There can only be one for me, bearing in mind where we live….
… Europa Point of course!
The Trinity Lighthouse stands guard over the Strait of Gibraltar, at the Rock’s southernmost tip – Europa Point. On a clear day the mountains across the Strait in Morocco look almost close enough to touch.
I still find it amazing that I can see northern Africa from my home!
Perhaps this shot (below) puts it into more perspective, taken from the Med Steps.
The Lighthouse had a makeover recently and is now looking better than ever (see top picture).
You can get a bird’s eye view of Europa Point as you take off fromor come in to land at Gibraltar airport. Sadly the murky conditions when I took this photo meant the Lighthouse isn’t clear, but you can see the Mosque…
Here’s the Mosque on a clearer day standing beside the Lighthouse and looking north along the Mediterranean coast.
I’m joining with Nana Cathy and Wild Daffodil for this weekly photo challenge throughout 2017.
And so it begins…. schools have broken up for summer here in Gibraltar and the eight week-long summer holiday is underway.
I will continue posting Sunday Sevens, the photo challenge and my summer craft challenge throughout the summer but as for any other more considered posts – well we will just have to wait and see. I see days filled with beach outings, picnics and other child friendly activities and hopefully a bit of adult relaxing too.
Here’s to summer fun!
A sunset walk
I’m pretty sure I have posted a photo like this once before after a similar evening stroll to the recycling bins – ah the glamour! Still the view makes the task a bit more appealing :-).
Casting my vote
This year’s Gibraltar National Day marks the 50th anniversary of the referendum when Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to remain British. For the past month or so, there has been a special exhibition of press cuttings and Pathé news reels of the time.
Part of the exhibition features a polling booth where you can cast your own vote in a mock second referendum. School parties have come down to see the exhibits and the children have also had the chance to vote in a childrens’ referendum. I cast my vote too!
First figs
We have figs!! Last year our little fig tree did bear fruit but something or someone snaffled them before we got the chance to harvest any for ourselves. This year we were rewarded for our patience and we have 2 ripe fruits. There are more still to come as well!
Cake!
We have had two birthday celebrations in the Postcard household this week. One required a home made cake. It was rather tasty 😋
Nothing to see here…
Diamond the Postcard family pet rabbit has got a new party trick.. He loves jumping up onto the sofa during his evening romps around the lounge and making me jump out of my skin. I’ll be sitting there watching telly or crocheting and bam he’s suddenly up beside me! He’s such a cheeky monkey.
Instagram milestone
This week my Instagram account reached a bit of a milestone. It now has 500+ followers. Fancy that! Thank you to everyone who’s stopped by and said hello 😊
Beautiful Europa Point
Yesterday morning I took a little stroll to the lighthouse at Europa Point. It was a gorgeous morning without a cloud in the sky. Trinity Lighthouse was looking fab with her new lick of paint and the scaffolding taken down.
SundaySevens is a weekly blog series featuring seven photos from the past seven days and was created by Natalie from Threads & Bobbins.
Apologies for this week’s rather uninspiring entry to the photo challenge, things have been a bit hectic of late and I didn’t have room in my brain to come up with a more inspiring one!
PS I’m kicking myself for not including this photo in last week’s entry for ‘wave’…
… so I’ve put it into this week’s – is that cheating??! 😉
Wowzers that’s been quite a week. A trip back home to England for my brother’s wedding and lots of other stuff too since we returned. In some ways it feels like longer than seven days…. (oh and there’s more than seven photos again this week!)
Flying back to Manchester
So on Sunday last week, we all boarded a plane to England. As we sat on the runway waiting to take off I had a clear view out of the plane window towards the Rock of Gibraltar. While we prepared to depart, I thought ‘I wonder if I could record the takeoff ok my phone?’ So I did.
A couple of days later, I thought, ‘I wonder if I should upload this to Facebook?’ So I did.
It kind of went a bit crazy after that and so far the video has been watched over 8 and a half thousand times…. wow!
Here’s a screen shot of our bird’s eye view of Gibraltar taken from the film. If you would like to see it yourself, you can find it on my Facebook page (just search Postcard from Gibraltar) and it’s also on Instagram (search Postcard from Gibraltar).
Manchester
Manchester was still deeply affected by the terrible events of the week before when we arrived. On Sunday as we drove from the airport to my parents’ house I spotted a long queue snaking out of a shop. It was a tattoo parlour. The penny dropped after a moment or two. These were people queuing up to get tattoos of bees in memory of the people who died in the bombing and in return for a donation to the fund to support the survivors.
I took this photo at the same shop 24 hours later, on bank holiday Monday- they were still coming.
(Tragically as I publish this, we are seeing news pictures coming from London, where another terrorist incident has taken place. So sad. My thoughts are with all those affected and the wonderful emergency services who put their lives on the line for our benefit.)
We also went shopping to the Trafford Centre, which was unusually quiet and with several high profile armed police patrolling the place.
Nuptials
On Tuesday there was a very special wedding. My lovely brother wed his long term girlfriend and all round superwoman in front of family and close friends. It was such a lovely day and a happy time which we will reminisce about for decades I’m sure.
(For those of you who have been reading Sunday Sevens for a while – I’m afraid I didn’t finish my skirt to wear for the wedding, my head was turned by a fabulous dress in a shop window so I wore that instead).
Homeward bound
All too quickly our time in England was over, it was mid term in England but not for us in Gibraltar and the Little Postcards had to miss a day or two of school to attend the wedding, so we headed home on Wednesday. The Cheshire countryside was like a luscious green patchwork quilt below us as we rose into the sky from Manchester.
As we flew along the southern Spanish coast, Gibraltar with its cloudy Levanter hat appeared into view…
We landed in the same direction as we had taken off and got a great view on our way in.
Lunch with a friend On Thursday, once the Little Postcards were ensconced back in school I met up with a crafty friend. She’s a very talented lady who can turn her hand to crochet, watercolour and felting amongst other things. She showed me this, her lovely crochet blanket made up of oddments of leftover yarn. Isn’t it gorgeous?
This lovely lady has promised to teach me how to felt myself … I’ll keep you posted on that!
Out of the blue
On Friday, out of the blue, I got a phone call as I was dashing out of the front door. Normally I would just leave it so I wasn’t late, but I felt compelled to pick it up. I’m glad I did. It was one of my neighbours from about 15 years ago when we lived in West Yorkshire, and she was in Gibraltar!
She and her husband had gone to the Costa del Sol on holiday on a bus (from Yorkshire), stopping 3 times on the way, and then took a day trip to Gibraltar. When she arrived on the Rock, she looked for a phone book to find my number and had just caught me in!
I dashed down to meet them as I had just an hour spare before needed to collect the children from school, and took them for a whistle stop tour of Gibraltar in our car. They did the full loop of the Rock, seeing our home, the boys’ schools and ending up at Europa Point.
They had wanted to see Africa, but sadly, the sea mist didn’t play ball and they couldn’t see it at all. They did see the lighthouse resplendent in scaffolding, having a bit of a spruce up though!
We then travelled along the eastern side of the Rock and saw the beaches before dropping them back in town. It was such an unexpected treat to see them, and made me so glad I still send real cards and letters at Christmas time or they wouldn’t have known my address.
Pomp and ceremony
Yesterday I popped into town for a quick spot of shopping and found myself in the midst of a Ceremonial Guard Mount at the Convent. The Governor was there (on the left in white presenting the bunch of keys to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment) along with the mayor, representatives of the Gibraltar Government, along with other dignitaries.
It was quite a sight to see and the tourists were lapping it up. It just goes to show that there’s never a dull moment here in Gibraltar!
Thank you so much if you have made it all the way to the bitter end, it’s been a very lengthy edition of Sunday Sevens this week! However you have spent this week I hope it has been a good one for you, and if you are one of my new followers on Facebook, thank you for joining me!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins.
Hello there, I hope you’ve had a good week. All these bank holidays of late have confused me no end, I keep losing track of what day we’re on!
I know this is definitely Sunday, so here goes for this week’s Sunday Sevens…
Med Steps training : three times round!
We are now just six days away from the Med Steps 5 Challenge. If you listened to my latest podcast, published on Monday, you will know that I managed 3 times round on Sunday last week for the first time this year.
I’m a bit behind on my training this year, so hopefully adrenaline will give me energy and determination to get round 5 times again next Saturday!
May Day
May Day was beautiful. We had a truly gorgeous day of sunshine, which was very welcome after two days of very heavy rain at the start of the long weekend. As we drove down towards Europa Point the view across to Morocco was so clear I had to stop and take a few pictures.
King of all he surveys
Mr Postcard went for a midweek walk up the Rock and took this fab picture of an ape perched on the end of a cannon. You can’t blame him really it was a top vantage point. I believe it was International Macaque week or something similar this week, so here’s your topical Barbary Macaque picture!
Watercolour poppies
My current watercolour project at my watercolour class is a painting of the Med Steps. I want to include some of the beautiful spring flowers you can see in the Upper Rock so I’ve been practicing my poppies. The trial runs worked out rather better than the real thing sadly, so I’m going to have to do a bit of fixing at my next lesson.
Touch line Crochet
I’m still working on a corner to corner blanket for the Sixty Million Trebles project. It’s a great one to have in a bag when you are out and about as it’s easy to pick up and do just a bit during a quiet moment. I had a bit of time at football training for the Little Postcards this week so got a couple of rows added.
A quick escape
I don’t normally go into Spain on a weekday but on Friday I bit the bullet and headed across the border to do a bit of shopping with Mr Postcard. We have been meaning to pop across for ages to get boring stuff for the house and we took the opportunity to go while the Little Postcards were at school.
It felt a bit adventurous to leave the country while your kids are at school but we didn’t stray far and were back in plenty of time for school pick up! It was a bit wet by the time we were crossing the runway back into town.
Another lovely Saturday sunset
Last Saturday evening we had a lovely sunset, and last night we had another. I’ve noticed, since we moved to this west facing apartment, that we get lots of lovely sunsets in Spring and Autumn, I wonder why that is?
Also this week my crochet buddy Marisa Boselli aka Mariwish on Instagram has launched her first blog. Marisa is a crochet and music teacher, originally from Gibraltar, she now lives with her family in London. Why not pop over and check it out, if you get the chance?
What ever you get up to this week, I hope it’s a good one for you!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog.
Gibraltar seems to be dominating the news a lot these days, so for those of you who don’t know much about this Rock which we call our home, here’s a little ABC…
A is for Apes
Our furry friends who live (most of the time) at the top of the Rock are perhaps Gibraltar’s most famous inhabitants. They’re the only wild apes in mainland Europe and rumoured to be the reason why Gibraltar remains British – legend has it that if the apes were to leave, the UK would lose Gibraltar. (Winston Churchill reputedly imported some extra ones during World War II to make sure the Rock remained under the British flag). Legend also has it that they first arrived on the Rock via tunnels which link Gibraltar to northern Africa… not too sure about that one!
B is for border
Gibraltar has only one land border to the north of the territory and shares it with Spain. It is across this border (or Frontier as it’s also known) that thousands of Spanish residents travel to work in Gibraltar each day and also which Gibraltar residents cross to access Spain and rest of the European mainland.
Under the Franco regime the border was closed between 1969 and 1985. Gibraltarians found themselves with lots of vacant jobs to be filled as the cross-border workers were no longer able to work here and resources like food and fuel had to be sourced via alternative means. During this period, the Rock’s relationship with Morocco flourished and resulted in the diverse community we now enjoy today.
C is for cable car
Gibraltar’s main tourist attraction is the Rock itself and there are a number of different ways of getting to the top, on foot and by car or taxi, but perhaps the most dramatic way (and certainly the fastest) is by cable car. It has been a feature on the Rock for decades and takes just six minutes from the base station to the summit.
D is for defence
Due to it’s strategic position geographically at the gateway to the Mediterranean, it’s no surprise that Gibraltar has been a key British military base. Though fewer service personnel are based here now than in it’s heyday, there is still a considerable Army, Navy and RAF presence on the Rock.
E is for Europa Point
At Gibraltar’s southern most tip, you can find Europa Point lighthouse, the only lighthouse to be operated by Trinity House which is outside of the British Isles. It’s been keeping watch over the Strait of Gibraltar for over 175 years. On a clear day, you can see across the Strait to north Africa and the Rif mountains of Morocco.
Europa Point is also home to Gibraltar’s largest mosque (the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque) as well as the Roman Catholic Shrine of Our Lady of Europe.
F is for Festivals
In recent years Gibraltar’s cultural life has flourished with the creation of a number of festivals, the biggest of which is the Gibraltar Music Festival or GMF as it’s become known locally. 2017 will see the festival run for the first time by MTV. Other musical festivals include the Festival of Colours and the World Music Festival. In addition to music another large annual event is the Gibraltar Literary Festival.
G is for Governor & Government
Gibraltar Parliament building
Although key defence and strategic decisions about Gibraltar are made in Westminster, day to day affairs on the Rock are looked after by Government of Gibraltar.
The Convent, official residence of the Governor of GibraltarWe also have a Governor, who is the Queen’s representative here. Our current Governor, Lieutenant General Ed Davies, like all his predecessors lives in the official residence known as The Convent.
H is for history
Tower of Homage aka Moorish Castle
Gibraltar is steeped in history, from cave men to the Phoenecians, Moorish invasions and the Great Siege. Gibraltar is filled with historic buildings and sites. There’s even a weekly historical reenactment.
I is for isthmus not an island
Despite popular misconception, Gibraltar is not an island. It is an isthmus of 5.8 square kilometres. If you are looking for a diverse and challenging 10k route to run, Gibraltar is the place for you, it’s exactly 10km all the way round on the main roads.
J is for Jebel Tariq
Gibraltar is regarded as one of the Pillars of Hercules, Jebel Musa across the Strait in Morocco being the other one. The name Gibraltar is believed to have come from it’s Moorish name of Jebel Tariq, meaning Tariq’s Mountain or Tariq’s Path. Tariq lead the Moorish Invasion of Andalusia.
K is for Kaiane
Front cover of Gibraltar Panorama 5.4.17
Irrespective of your views on beauty pageants, Kaiane Lopez (née Aldorino) achieved something remarkable for Gibraltar. In 2009, was crowned Miss World. She was a great ambassador for Gibraltar during her year-long reign and has continued to fly the flag for the Rock ever since. Yesterday she became the youngest ever Mayor of Gibraltar as well as being the first ever Miss World to take mayoral office.
L is for lifestyle
Gibraltar boasts a great climate, healthcare modeled on the NHS, schools which follow the UK system and a thriving community. Plus everything is within a short distance so activities/entertainment especially for children are more achievable than our experience in the UK. As an ‘incomer’ I’ve had a really positive experience living here and was welcomed by locals and expats alike.
M is for Mediterranean
The Eastern side of the Rock is lapped by the tides of the Mediterranean Sea and the three Mediterranean beaches we have on the Rock are hugely popular in summer (Gibraltar has other beaches on the Western side too).
N is for Neanderthal
The first Neaderthal skull ever to be found was discovered at Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar in 1848. The find, which is celebrated on Gibraltarian pound coins, has led to Gibraltar recently being granted UNESCO World Heritage status.
O is for ornithology
A hot spot for twitchers, Gibraltar is a haven for wildlife and, in particular, migratory birds. Volunteers from the British Trust for Ornithology travel to Gibraltar to study the migration of birds from the southern hemisphere where they have over wintered, up to northern Europe and Russia. Vultures, and eagles can often be spotted along with other smaller birds.
P is for port
Gibraltar has long been a stop off for seagoing travellers, from the Phoenicians who dropped anchor here before setting off into the Atlantic and up as far north as Cornwall. These days Gibraltar’s marine trade includes dry docks for maintenance, as well as bunkering services for ships which are mid voyage.
Q is for queues
We do spend quite a while in queues here in Gibraltar at times, especially if you choose the wrong moment to cross the runway – you can get stuck waiting for planes to land or take off.
We also have to queue to enter and leave Gibraltar at the border with Spain, which can at times be problematic. Thorough checks by the authorities across the border can mean long waits in rather uncomfortable conditions (like the height of summer) at it’s worst it can take several hours to cross.
R is for runway
Gibraltar Airport is famous for it’s stunning backdrop and for the fact that the main road to and from the Rock runs straight across it. It makes for an interesting commute to work for those who live over in Spain!
S is for St Michael’s Cave
St Michael’s CaveThe Rock of Gibraltar itself is full of holes, with natural caves and manmade tunnels carved through it. The largest and perhaps most dramatic of which is St Michael’s Cave which as well as being a popular tourist destination is also a venue for shows and concerts.
T is for tunnels
In order to get around the Rock we need to travel through a few tunnels. The World War II Tunnels (which include a war time hospital ward) and the Great Siege Tunnels are popular tourist attractions.
There are miles and miles of military tunnels excavated through the Rock most of which are out of bounds to the public. They are used for military exercises and there was even a plan during World War II for some military personnel to be bricked into a tunnel so they could spy on the enemy in case of an invasion.
U is for Upper Rock
Windsor Suspension Bridge
The Upper Rock is a Nature Reserve, home to the Barbary Macaques and other native species like the Barbary partridge and national flowers like the Gibraltar Candytuft and Gibraltar Campion.
Gibraltar Candytuft
The Med Steps or Mediterranean Steps to give them their proper name, is a footpath and several sets of steps which lead from the southern tip of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, at the Pillar of Hercules monument and round the Eastern side of the Upper Rock before emerging at the summit.
Med Steps
It’s a place of outstanding natural beauty and affords walkers stunning views across the Strait to Morocco, along the Mediterranean coast to Spain and onto the Costa del Sol on a clear day, and across the Bay of Gibraltar to Algeciras.
V is for visitors
Gibraltar is a very popular destination for cruise liners and coach tours. At peak times in the summer, the population of the Rock can almost be doubled for a day, when several large cruise ships arrive all at once. Those are the times when it’s wise to give Main Street a wide berth, especially if you have small children and pushhairs to steer through the crowds.
W is for weather
We are blessed with pretty mild winters (although there was some snow a few miles up the coast this winter) and long hot sunny summers. Thankfully because of our location surrounded on three sides by sea we don’t get such high temperatures as they do further up the coast or inland in Spain.
We can get a rather large cloud developing on the top of the Rock called the Levanter. It’s formed by the easterly wind and just sits above us creating humid conditions below. Some people refuse to have their hair done on Levanter days and it’s been blamed for meringues failing to rise and paint from drying properly.
X is for BreXit (sorry couldn’t think of anything beginning with X)
Well this is the main reason why everyone’s talking about Gibraltar at the moment isn’t it? 96% of the Gibraltar electorate voted to remain in Europe and no one knows what Brexit will mean for us all here on the Rock (or the UK for that matter).
Y is for Yanito or Llanito
Yanito or Llanito is the dialect which is spoken by Gibraltarians. Anyone wandering along Main Street will hear locals speaking a mixture of English and Spanish with a few Genoese or Maltese words thrown in too.
Z is for zebra crossings (post boxes and red telephone boxes)
We may live at the very south of Iberian Peninsular and we can see Africa from our windows but there are a lot of familiar British sights around Gibraltar. There are often tourists posing for photos by the phone boxes and and post boxes trying to catch a little of Britain in the Med.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this Gibraltar A to Z, if you only take one thing from it, can it please be that Gibraltar’s NOT an island? (I have read two articles today which described it as one) Thank you!
Over the years we have lived in Gibraltar, and particularly since the park was opened there a few years ago, Europa Point has been a frequently visited destination for our family. During those visits I have taken many photos around the place and thought it high time that I share with you some of the pictures I have taken there. You will notice from this post that they were taken at different times of year and you can see the changes in the weather throughout.
Europa Point and it’s Trinity Lighthouse are at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar. It’s not quite the most southerly tip of Europe, Tarifa (which is a bit further West along the coast) can claim that title, but it is an amazing vantage point and stands at the gate of the Mediterranean Sea. Just a few miles across the Straits of Gibraltar you can see the coast of Morocco.
The Trinity Lighthouse is the only lighthouse operated remotely by Trinity House in London which is outside of the British Isles. It has stood on the site since 1841.
It’s guiding light can be seen up to 18 miles away and is much needed to guide sailors safely through the Straits of Gibraltar.
The original Lighthouse keepers cottages are still occupied and I believe they have the claim to fame of being the most southerly houses in Europe as the southern most tip of Tarifa doesn’t currently have houses on it.
What an amazing place to live though… especially on a sunny day. I’m not sure whether I’d fancy it so much during a storm when the spray from the waves is hitting the windows!
The lighthouse isn’t the only tall building to dominate Europa Point, it’s also the site of the largest of Gibraltar’s mosques; Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque. It’s relatively new, being inaugurated in 1997 and is the most southerly mosque in continental Europe.
In the photo above you can see Gibraltar’s trademark levanter cloud forming on the top of the Rock in the background. Unless it’s very overcast or foggy, you are pretty much assured of sunshine at Europa Point because the cloud (if there is one) stays over the town area.
When we first arrived in Gibraltar back in 2009, the area around Europa Point was pretty much wasteland. There was the mosque and lighthouse of course plus a cricket pitch but the rest of the land was pretty rough. The promenade was originally laid out by the military many years ago and had decayed to a very sorry state but in recent years the whole area has had a massive facelift. It was sorely needed as it’s a popular stop off point for the dozens of tourist buses which visit every day.
One of the best viewing points across the Straits of Gibraltar is Harding’s Battery. The Battery is the site of a huge cannon and in the weapon storeroom beneath there is a small museum area with displays telling visitors about the history of Gibraltar, it’s wildlife and it’s relationship to the sea.
The wide open flat space behind Harding’s Battery is perfect for scooters, bikes and anything with wheels. We are pretty frequent visitors there with the Little Postcards. On a dry sunny Sunday afternoon though, you can take your life in your hands trying to navigate across it through the learner cyclists, confident scooter riders flying down the slope from the cannon and chuck in a few remote control cars zooming madly about!
Close by is the Sikorski memorial. It’s a fairly recent addition, having been moved here from the Eastside of the Rock. It’s to commemorate a plane crash in 1943 which killed General Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile. The crash also claimed fifteen other lives. The stone which forms the base of the monument was specially shipped to Gibraltar from Poland to build it.
By far and away the best addition for us and countless other families when the whole Europa Point area was renovated several years ago, was the addition of a large and fantastically maintained park. Known in our house as the ‘Lighthouse Park’ for obvious reasons, it has been the scene of many a picnic, play and sibling dispute.
We really are lucky to have such a lovely place right on our doorsteps. It’s lovely whatever time of day you visit.
View from Europa Point to Algeciras
It was the perfect vantage point to catch a good view of the super moon which appeared late last year.
But there’s more to Europa Point that the bit the tourists see…. there’s the coastlline too.
On a rainy afternoon late last year on a walk past the University of Gibraltar, I went for an explore and discovered a path which took me down to the sea.
To the Europa Foreshore…
The area of land directly beneath the Europa Point complex feels like a world away. In parts it’s shabby and unloved, but it’s really special even on a grey damp day like the one when I visited.
As I approached the foreshore I spotted an elderly man standing very still and looking out to sea. I stood back and tried to spot what he was looking at but couldn’t see. He suddenly turned on his heel and walked towards me saying ‘What a magnificent pod of dolphins… they’ve been coming past a lot these past few days.’ Oh how I wish I’d seen them myself!
This area of rock and rough scrub land is a nature reserve, as I was visiting in winter time there wasn’t a great deal for me to see plant wise. I will definitely need to make another trip down there in spring.
Like much of the rest of Gibraltar, the foreshore is dotted with military buildings from years gone by. This was the outer wall of the Rock’s military defences.
It must be very exposed to be down here on a stormy day!
I love the sliver of sunshine breaking the clouds on this photo, but can you see the rain coming down? Within a few minutes that rain was falling on me. Time to run back to the bus stop!
Europa Foreshore, I will be back again on a brighter, sunnier day with my camera. I feel like I have just unearthed a secret world no one else knows about!
Hello, and welcome to my latest edition of Sunday Sevens. I hope you have had a good week. I’m slightly later posting this today as I have been to a football match already this morning! More on that in the next edition.
Without further ado, here’s this week’s offering:
Remembrance Sunday
It doesn’t matter where I am, but every Remembrance Sunday at 11am I am transported back to being a Girl Guide and standing to attention with my friends at our local parish church during the 2 minutes silence. I have no direct relatives (that I know of) who fought in the either of the World Wars or since, both my grandfathers were involved in war duties at home. It is such an important time to be still and remember the sacrifice made by so many people for our benefit. In the light of recent events and the precarious nature of world politics, it seems even more important to remember what’s gone on in our not too distant past and hopefully not make the same mistakes again.
Super Moon
Those of you who follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram will have already seen this photo, but I had to include it. On Monday night, Mr Postcard rushed out after dark with the Eldest to see if they could spot the super moon, they did and on their return urged me to go out and see it too. A short drive from our home and I was at Europa Point. I can honestly say I have never visited this part of Gibraltar after dark and it was weird to be adjacent to a play park we regularly visit but at night time and without children! It was so busy there – I presume it was because other folk wanted a good view of the super moon too.
So here is my attempt at capturing it, it was quite difficult. I’m a bumbling amateur when it comes to using a camera and I’m sure people who know what they’re doing would have been able to manage a much more sophisticated version! I’m rather pleased with it though…
Dressmaking class
Apologies for the uninspiring photo but it’s just to illustrate that at last my lining & outer section of my princess-line top have been joined. It’s been a long slow process but at last I feel like I’m getting somewhere 🙂
Watercolour class
Progress is also being made at watercolour class. Slowly, slowly my beach huts are edging nearer completion. I’d been having difficulty deciding how much detail to include in the middle of the picture, so my teacher told me to turn the original photo upside down to get a better perspective – it really works!
Glum Friday
I didn’t have the best day on Friday, I seemed to be in a bad mood when I woke up and despite a lovely impromptu coffee with friends, the blue mood persisted. Can’t explain it, I just wasn’t happy. The mood of the day wasn’t helped by the post office losing a parcel I’ve been waiting for with great excitement for 2 weeks or the fact it took us over 50 minutes to queue our way out of the new multi-storey car park on Friday night….
Festival of Light
The reason for us all being in town in the car on Friday night was to see the Gibraltar Christmas lights switched on in the Festival of Light. The Countdown to Christmas has officially started – eek!
Pokémon cards
Do you have Pokémon cards in your house? I do. They have become a bit of an obsession of late for Middle and Littlest Postcards. They had been promised that good behaviour would result a trip into town on Saturday to buy a few more packets.
Such was the level of excitement, they couldn’t wait to get home before ripping them open, so on the steps to the Parliament building they were opened and admired! Pikachu and Chespin are favourites in the Postcard family and both turned up in this haul so for them it was a very successful trip!
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins. If you are a blogger and would like to join in, pop over to Natalie’s blog to find out more.
Thank you for joining me this week, I hope you have a good week ahead. Until next time, goodbye for now!
Postcard from Gibraltar’s Sunday Sevens is officially one year old today!
This week’s Sunday sevens has a distinct lack of crochet and sewing, there has been a little going on behind the scenes but nothing of note. It’s been a funny old week really, the first one of the school term without any big events or visitors and I’ve felt oddly at a loose end. I’d been quite looking forward to getting back to ‘normal’ but I’m not entirely sure I enjoyed it.
I normally embrace free time and fill it with crafty things but this time I began to feel slightly guilty at having time on my hands and began a big autumnal ‘spring’ clean (for those of you who don’t know me – that’s NOT normal behavior) 😉 Next week we have plenty going on, so there’s no fear of the newly found domesticity continuing …. phew!
A spot of Sunday afternoon painting
You know when you just get the urge to do something? I had the overwhelming urge on Sunday afternoon to crack out my paints and have a go at painting the Europa Point lighthouse. I’ve tried to paint it a couple of times before and it’s just not worked out right. This time, I think it did.
More painting
The painting bug continued into Monday. The laundry was washed and I went to the supermarket but the bathroom didn’t get cleaned and neither did the floors – whoops! When the creative urge strikes, it’s a shame not to take advantage don’t you think? 😉
I tinkered with my lighthouse picture from the day before and had a bash at Catalan Bay (using a photo I took one evening as the sun was setting). This one is still a work-in-progress… I was also supposed to be doing a bit of sewing while the kids were at school – hence the sewing machine on the kitchen table. It made a good proper-upper for my pictures though!
Boats in the bay
This huge boat was anchored in the Bay and was lit up like a Christmas tree on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. I love watching the boats in the bay out of the window and from our balcony. As a family we like to look up the most interesting looking ones on Marine Traffic to find out where they’ve come from. We have visitors from all the corners of the world mooring in front of our home!
This was a drill ship registered in the Marshall Islands and it had travelled to Gibraltar from Amsterdam.
Rainy weather
The autumn weather arrived in Gibraltar this week, the temperature dropped a bit and the rains came. There was a mad scramble on Thursday morning to dig out wellies and waterproofs ready for the school run. Normally I’d be better organised but the lovely Indian summer we’ve been enjoying had lulled me into a false sense of security!
Exploring new territory
On Friday morning I got up raring to climb the Med Steps, but alas the weather scuppered my plans. I didn’t fancy slipping off the steep side of the Rock, so opted for a coastal walk instead.
Last week, fellow Gibraltar blogger Brit on the Rock posted a photo on Instagram of a view at Europa Point which I didn’t recognise. I asked her where she’d taken it from and here is where it was. It’s a place called the Europa foreshore and it’s part of the Gibraltar Nature Reserve.
I stood looking out to sea and watched the next rain shower swiftly coming across the Straits towards me. It was fascinating to watch the clouds scudding across the sky and I was lost in the moment for a while before I suddenly realised that I needed to get a move on and head home before getting well and truly drenched!
An afternoon in Spain
Yesterday, the weather was much better and we headed across the border to Duquesa where some special people were waiting for us. My brother, his fiancée and her family had arrived for a short holiday the night before. We had a lovely long afternoon in the garden of the villa they’d rented for their stay.
The Little Postcards played in the pool and we enjoyed a barbecue and lots of catching up. This was the magnificent view from the garden out towards the Mediterranean- just lovely.
We got this lovely view of the Rock on our way back home.
One more thing…
If you’re reading this in Gibraltar, and you have yet to purchase your Christmas cards, please consider supporting this very worthy cause. Babystepps is a very important charity supporting parents through early parenthood and pregnancy here in Gibraltar. Thank you 🙂
Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog. Pop over to her blog to find out how to join in.
On Monday we were given an extra bank holiday here in Gibraltar. We celebrated National Day yesterday, and as it fell on a Saturday we got an extra day off tagged on the end of the Gibraltar Music Festival weekend. Mr Postcard had to go to work for some of the day so I took the Little Postcards to Europa Point to take their bikes out for a spin.
As they cycled round trying to avoid taking out a few tourists on the way past, I carried on with my #sixtymilliontrebles project. It’s coming on so quickly it’s bigger than the lighthouse already ;-).
Sometimes it’s easy to forget just where we live. As I sat hooking up my trebles the voice of a tour guide was carried in my direction on the breeze ‘…the amazing thing about Europa Point is that from here you can see three countries, two continents, an ocean and a sea.’ Good point Mrs Tour Guide, and I’m just sitting on a bench hooking up granny squares oblivious to this amazing backdrop…
An evening out
We had a lovely night out child-free this week. We had no plans and went out for a walk not knowing where we would end up. Our final destination was Queensway Quay where we enjoyed a lovely meal. It was so pretty there at sunset.
And relax…
On Thursday morning I found myself with a whole hour of free time. It was the first time since all three children returned to school that I’d completed my to-do list with time to spare before heading out on the midday school run. Life will be so much easier once full-days return to school next week. (Schools here finish at lunchtime for the last few weeks of summer term and before National Day in September).
I’d been to collect my latest issue of Simply Crochet magazine from the post office and all the shopping was put away. So I had a guilt free flick through 🙂
Aerobatics
Friday saw the Rock gearing up for the National Day yesterday. A now regular feature of the celebrations is an aerobatic display. The pilots had a practice run late on Friday afternoon and it was quite a sight to behold across the Bay. I spied them out of the window and dashed to grab my phone for a quick photo. By the time I’d got out onto the balcony they’d gone from right in front of our building to down near the lighthouse at the tip of Gibraltar!
They were amazing – although I couldn’t imagine ever having a ride in one!!
Gibraltar National Day 2016
It was a scorcher of a day here yesterday as Gibraltar celebrated it’s national pride in style. Some people choose to spend it on the beach, others in town. We had a quiet lunch with friends and a walk through the Alameda Gardens.
It wouldn’t be National Day without a great fireworks display. It was spectacular as usual (not so great for our four legged friends though).
So there you have it, the summer is officially over now. We had a long school summer break, the fair came to town, then the Gibraltar Music Festival last weekend and now National Day has passed us by. Schools go back on Monday for full days, so it’s packed lunches and after school clubs all the way to the end of October!
Thank you for stopping by, this has been Sunday Sevens, part of a weekly blog series devised by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog.
