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.