they were still painting it and was not quite finished, but the tenants of the area showed me around and explained what they were planning to paint and it was mindboggling.

But they are not the only ones caught up in the colour fever - everyone in Gibraltar is doing it either by putting flags out or painting flags. I think we have not seen this level of Britishness hit Gibraltar since 1969 when Gibraltar saw an explosion of red, white and blue and flags due to the referendum. Even we have put our Gibraltarian flag on the roof terrace and have planted smaller Gibraltarian and British flags around the house.

Diving in Gibraltar

I thought I would post this diving clip just to give you a small insight into what Gibraltar has to offer as diving spot.

Beach and Country

Last weekend again we saw the heat go up and the sunshine beat down on us and going to the beach is now becoming part of the weekend schedule.

This weekend even though the beach was on the agenda there was also a hike with the scouts on Sunday in the Ronda area, but more of that later on. On Saturday we went shopping as it was my little sister’s birthday and like usual Main Street was packed with locals and tourists alike going about their business. We did a bit of shopping and also got supplies for the hike.

After lunch we went to the beach and Nadia wanted to get back to her snorkelling which she started learning last year and also she wanted to try out all of her new kit. But unfortunately the wind was not in our favour so we could not go to best spots for snorkelling on the western side due to the westerly winds.

So we went to Catalan Bay as we were short on time and the sun there leaves at about 18:00 as it hides behind the Rock. We did a bit of snorkelling but it was not very good as there is not much to see in this area and by the time we came back to shore the sun had left.

That evening we went to my sister’s birthday party at Montagu tapas where the food was very nice and also enjoyed the alfresco dinner. After that we went for some drink in Ocean Village and then went home as I had to get up early the next day.

Sunday was a very early start as I was meeting the Scouts at the San Roque train station at 7:00 am which is quite early for anyone. The idea behind it was so we could have the fresh cool morning to do the walking instead of the heat of the afternoon. We got to our starting point and we walked for a few hours until lunch when we reached to our final destination - La Cueva del Gato. 

For those readers who have not been there yet it is a popular place in the summer to - there is a natural pool in front of the cave with clear waters which are ice cold and very refreshing in the summer. It is like have an inland beach but without the beach.

I am looking forward to this upcoming weekend as it is an extra long weekend so there will be lots to write about, I hope, and even some photos of Gibraltar.

Summer is here

A few days ago I decided we should go out for dinner and since Nadia has been offered a new job I thought it would be nice to go out for a meal in a place of her choice. She chose the Dolphin Bar in Camp Bay which is a pebble beach.

We met up friends for a few drinks before we went out as we had not met them for some time and just wanted to catch up for a bit. Afterwards we got to the Dolphin Bar to find that they were about to close but after asking the kitchen staff if they were willing to stay open for one more extra table, they happily said yes.

The setting was lovely because the weather was just perfect for having dinner al-fresco and the temperature was just right as it was neither hot nor cold sitting outside. As I looked out in the bay watching the sun slowly dip under the mountains in Spain I thought to myself: what a wonderful place I live in and how lucky we are to get such beautiful sunsets to enjoy.

After dinner we had a short walk on the beach which really is just a concrete, we watched a few people fishing and also a group of divers was just about to get in the water when I thought I have not been diving for a really long time and I kind of missed it but with any luck I will be back on it very soon.

We left the beach for a nice drive round the Rock. 

There is movement in the air

The winds of change seem to be blowing in Gibraltar as the situation seems to be getting better after is got a lot worse. On Sunday Gibraltar saw the queue to cross the border to be about 3 hours in length as the Guardia Civil decided to “clamp down on smuggling” and made driving in Gibraltar a nightmare and, apart from making the Llantios suffer, the Spanish have also suffered this time.

Most of the queue was made up of Spanish cars - the policy in Madrid and so many out there in Spain that think if they apply pressure at the frontier, this will break our resolve of not becoming Spanish. As a result to this the Spanish workers have decided to do a protest on Friday against this policy which is imposed on all the users of the border and they have called on us the Llantios to also join them.

In Gibraltar we should dress the town in red and white as we do for National Day and keep it like this all through the summer until after National Day to show Madrid and the world that we are here to stay and we want to stay British.

Anyway in other news, last week I decided to open a Twitter account to just put short bits of day to day living but also to advertise the blog on it, please feel free to become a follower if you want to keep up to date with all news and info.

Well guys, there is change in the air and I think there is a still more gusts to come so I shall put on my jacket and brave the winds of change.

Help Us fight the good fight

Following my last post here is an e-petition about the gibraltar issue.

Please sign and show your support

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/26238

Fishy Times

All of this week in the local news we have been hearing of how the Spanish fishermen are trying to fish in Gibraltar waters with illegal nets. The government has decided to stop all the fishing activities and now is trying to come up with a solution to help all the parties involved - this is the story so far.

Anyways this has resulted by the same old action that Spain did many years ago and has started to put huge queues under the banner of trying to stamp out tobacco smuggling but I am not sure who they are trying to kid here, when we all know it is to do with the fishing dispute and the old age dispute of Spain trying to take back Gibraltar, something they seemingly gave up a long time ago.

Spain has been claiming Gibraltar ever since it gave it up with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Over the years Spain has tried to claim it back either by political motives of by force, the most notable one was the Great Siege 1779 – 1783, and let’s not forget the more recent political siege when Spain closed our land border.

But let’s talk about the more recent dispute about the water around Gibraltar. Spain says that under Utrecht claims Gibraltar has no waters around the Rock but if we look into this document further, should Britain claim Menorca back from Spain? It also states that the land border should be closed, well if we were to honour that part of the deal there would be a lot of unemployed Spanish people living in Spain, in an area were the level of unemployment is already sky high.

Going back to the fishermen they want to fish in our water which in my view should be allowed as long as they stay within the law and EU laws - something they do not do or have not done for many years. The last government eased the tension by allowing them to fish in any manner they wanted as long as they were more than 250 meters away from shore.

The result of this fishy dispute is we the people are suffering more than anyone. We are the ones who endure long queues; we are the ones who endure constant abuse from the Spanish government - locally and globally. But when it comes down to brass tacks why don’t they take us to court to get the EU involved - because they have no case for it. So instead of sitting round a table and try to come up with a solution they prefer to make the lives of the working people hard - Gibraltarian and Spanish alike.

On another note I read some online forums where many Spanish people post there that they should close the border - clearly these people do not work in Gibraltar and do no suffer what the Spanish workers suffer everyday. Summer is coming and the heat is already on the rise, let’s see how long the queues are going to get before the Spanish government realise there are hurting theit own people more then us.

These are fishy times.        

Party Time

Tonight we are planning a small get together to celebrate Nadia’s fours year anniversary in Gibraltar.

Anyway we are going to do a small party at a little Moroccan restaurant just under the house which for me is Gibraltar’s best kept secret when it comes down to pinchitos. This restaurant has a very relaxed and chilled out atmosphere and the owner is a very friendly guy, for example if you want a drink you do not need to order it you just get up go to the fridge and pick it up.

The other bit that I like is that he does his pinchitos on a small bbq which he keeps on the door of the restaurant - for the past few days the smell from them has been driving me crazy as the smell fills the street and my house and I have been craving it.

If I do not post soon, it is because I have had one too many beers tonight!

May in Cordoba Part 2

Later during the day we went looking for the patios which are open at certain times – something we only found out only after seeing a sign outside one of them stating which times they were open, so we decided to head back to the hotel for some rest and much needed cooling down.

We set off in the early evening to try and get into some of the patios and enjoy some local food. As we made our way over we decided to go inside the old castle. This is where Columbus asked the Spanish kings for money in order for him to embark on his journey to the new world. The palace was closed until 9p.m when there would be a sound and light display so we decided we could see the show later.

As we walked towards the area where there were quite a few patios which by the way do not have an admission and there are about 58 of them across Cordoba, we came across a glimpse of Cruz de Mayo – a festival held two weeks before in which the city’s squares and garden have big crosses made from flowers and plants. Then we saw some patios which were the smaller ones and not very impressive but then again they had not been awarded any prizes. The prize wining ones had queues to get in so we went for dinner
 instead.

Dinner was in a typical tavern of the area where tapas are served and local foods are the most popular even amongst tourists. After dinner and some fino (dry wine) we managed to get into one the patios that had won a prize and also had hosted important guest over the year like the Queen of Spain Doña Sofia.

It was not as large as I expected when we got inside but you could see that a lot of thought had gone into it as it was designed as an old house. All kinds of flowers were being grown and even some strawberries that invited the guests to experience the lushness of the garden. Just next to an example of an old kitchen with is working wood burning stove made from ceramic tiles and mortar out of metal was a small perfume shop that sold perfume which smelt like certain flowers that grew in the patios across Cordoba. Nadia bought one which smelt to orange blossoms and tangerine which is the loveliest smell that I have smelt in a long time.

When we left the patio, the streets were filling up with people as the local bars and tavern opened their doors. With plenty of flamenco and wine to go around people quickly joined the party and some people were dressed up for the occasion.

We made our way to the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos which is the castle I mentioned earlier but we were a bit late for the show so we went in quickly and missed out on the first few minutes. When we walked into the courtyard you could feel the coolness of the garden with its marble floor and small pool of water - a legacy of the castle’s Moorish past. After a short show on the wall of the castle we were shown the rest of the gardens with grand fountains of water. As we got close, the first fountain it lit up and music started playing. As we watched the water dance to the sound of music I was reminded of how wonderful garden of the Alhambra is with all of its unique water features. The second fountain was the most impressive as the display of light, water and sound all came tighter to produce one amazing and beautiful display that brought the magic of the garden to life. Walking back to the entrance the magic of the garden still had a firm grip on us.

The next day we woke up a bit later as we were out late and we checked out as soon as we could get our bags packed. The only thing that was left to do was to visit el Puente Romano (roman bridge) which is an iconic landmark across the Guadalquivir. The crossing was quite hot and at the end of it there is an old Moorish tower that was used to defend the river. There was a small band playing in the shade of the tower which gave that little bit of atmosphere to a hot day.

Inside the Torres de la Calahorra they have built a small museum dedicated to the Moorish rule of Spain and its many advances in science, technology and art. The best part of it was seeing the interactive models of the Alhambra and the mosque in Cordoba.

We had some lunch and it seemed that in every restaurant we went in we would bring a crowd of people. After lunch we decided to start making our way back to Gibraltar and escape the soaring heat which we had over the weekend.

   

May in Cordoba Part 1

I have just come back from a very hot weekend in Cordoba, and even though the heat was unbearable I still managed to enjoy some things about it.

When we arrived in Cordoba on the Friday the first thing we noticed was the heat. I know I live in a hot part of the world but even I thought it was too hot, it was 35 degrees and this was at 9p.m. Anyway the drive up to Cordoba had been uneventful but finding our hotel proved to be a challenge as traffic was restricted in the area. After asking a policeman we finally found our way to the hotel.

The Hostal Almanzor is a small but centrally located hotel about 5 mins walk from all the main sites and the best part about it that it was cheap and very clean, to be honest I was expecting much worse for the price we paid, being the busy season in Cordoba. 

The next day we had a booking for the Arab baths which were located on the same street as our hotel. Myself and Nadia had been to one before in Granada so we knew what to expect and I had booked in the big package which includes two massages and the bath time. For those of you that have not gone into an Arab bath before, it is very different than your normal day at the spa but the result is the same.

They are beautiful inside with lots of attention to details and most of it is candle lit but there are also very low lights inside to give you the sense of the sun coming in through holes in the roof. In this one the warm room was the largest one and as usual topped with a dome with stars cut into the roof to let the sunlight in. After my massage I got into the warm pool and floated time away looking up at the stars in the roof and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere created to make you feel when the Moorish Empire was still in power.

Now the main reason to visit Cordoba was to visit the Mosque and also the festival of the Patios. So after the bath we visited the Mosque/Cathedral which is a world heritage site and quite the site to see. As you walk round the outside it gives you a glimpse into a time when Islam was the biggest religion in the South of Spain. Its high walls are a marvel to look at with is many brass doors and its beautiful frescos carved into it.

As you walk into the main entrance you come into a large patio full of orange trees and a small patios. Shame that they were not in bloom, if they were it would have filled the atmosphere in the patio with their sweet smelling scent. Once inside, the first thing you notice is the size of it and also the amount of tourist milling around the place but the best part was that it was nice and cool inside. Inside this huge space there are 856 columns topped by the iconic double arches which are make this place so famous.

On the south side of the building are the most impressive Moorish carvings within the building. This is the area know as the mihrab which is where Muslims would pray to in the direction of Mecca. I was over hearing a nearby tour group and just managed to get a very interesting little fact that the dome above it is built in such a way that the imam could be heard throughout the whole building.

The summer is here.

I am happy to say that the summer has arrived to Gibraltar, I know that in some areas of the world it seems a bit early but for Gibraltar it is right on time, maybe even a bit late.

Looking back at this winter, it has been a dry one with not a lot of rain or bad days - this could mean a mild summer or a very hot one. I have been looking forward to the summer and also because I enjoy the summer more than the winter. The reason for this is that I love the sea and doing water based activities, I think by now you all know that I am a diver and quite the mad one. Unfortunately, I have been out of the water for a few weeks since I got a cold the last time I went diving.

Also, before I forget this weekend I have planned to go to Cordoba for the weekend with Nadia to enjoy the flowers and the patios which are open throughout the city during the first two weeks in May.

Cordoba is a very old city and also a world heritage site because of its unique mosque/cathedral which was built by the Moorish about 1000 years ago and still is an impressive site to see.

Anyway peeps, will put some photos up as soon as I get back which I am looking forward to it as I got myself a new camera in the UK.

The Garden Grows

I have taken up gardening but instead of a real garden I have a bright corridor where I want to grow some plants and vegetables. My first try at it was to grow herbs in the kitchen and it started quiet well to be honest but after awhile things went wrong.

The parsley started to grow too much and was taking over the rest of the plant pot and even though Buttons had a try at eating it, it just grew bigger. After this it also attracted some little green bugs and this started to affect the other herbs so a few days ago I decided to throw them all out expect for the mint which is growing quite well.

Also we saw the new additions to the garden which a set of 3 flowering plants I am not 100% sure what they are called but I live in hope they will grow strong in their new home which has plenty of light and heat.

This also brings me to another point - I had an old spider plant which I had kept from my old office and after 6 months living in the corridor (my garden) it has started to give birth to new little ones which I will at some point transplant, when they are bigger.

 Anyway guys will post some photos up soon also of the progress so watch this space.

Disappointing Lunch

Even though that I am happy to be back in Gibraltar on the first day back just hours after I had landed, my parents decided to take me out to lunch and we had a bad experience.

As we walked down Ocean Village looking for a place to eat we saw a lunch special menu for £7.95 at Celebrities and we thought that is a good deal and my parents had been before recently and the food was quite good, so we went for it and sat down.

We came in and we were asked if we wanted some drinks so we ordered a few beers a bottle of wine, some soft drinks and last but not least a Mojito (for me). Anyways, the drinks had not arrived by the time we ordered our food so we enquired about them and we got told they are on they way which was strange as the place was empty apart from one other table.

The beers and soft drinks got there but the wine and the Mojito were still missing and again we were told it was coming - this was about 20 mins after we placed our order. The next thing that came was the wine and to our dismay they brought the wrong brand of wine to the one we ordered. But the Mojito, which is the best part, they left for last. The Mojito finally gets there and is put in front of me, now I don’t want to sound like I know all that there is to know about Mojitos but something was not right, the ice inside it was not crushed but had 3 big cubes floating in them so with out even tasting it or giving it a second chance I sent it back to the bar and just ordered a glass for the wine.

After this the wine we ordered was brought to us and it was not chilled as you would expect and before we even had a chance to explain, the food came to the table and if the drinks were bad the food just made everything worse. Apart for taking forever, the food was cold and the chef thought that it would be good to put garlic sauce with my chicken tikka instead of rita.

We called the waitress over and asked her if we could speak to the manager but instead we got the owner who apparently was also the chef. He asked what was wrong and we told him that the drinks were completely messed up and to top it off, the food was cold when it got to the table.

His reply to all of this, as most people expect should have been to try and solve the situation or even help us in getting what we wanted, but instead he said this: “If you do not like it here, drink up and go”. Shortly afterwards the waitress came up to say the drink were on the house and as soon as she said this we got up and left without even finishing our drinks.

Luckily the day was saved by Pizza Express next door, we had a lovely meal and the service given to us by our waitress Gemma was very good. At least some places in Gibraltar still have good food and good service at heart.

If any of my readers visit Gibraltar or are living here, please avoid Celebrity Wine Bar and I do not recommend this place to anyone not even for just a drink.