My Little Garden

It has been nearly a year since I talked about the garden at my flat (it is really the corridor leading up to our front door). It has gotten bigger and the plants have changed quite a few times - some plants were unfortunately killed off by the summer heat and other little mishaps. 

So I would like to update you all about what has happened in this last year. The first major fail were the mini roses I tried to grow. At first all seemed to go well and plant started to give out some lovely deep red roses but the summer heat had other plans for and soon burnt the roses. This was not the only bad news for this plant as a family of spiders made the drying rose plant their home. This meant soon they had to go before the spiders decided to move into other plants.

The next plant that was doing well but then had a sad end was the strawberries. When I first got the plant it started giving us a few fruits - Nadia ate one every time a new strawberry became ripe but again the summer heat killed the poor thing off. 

But after these two died I decided to have different plants such as chillies, peppers, rosemary (which is proving to be a big success). The little so called money plant is also doing very well, even though Buttons nearly killed it when he randomly escaped his cage one night and had a snack on everything he put his paws on..

The next project would be have strawberries again but this time in a special strawberry planter (which really is a big pot with lots of little holes in it so you plant them at different heights and areas of the pot and also you can put different plants around the pot).

So I hope this year I will be able to have some nice new fruit and spices growing outside my front door so we can all enjoy.

Happy Birthday

Last weekend it was my birthday and like every year I have one get together with friends and another one with my family. This year after some stress where to go and have a meal with the family I decided to book a new little Italian restaurant which is close to my flat in Gibraltar.

This restaurant is called Casa Brachetto and even though that it was new on the food scene in Gibraltar, it turned out to be one of the best places to have Italian in Gibraltar. I had my favourite starter Carpaccio de Manzo followed by pasta with mushrooms with prawns. Apart from the meal, the surroundings of the restaurant are also very nice as the it is built into one of Gibraltar’s old fortification walls.

The other best part of the night was the gifts which were all very nice. My sister, mother and father gave me matching jewellery and my brother gave me a nice shirt which. But the gift Nadia that gave me was the biggest surprise I have had - I also found out that everyone can keep a secret from me, even my work colleagues.

Nadia gave me a weekend in London with her (she will be working there the week before I get there as she travels with work). We have been talking about going over to visit London for a while but we have never found a time to go, so she decided to surprise me and she booked the hotel, the flight and even my leave from work.

The next day we had friends come over to our flat for some coffee and cake as the weather was supposed to be really bad but turned out to be a nice day after all.  

The Mediterranean Steps

Last Sunday was a lovely day here in Gib so Nadia and I decided to go up the Mediterranean Steps. They are a series of steps and paths that snake around the east side of the Rock offering the most fantastic views of the Strait, Morocco and the sea. 

We went after lunch and due to the formation of the Rock most parts of the path were in the shade which kept us cool as we climbed the steps. 

The Med Steps were created as a military installation and different lookouts and gun batteries are dotted along the way, which, if you are interested in history, makes the trek all the more worthwhile. The path way is not very easy to find but once you do find it, it is fairly easy to follow till the end. 

The trek normally takes between 1 and 2 hours depending how fit you and how many photos you take on the way up. There are a few places of interest along the way such as the Twin Goat caves and plenty of old military lookouts and gun emplacements.  I recommend it to everyone due to its stunning views.

We enjoyed the day very much – thanks to the lovely weather we have been experiencing in Gibraltar this winter, and we are looking forward to going again.

The Three Kings Cavalcade

Every year on the 5th January Gibraltar does its annual Three Kings Cavalcade, where members of different organizations build floats to entertain the crowds during a parade and also compete in a float competition. 

This year was no exception – as usual the cavalcade was led by the Three Kings who make their way down Main Street and stop at the cathedral to re-enact the 3 king’s visit to Jesus. This year they were followed by around 12 different floats.  As the cavalcade slowlyprogressed through Main Street all the people on the floats threw sweets for the thousands of children that lined MainStreet.
  

Some of the floats were of very high quality and the competition was tough, but the Gibraltar Defence Police were again the best float with a theme from the movie Rio – they even had a carnival parade following the float.

I always take part in the cavalcade as the band I am in always leads the procession. I enjoy participating in this event withthe band because it is one of the few times you can actuallyrelax and enjoy the parade but also see everyone in the crowd enjoying the music that we play as we march.

Here are some pictures of this year’s Gibraltar Three KingsCavalcade:

 Gibraltar Defnece Police Float

New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.

With the New Year comes a new beginning and a new outlook on things, and most people will make a new year’s resolution – mine this year is to lose some weight, as during the Christmas period I sort of pigged out. Nearly every day we had a family party to attend to.

I always enjoy Christmas as it is the only the time of the year that the whole family gets together and with any luck next year I will be spending Christmas with Nadia’s family in Bulgaria.