Wow-wee, it’s been rather wet in these parts lately. We’ve had heavy rain storms for about two weeks but last weekend was something else. Thunder, lightning, hailstones and torrential downpours have all featured in recent days.
This satellite photo from our local weather forecasters MeteoGib shows the storm clouds covering much of the Iberian peninsula, we are under there somewhere.
The statistics show that over the weekend more than the average monthly rainfall for December fell on the Rock.
I have to admit to hunkering down for most of the weekend and didn’t set foot outside. Advice from the emergency services was to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary, so for that reason I don’t have any dramatic weather photos of my own to show you. Over the weekend, there was a lot of shocking footage on social media showing dramatic flood waters gushing down the narrow streets and steps in the old town centre of Gibraltar.
Across the border in Spain, tragically several lives were lost in the flood waters and many properties were inundated with water. On Monday morning a lot of cross-border workers were unable to come into Gibraltar because of flood damaged roads being closed.
The Monday morning rush hour was remarkably good natured considering how slow the traffic was moving. We’re normally a family of walking commuters, but the volume of the rain meant we opted to take the car on the school run and I ran Mr Postcard into work. On a clear day, you can normally see the Rock from this vantage point between the buildings – it was shrouded in misty rain.
A little detour on the way home took me down by the side of the sea at Camp Bay. Although the weather was a lot quieter by the time I arrived, the evidence of the storms was clear with all the rocks washed up from the beach.
There was also a bit of debris down at Europa Point. Rock falls were reported further north from this point on the East-side close to Eastern Beach. I gave that area a wide berth for obvious reasons.
There weren’t any tourists trying to take photos across the Strait of Gibraltar towards Morocco!
In town, some businesses face a fare bit of clearing up after the rain water encroached on their properties.
I’m pleased to say that yesterday the sun shone and it looks like we’ll be able to enjoy a few days of dry weather for a bit. Thank goodness for that!
Many thanks to MeteoGib for their kind permission to use the tweets and satellite photograph.
It may have been a pretty damp and grey day yesterday, but that didn’t put the crowds off coming along to the annual Convent Christmas Fair this year. For those not familiar with Gibraltar or the Convent, it’s the official residence of the Governor of Gibraltar (the Queen’s representative here), so naturally there are a few royal pictures about the place…
A quick stop at security, and we were in.
The Convent Christmas Fair Committee put an awful lot of work into putting the fair on each year. It costs £2 to get in and you are accosted pretty quickly to buy raffle tickets and tombola tickets for some wonderful prizes. All of the money which is raised at the event goes to support local charities.
Up the grand stairs and into the fair….
The first table I came to was Kate Davies’ beautiful stall showcasing some of her lovely fused glass work. I have been a fan of Kate’s work for a few years now and I have several of her pieces hanging around the house from windows. I’m looking forward to going up to Kate’s shed to see her at work soon, I’d love to know how she does it!
Next I headed into the very grand dining room which had been given over to a vast array of stalls featuring all sorts of different crafts and goodies.
Craft fair regular, Debbie Yeo was there with some of her beautiful things. Debbie can turn her hand to so many different crafts. She had paper crafts, hand sewn gifts and beautifully painted items for sale.
This painted glassware and candles on Debbie’s stall are just exquisite.
My next port of call was the ‘Beyoutifully Homemade’ stall made by Sally. The talented stitcher makes cushions (some featuring Star Wars characters & Pokemon balls), bags, lap quilts, memory items using your own children’s baby outfits and recycled denim projects. She had so many lovely things she had on offer.
Not only did I make a purchase, I also got some inspiration for something else to add to my never ending ‘To make’ list! My next stop was the ballroom…
In this venue there were some very tasty treats on offer along with many stalls representing local charities. My attention was caught by small local business Just Because Macarons…. you can see why!
There were loads of very appealing flavours on offer… ooh which to choose?
Then it was time to choose the name of the knitted reindeer on the Cancer Relief stall (many apologies to Grainne [Santa’s little helper] I only took one photo and she looks a bit browned off in it! I promise she was smiling a split second before this was taken!!).
All of the things on this Christmas fundraising stall were made by patients who use the centre, their families and the centre’s many wonderful supporters. They have a craft club once a fortnight and the items made during the sessions were used to fill the stall. Among the lovely items on sale were doggie treats, human treats (including the most wonderful rocky road bites – I accidentally ate a few before the family came home – whoops) and handcrafted decorations and toys.
Alas, it was time to head home in time to pick the Little Postcards up from school. It was a brilliant fair again as always. I went early-ish so didn’t see it at it’s most busy. From previous experience I know it gets really packed when the schools finish for the day and the queue to visit Santa in his grotto can get quite long. I took Littlest Postcard last year and he was a little bit unsure, so I didn’t repeat the trip this year.
So what did I buy? Well sadly, quite a lot of it will be going into Christmas presents to people who may read this, so I can’t share too much…. But these mmm… I can’t wait to try one of these. I doubt very much they will stay in their packets much longer. Just need an excuse for giving the boys a treat…. Mint Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and Minion flavour macarons. (What do Minions taste like I wonder?)
And this lovely crayon roll made by Beyoutifully Homemade will be going in the post to a special little man we know.
So that’s it for another year. I hope you enjoyed this trip to the Convent Christmas Fair, I’m very pleased to say I have officially begun my Christmas shopping – well I had got a few bits and pieces already but it’s the big push now from here on in.
Jingle bells…jingle bells… I wonder whether the guard made it in to see Santa? 😉
If you would like to see last year’s post about the Convent Christmas Fair 2015, you can find it here.
Regular readers of Postcard from Gibraltar will know that one of my favourite places in Gibraltar is the Alameda Botanical Gardens. So far I have published two posts dedicated solely to this beautiful green space we are lucky enough to have on our doorstep. No matter what the season, there is always something of beauty there. You can find my previous posts them here and here.
Anyone who’s visited the gardens in the past few months will have noticed the arrival of several wooden sculptures, from an ape to plants and now some mythical characters are lurking amongst the trees. They have all been created to mark the bi-centenary of the botanical gardens, and were created by environmental artist Paul Sivell.
The first I heard of the new arrivals was on Instagram, where photos have been appearing recently. As we are enjoying such gorgeous sunny autumnal weather at the moment, I took myself off for a lovely walk earlier this week to investigate.
The sun was shining and although it’s well into autumn, the place is still as green and lush as ever. On my way to find the Green Men I passed a few of the other large wooden sculptures.
Pine conesSouth African Protea
This ape sits above carvings of two of the Rock’s national plant species the Gibraltar Campion and Gibraltar Candytuft.
I found myself in one of the most beautiful spots in the gardens, the Lions Pond. Here is where the Green Men are hiding.
But where are they?
Can you spot any of them?
There are four of them in total and they are all stunning.
I don’t know whether they have names. I think they should do – don’t you?
How wonderful to have these wise faces looking out at you from the trunks of these beautiful mature trees.
They are such a wonderful addition to the Lions Pond area.
If you should find yourself in the Alameda Gardens, I really would recommend you seeking out the Green Men and paying them a visit.
An absolutely fascinating exhibition of documents and maps from the Gibraltar Archives are on public display at the Fine Arts Gallery in Casemates Square at the moment. The exhibition, which has been put on to ‘remind’ the public that the archives are there for anyone who’s interested to access and find out more about the history of the Rock we live on.
I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to the history and geography of where I’m living, we’ve moved about quite a bit since we got married and I always like to find out about the place where we call home.
A chance visit to the Fine Art Gallery on an errand for a friend brought me face to face with some fascinating documents dating from when Gibraltar was ruled by Spain up to the latest 2016 Ordinance Survey map of Gibraltar.
Among the items on display are plans drawn up by the Royal Engineers for the Devil’s Gap Battery (you may remember my post about it A stroll around Gibraltar No. 10: Devil’s Gap Battery). There were also plans of Kings Bastion (now our leisure centre, housing a cinema, bowling alley and ice skating rink).
The exhibition, put on by the Gibraltar National Archives forms part of the department’s outreach programme for this year. The idea being to showcase original documents and digital images of many of the important items stored within the archive.
There are over one hundred maps on display and several thousand available digitally. Some feature battles fought by war ships off the coast of the Rock, the one above shows locations of where missiles landed which were fired from the ships in the Bay.
Another exhibit charts the route taken by the Queen and Prince Phillip on their visit to Gibraltar in the 1950s.
An interesting plan drawn up in the 1980s shows all the properties along Main Street, detailing the shops or businesses contained in each and what kind of state each building was in at the time. Either freshly painted, in need of attention or dilapidated!
It looks like the outside of what is now Marks & Spencer needed a clean!
There are even plans from twenty years ago, when a formal garden was planned for Casemates Square in 1996.
If you want to see it for yourself and are in Gibraltar, or will be visiting before the end of the week, you will need to be quick as the exhibition closes on Friday. Do pop in though if you have the chance because it’s really interesting and there are experts on hand to speak to about the exhibits or answer any questions you may have.
Last Sunday saw not only the climax of the Gibraltar Literary Festival but also the annual service of remembrance for the Battle of Trafalgar. Each year, on the Sunday nearest to Trafalgar Day (21st October) the Royal Navy hold a service in the Trafalgar Cemetery. Just a few of those who lost their lives are buried here, but wreaths are laid on those graves. The service is quite a spectacle with sailors in ceremonial uniform lining the paths of the cemetery.
Wildlife
The lovely Shazza at Sunshine & Celandines has been posting some beautiful wildlife photos on her blog throughout October. She lives in Clitheroe in Lancashire, a beautiful market town on the edge of the Trough of Bowland. The area is believed to have inspired JRR Tolkein’s Shire in the Lord of the Rings (his son was at the Stoneyhurst boarding school there and he was a regular visitor). We were lucky enough to live in Clitheroe briefly and I fell in love with the place – it’s truly beautiful.
I fancied having a go at taking some autumn wildlife photos too but circumstances have prevented me from getting out on a walk up to the top of the Rock. This stunning praying mantis was having a rest on the wall outside the Garrison Library this week though, so Shazza, this one’s for you 🙂
Dressmaking class
At last sewing has begun on my princess-line top at my dressmaking class. By the time I’d cut the fabric, made a mistake, had to get some more, and cut out the lining, I only had time for a bit of tacking on the first seam. Slowly but surely… I hope to get there eventually!
Multi-tasking
You know those weeks when there just aren’t enough hours in the day? I’ve had one of those. The above picture was taken post hospital appointment (nothing serious just a check up) I found myself with half an hour spare so did a quick trip to Morrisons (unexpected hence the crappy plastic bags) and even had time to make some notes for something else while I waited for my lift home. I’d call that a multi-tasking win.
The wheels fell off
After the previous photo the wheels kind of fell off my week. The Littlest Postcard was struck down with the same chesty cough, bad throat, fever etc which Middle Postcard had last week. All plans went out of the window, having my poorly little companion by my side all day meant putting in a few late nights as that was the only time I had child free to concentrate.
As a consequence, there are no photos for this part of the week. Ironing, hemming long school trousers for post mid-term winter uniform, sewing on yet more name tags and other general monotony aren’t the most inspiring things so here’s a view of Parson’s Lodge and the Bay from our place.
Sixty million trebles blanket heads to the UK
This week, I waved goodbye to my sixty million trebles blanket. My friend Marisa of Mariwish on Instagram took it back to England to be joined with lots and lots of others for a world record attempt yarnbombing in London. The yarnbombing will then be split into blankets to help charities both in the UK and Syria. Each of the sixty million treble stitches represents one of the sixty million displaced people in the world and it’s hoped that the project will help raise awareness about the plight of these people.
Search for #sixtymilliontrebles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to find out more about this great awareness raising project.
Hooray it’s a holiday!
And relax… thank goodness it’s mid-term! We’ve run away up the coast to escape for a little while.
Whatever you’re up to this week, have a good one!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Nat at Threads & Bobbins.
Wow where do I begin? The Gibraltar Literary Festival went by in a blur for me, I managed to get to a few more talks this year but really would have liked to get to even more. It’s a time when the atmosphere of the place changes, you can wander down Main Street and see Maureen Lipman walk past or be waiting to cross the road and Nicholas Parsons pulls up in a car nearby. You can see someone and say hello to them because you think you know them, then realise they are off the telly!
This year was the fourth annual Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival (to give it it’s full title) and for the first time it ran over four days instead of three. The Festival takes the form of a series of talks, conversations and lectures given by published authors with a few posh ‘dos’ and meals in-between. Here are my highlights…
Ceremonial guard at the Convent
On Thursday morning I attended my first talk given by Dr Sally Bayley on the subject of diaries. With the title of The Private Life of the Diary, it was billed as “an interactive lecture on the nature and art of diary writing”. It was based on her book: The Private Life of the Diary : From Pepys to Tweets and was utterly fascinating. The diarists covered ranged from Samuel Pepys to Virginia Woolf, Anne Frank to Gibraltar’s own Miss World; Kaiane Aldorino.
Dr Sally BayleyI have written an article all about this event for the Gibraltar based online parenting magazine Mum on the Rock . If you would like to read the article, please click on this link.
Making the most of my time while the Little Postcards were in school, I treated myself to a second talk on Thursday. This time it was about works of literature in which the Rock of Gibraltar had featured, from Spanish and North African chroniclers in the Middle Ages to more recently, John Le Carre and Stieg Larsson.
Boyd Tonkin
This talk was introduced by Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo who had taken time out between reshuffling his cabinet that morning and heading to Parliament later in the afternoon. In his introduction he talked about the Convent (the Governor of Gibraltar’s residence) which was the venue for the event, and said it was a “place of stories, nuns and soldiers in equal measure, masters and servants, colonialism and emancipation”. Mr Picardo expanded, saying Gibraltar “is a place where legends have been created – where stories have been spun and stories are still being written”.
After such a big build up, the stage was set for Boyd Tonkin, a writer, broadcaster and Chairman of the Man Booker Prize judging panel. He took us way back into the Middle Ages reading excerpts of ancient literature from North Africa and Spain, then on to writers who have found inspiration here on the Rock including Samuel Taylor Coleridge who visited en route to Malta in 1894 and wrote that it’s “a most interesting place” where you can “sit astride the summit” of the Rock. James Joyce’s Ulysses featured heavily throughout his talk along with the character Molly Bloom whose statue can be found in the Alameda Gardens (you may remember I yarnbombed her earlier this year 😉 )
He went on to reference Gibraltar’s role in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, a series which I enjoyed immensely. I remember reading the final book The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest when we lived for a while in Queensway Quay and read to my amazement that one of the central characters, Lisbeth Salander, had visited the marina to see her solicitor. I couldn’t believe that the heroine of the book I was so immersed in should come to visit the place where I was living at that moment.
Tonkin read this excerpt from The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest:
At 7:00 she left the hotel and set out to buy mangos and apples. She took a taxi to the Peak and walked over to the apes. She was so early that few tourists had yet appeared, and she was practically alone with the animals.
She liked Gibraltar. It was her third visit to the strange rock that housed an absurdly densely populated English town on the Mediterranean. Gibraltar was a place that was not like anywhere else. The town had been isolated for decades, a colony that obstinately refused to be incorporated into Spain. The Spaniards protested the occupation, of course. (But Salander thought that the Spaniards should keep their mouths shut on that score so long as they occupied the enclave of Ceuta on Moroccan territory across the strait.) It was a place that was comically shielded from the rest of the world, consisting of a bizarre rock, about three quarters of a square mile of town and an airport that began and ended in the sea. The colony was so small that every square inch of it was used, and any expansion had to be over the sea. Even to get into the town visitors had to walk across the landing strip at the airport.
Gibraltar gave the concept of “compact living” a whole new meaning.
I’d say that’s a pretty accurate literary portrayal of Gibraltar!
Friday lunchtime meant a trip to the Sunborn to see the great Just a Minute panel show. I went last year and it was so good, I was keen to get to see it again. I was particularly excited to see Pam Ayres, someone I had grown up seeing on the telly and who I find very funny. She was scheduled to speak later in the day at a time I couldn’t make so was looking forward to seeing her in this.
Unfortunately she had been delayed on her way to Gibraltar and wasn’t able to attend. The BBC Radio 4 presenter Sue McGregor from Woman’s Hour and the Today programme filled in for her instead. She was very good replacement, but I was a little bit disappointed to miss Pam Ayres. A friend of mine got to see her solo talk later on and said she was brilliant and very funny.
Nicholas ParsonsNicolas Parsons, who had celebrated his 93rd birthday recently was on sparkling form and the rest of the panel too. Alongside him and Sue McGregor was the author and comedian Tony Hawks, actress and writer Maureen Lipman and author Felix Francis. After a very funny hour long session which saw the panel discussing subjects like champagne, Casablanca and cruise ships, Nicholas Parsons pledged his intention to return to the festival again next year.
The talk named ‘The Gibraltar Book Club’ piqued my interest as I am a member of a book club and wondered how this would translate to an hour long chat with an audience rather than a cosy evening out with friends and maybe a bottle or two of wine ;-). This book club had three members, Sue MacGregor, Maureen Lipman and Tony Hawks, all of whom had chosen a book for the two other panellists to review.
The Gibraltar Book ClubMaureen Lipman went first with her choice; a selection of essays by the playwright JB Priestley called ‘Grumbling at Large’. She said she’d been drawn to this book in particular as a friend of hers had put the collection together and written the foreword. Saying that when we have such busy lives it’s nice to have something to read which you can pick up and put down easily, and a collection of essays can do just that as you can read some of them in a few minutes. Essay writing is a really good way of “finding your literary voice” she added. The rest of the panel agreed that it was a good book, Sue MacGregor even gave an anecdote of the time when she had met the author.
Next up was Tony Hawkes, his choice was Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. He decided to pick it because he’d been a regular visitor to the Daphne du Maurier Literary Festival and realised to his shame that he had never actually read any of her books. Despite the initial impression that this was a “woman’s book” he said he’d enjoyed it. He liked how the author “led you in” and changed the pace of the story from romance to a whodunit style of thriller.
Maureen Lipman said she’d read it as a young woman and loved it but when she reread it recently, she was disappointed by the “wet woman” in the role of narrator. Sue MacGregor in comparison loved it and enjoyed how the “characters leapt off the page”.
Finally, Sue MacGregor introduced her choice which was Naples ’44, by the travel writer and former intelligence officer Norman Lewis. A great fan of Naples herself, she told the audience that the book was written after Lewis had spent time in the city in 1944 as an intelligence officer. He recounted his experiences in a city where people were starving to death and desparately trying to survive.
Maureen Lipman described it as “fabulous” and “the best type of journalism”. Tony Hawks said Lewis was a “keen observer of everything” and “clearly a compassionate man” but he didn’t reveal much about himself. In summary, the panel said they’d enjoyed the chance to read something they otherwise wouldn’t have picked up, which is definitely one of the joys of book club for me.
During the festival there were a number of events especially for families, all of which were free. Last year I took the Little Postcards along to see Christopher Lloyd and his ‘Complete Plays of Shakespeare in 60 minutes‘ and they enjoyed it immensely. This time we went along to see his latest offering ‘The History of Britain in 60 Minutes‘.
Christopher is a very engaging speaker and manages to hold the young audience’s attention with a series of props he produces from his cloak (not in this picture). Again this time, his talk was great as he picked up on common themes throughout British history like architecture and maritime history. He has a way of making the historical figures come alive and was very well received by both the younger and older members of the audience.
Sunday afternoon was a real highlight for me, I had arranged to go with a few of my book club friends to see the author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernières.Louis de Bernières
This hour long conversation between Louis and regular festival host, Paul Blezard was just wonderful. He read several of his poems, including one written in Spanish, and was questioned on whether he would consider rewriting the ending of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin as he was a bit dissatisfied with how it finished. “No!” was the reply to that, as it would make the book an awful lot longer! Louis also revealed that he’s being doing some research while in Gibraltar as the Rock will feature in his next book. I cannot wait to read that!
If you are still with me, thank you for reading this post – it’s been an lot longer than my usual ones! There was so much to see and experience at this year’s festival.
I couldn’t help noticing that a very large percentage of the audience at all the events I attended (apart from the children’s one) were around retirement age. Quite a few had travelled over to Gibraltar, specifically for the festival, from Spain and the UK. How lovely to be able to spend that much time listening to wonderful speakers and expanding your mind!
I loved my time at the festival, I was lucky enough to see more this year than on my previous two visits. The whole event is growing each year and while it attracts very welcome return visitors, it also brings fresh new speakers each time. Both Nicolas Parsons and Christopher Lloyd said at their talks they’d like to return to Gibraltar next year for the fifth edition, I wonder just who else will be coming to the Rock to entertain us next time?
Last Sunday afternoon Catalan Bay played host to the ThunderCat Racing UK team and their rather fast speed boats. We took the Little Postcards down to the beach for a while to watch the proceedings.
There were plenty of people out to see what was going on and the beach side restaurant’s were full of spectators viewing while they are their Sunday lunches.
The boats roared off from the edge of the beach at the start of each race and bounced about over the waves on the course out at sea.
We’ve watched the boats on previous occasions when they’ve visited Gibraltar, although this is the first time we’ve seen them in this venue. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.
2 A day at home
Monday meant a day at home – I had a poorly Little Postcard to look after. We made the best of it with a picnic in front of the tv and watched a couple of movies. On a very quick trip to the patio to hang out some washing I spied the bougainvillea in bloom. It looked so great against the cloudless sky.
3 Dressmaking class
My poorly Postcard was well enough for school on Tuesday so work began in earnest on the second top in this academic year’s dressmaking class. The first was a sample sleeveless fitted top, now it’s a princess line, lined sleeveless top. I have made my pattern (as you can see above) and the fabric has been purchased (cream broderie anglaise) next week, I’ll be back in the hot seat behind my sewing machine!
4 Autumn florals
It may be the latter part of October, but the flowers in Gibraltar are still looking glorious. I don’t know whether the cooler damp and misty weather has revived some of them but there are so many blooms out at the moment and they are looking fabulous.
5 Gibraltar Literary Festival
The fourth annual Gibraltar Literary Festival began on Thursday with a bang. This year it’s running over four days for the first time and the organisers have done a great job filling the days with loads of great events. I took this photo outside the Convent (the Governor of Gibraltar’s residence) there can’t be too many literary festivals in the world with a ceremonial guard can there?
I turned up nice and early to my first talk on Thursday morning and asked the speaker to pose for photographs. I took some great ones (or so I thought) little did I know the Littlest Postcard had mucked about with very kindly reset the shutter speed….. blurry pictures galore! Note to self always take a few trial pictures before an event gah!
I will share more about my Gibraltar Literary Festival 2016 experiences soon, I promise!
6 Down in the dell
It’s been so murky and gloomy weather-wise for most of the week here but a sneaky short cut through the beautiful Alameda Gardens gave me the shot of colour to break the greyness. You just can’t beat it!
7 Peek-a-boo boats
The misty weather continued yesterday and things were decidedly murky in the Bay. You could just see the tops of the boats above the sea mist. I love seeing the Bay like this, it’s so atmospheric, it reminds me how lucky we are to live here.
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series featuring seven photos from the last seven days. It was created by Natalie of Threads & Bobbins blog, to find out more pop over to her site for all the info.
Three weeks into our dressmaking course and we have finished with the pattern drawing and cutting and we are now in the process of constructing a sample top. Because it’s a sample, we are just using curtain lining material to make it, hence the rather boring photo. I’m eager to get this finished and move onto the next ‘real’ project.
Bunny bombshell
Bunny Postcard had a trip to the vets this week. We had been meaning to take him for months so that he could have some vaccinations to allow him to play out in our back patio. Now the weather is beginning to cool a little bit, we thought he might like to have a hop about outside. The first thing the vet said when she saw Bunny was ‘Oh what a lovely girl’. I thought nothing of it, thinking clearly she’s made a mistake…
Once the full medical was done, including checking his heart, ears, eyes and teeth, the vet cottoned onto the fact that we had never actually officially been told Bunny’s gender. Well the big news this week is that Bunny is officially a girl! It’s taken a bit of time for that news to sink in in certain quarters, but I’m thrilled to know that at last I am no longer the only female in the Postcard household!
Suspension
When I flew back from Yarndale last weekend, not only did I bring with me a suitcase full of yarn and wonderful memories, I also brought my Mum and Dad with me too. They hadn’t been to see the Windsor suspension bridge yet so one afternoon this week, while the Little Postcards were still at school, we took a walk up the Rock and along the bridge. I have to say, since my last visit, a discernible creak has developed as you walk from one side of the gorge to the other which did put me slightly on edge. The view is still as stunning as ever from there though.
Not much painting going on…
Inspired by our summer holiday in Southwold back in August, I decided that my next paining project should include some of the beautiful beach huts you see along the seafront. Last week I spent the entire lesson trying to sketch out the huts freehand, and not using a ruler. Unfortunately due to the composition of the photo I’m using and it’s perspective, even when just one line was out of place, it made the whole thing look wonky and a bit rubbish.
This week after a quick refresher lesson on perspective, horizons and eyelines, my teacher very kindly gave me some tracing paper to get the skeleton of the picture down onto the paper so that at least next week I can start painting. Shhh, don’t tell anyone I cheated 😉
Interesting keyhole
I went exploring over the border in La Linea on Friday morning looking for yarn shops (not that I need to buy any more after Yarndale last weekend mind you). I had heard there were some and that they sold nice stuff. Thinking ahead to Christmas presents and such like I thought it was worth following it up.
Almost next door to a really lovely yarn shop, this most unusual keyhole caught my eye on the front door of an old building. There’s some really lovely architecture amongst all the late twentieth century and more modern apartments and shop fronts if you keep your eyes open. Next time, I need to take my camera with me….
Cake anyone?
Yesterday, if you were in Gibraltar town centre there’s a good chance you were ‘encouraged’ to part with your cash for raffle tickets and cakes for the Scouts. As two of the Little Postcards are in Scouts, there was a bit of baking going on this week for the annual cake stall fundraiser. My fairy cakes aren’t in this picture, they were hidden down at the other end of the stall… I photographed the pretty cakes instead 😉
Rainbow hope blanket completed
Begun on the last day of August (the very last day of the school summer holidays) and completed on the last day of September – it’s taken me a month to complete my contribution to the Sixty Million Trebles project. The blanket I made will join hundreds of others and be joined to make the worlds biggest ever blanket. It will be used to yarn bomb a site in London before being unpicked to make ‘normal-sized’ blankets which will go to charities in the UK and Syria.
The project is being run to raise awareness about the plight of the sixty million refugees who are displaced from their homes around the world at the moment. It will also raise funds for the cause too. It’s hoped that sixty million treble stitches will be crocheted to represent all the people who have been driven from their homes. Where ever my Rainbow Hope Blanket ends up, I hope it brings some hope to whoever receives it. This 36″ square blanket adds 10,656 trebles to the current count of almost five million.
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Nat at Threads & Bobbins. For more information about it, and if you would like to join in, why not pop over to her blog.
As we are already more than halfway through July, I figured it was high time to take you a walk along the seashore. If you’re ready to take off your shoes and dip your toes into the surf, come and see the beaches we are privileged to enjoy on our doorstep.
Being an isthmus, Gibraltar is surrounded on three sides by water. The Mediterranean to the East, the Strait of Gibraltar to the south and the Bay of Gibraltar to the West.
If you arrive in Gibraltar by plane, no matter which way you come in to land you will be able to see a beach (assuming you are sitting by the window on the left hand side of the plane). There’s a beach on each side of the runway; Eastern beach (funnily enough on the Eastern side) and Western beach (guess where….).
I’ll start at the top and work round clockwise beginning with the biggest beach in Gibraltar.
Eastern beach
Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and (on a clear day) along the Spanish coast towards the Costa del Sol, Eastern Beach reaches almost up to the edge of the runway of Gibraltar airport. Apologies for the photos of the beach – they were, believe it or not taken last night (19th July). You would normally expect to see the beach still packed with families enjoying the last few rays of sun before sunset at this time in the summer but we are experiencing rather strange overcast weather at the moment – hence the empty evening beach.
A new community of beachside dwellers have arrived at Eastern Beach in the last twelve months with the opening of several large apartment blocks adjacent to the beach. Prior to this, the area nearby was rather industrial and just offered a small chiringuito (beach café) where we enjoyed a fantastic evening wedding reception a couple of years ago. The recent investment in the area can only be good for the beach and its surroundings.
Believe it or not the next photo was taken in January on Eastern Beach – that blue sky is more like it! Because of it’s proximity to the airport, aviation fans can get a really good view of the planes coming and going!
Catalan Bay
Catalan Bay has to be my favourite beach destination here in Gibraltar, we have enjoyed many happy hours here. The beach seems to be one of the few places where sibling cooperation thrives and arguments are kept to a minimum, until that is, someone knocks someone’s sandcastle down or breaks a deeply excavated tunnel in the wet sand!
As you can see from this picture, Catalan Bay is more than just a beach. There is a real community here with housing, restaurants and a few shops. It’s a year round destination for the Postcard family, we like to visit out of season when we can have the beach to ourselves and scavenge for shells and sea glass along the shoreline. In summertime, it’s a much more densely populated location!
It’s a really great spot to while away a few hours, either on the beach or eating tapas in one of the cafés or restaurants. Just watch out for the seagulls in case they grab your bread roll!
Year round the community of fishermen who live here head out into the Med to catch their fish. Their routines continue regardless of whether the place is full of sun seekers or not. At the southern end of Catalan Bay beach lies the Caleta Hotel. Catalan Bay is such an interesting part of Gibraltar it calls out for a future post dedicated to it alone…
Sandy Bay
Sandy Bay these days is a manmade beach. When we first arrived in Gibraltar seven years ago, there was very little beach here to speak of as storms had washed the beach away into the sea. However in recent years there has been a lot of investment here with the building of a large groyne to shelter the bay from the worst of the pounding waves. Many truckloads of sand were imported to create the beach we can enjoy today. The large stone sea walls not only protect the beach, but also the bathers, meaning that when it is unsafe to swim at neighbouring Catalan Bay due to rough seas, it is much calmer at Sandy Bay.
We have spent several great days at Sandy Bay since it was reopened in its improved state – yesterday being one of them. It is so safe for the Little Postcards to mess about in the sea here. Just on the other side of the southern part of the groyne is a very interesting spot for military historians and rock pool appreciators. The cliff face here is littered with military look out spots from years gone by and the stones and rocks down by the sea edge have loads of nooks and crannies worth checking out too.
Little Bay
As you can see from this picture, Little Bay suits its name – it’s really quite small. The beach is more stony than the three sandy beaches on the Mediterranean side of the Rock. Little Bay, along with it’s larger cousin, Camp Bay which lies nearby, are on the western side. Little Bay is the most southerly of Gibraltar’s Beaches lying a short drive from Europa Point.
Behind the beach and in the shadow of the waterfall, lies a larger leisure area, with tables and seating, a toddler paddling pool, a park and basketball court and a small kiosk offering refreshments.
Camp Bay
Lying beneath the imposing Parsons Lodge bastion at Rosia is Camp Bay. Once the site of a quarry it is now one of the largest leisure areas on the Rock offering a café and kiosk, swimming and paddling pools, play areas, seating and access to the sea it is a hugely popular spot for families.
Similar to Little Bay, the beach here is somewhat rocky underfoot, but the lack of sand does make it appealing for those who have an aversion to tramping sand back home!
Western Beach
Western beach brings us to the end of this tour of Gibraltar’s beaches. It is the most northerly one here as it is accessed by crossing over the runway. It is very close to the frontier with Spain, the blue apartment block in this picture is across the border in La Linea.
Sadly, the photos for this beach were (like Eastern beach) taken last night when the weather was rather cloudy and there had been a bit of a seaweed invasion! You will just have to imagine how nice it is on a clear summer’s day.
This beach also affords you a great view of the planes coming and going from the Rock’s airport as the runway lies just next door. There is a chiringuito here as well, the Little Postcards have attended several birthday parties here over the years and it’s a lovely spot in the evening to watch the sun set over the hills across the bay.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this whistle-stop tour of Gibraltar’s beaches, thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Hello, I do hope you’re having a good weekend. It’s Sunday Sevens time again. I’m afraid this week it’s a quick one as school holiday mode has kicked in and my brain has checked out!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Nat at Threads & Bobbins blog. It’s an opportunity for bloggers to link up and post seven photos from the last seven days, without the need for an in depth post. That suits me perfectly this week, and possibly for the next 7 until the Little Postcards return to school in September! Here goes…
Sunday lunch with friends
Last weekend we had a special visitor over – an old University friend of ours. On Sunday we met up with some more mutual friends for a long lazy lunch. It was lovely, this ‘trifle’ dish was as tasty as it looks, although it did require me to fall off the diet wagon somewhat.
Another goodbye…
This week we waved goodbye to more friends who have left the Rock to return to live in the UK. It’s one negative about living here sadly. Of course the Internet is wonderful for keeping in touch, it’s so much easier to stay connected these days. Before they left, I was asked to paint a picture of Gibraltar for them to take with them.
A birthday party
One of the Little Postcards will be celebrating his birthday during the long school summer holidays. As most of his friends will be away on holiday by then, we held an early birthday party to make sure it was more than just us in attendance. He’s currently fixated with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, although he’s never seen the film as it’s too old for him. This was my attempt at a Leonardo cake … Don’t look too closely though!
Our bridge adventure
I’m afraid I need to share this photo again, on Wednesday I took the Little Postcards for our first visit to Windsor suspension bridge. It was stunning and a great outing for us all. If you missed my post on Wednesday all about it, the link is here.
A night out!
After just six days of the holidays I was so in need of a little time out from my little darlings. On Thursday I had a lovely evening out and catch up with a good friend of mine. It was so good to be able to have a good chat – we hardly came up for air from start to finish! On the way home I took the scenic route and thought St Joseph’s church looked lovely lit up as I walked past.
Levanter
This week has seen the return of Gibraltar’s cloudy hat, the Levanter. It’s a common weather phenomenon here, especially during the summertime. It means that it’s not as sunny in town as it is in the north or the south of the Rock, but it can also mean very muggy, humid conditions.
Summer Saturday
Yesterday mainly consisted of crochet, swimming and then a strawberry G&T to round the day off. It was a lovely chilled day (if you don’t include the sibling tension and fall-outs). 😉
