Chapter 17: Getting to Know Gibraltar

Just over a week after I arrived, as I was settling in, I got a text from my Mum. In it she explained that Nick's sister Phyl, and her husband Terry, were out in Gibraltar on holiday, and that they had very kindly offered to meet me, and show me around. Even though Gibraltar is a small place, after only a week, and with the buses having been on strike, I was still getting to know the place.

Phyl and Terry

I met Phyl and Terry that Sunday afternoon, at their holiday apartment on Glacis Road. I had had lunch, but they put on a nice spread of fruit loaf and biscuits, so I wolfed in (for the sake of politeness only you understand!). After asking how I was getting on in Gibraltar, the topic turned to the fire in Morocco the previous night. I was glad they had mentioned this, as it made a couple of strange events overnight fit together. The night before, I was driving back from Morrisons with my mate Diego, when he said he thought he saw flames in the distance, in the direction of Morocco. I was too busy trying to concentrate driving on the incredibly narrow streets that lead to Europa Point, so I didn't see the flames. By the time I'd unpacked my shopping, I'd forgotten all about it. The next morning I saw a kind of white/grey dust on my car, and I wondered what it was. Had I scraped a wall without noticing it? So when Phyl and Terry mentioned the fire, and showed me a news report, the pieces fitted together. Tragically this happened not long after the awful earthquake in Marrakech.

Fire

After the snack, they showed me the view from their balcony. It was pretty stunning with a view over the historic part of town, from the historic boundary wall, to the Rock and the Moorish Castle. I remarked on how good the view was. Phyl, however, explained that the view used to be better, before the highrise next to them blocked the view from their kitchen. I had thought upon arriving that their sandstone building looked quite different to the modern concrete and glass monstrosity next to it. They worried that more development planned across the road would obscure their view from the balcony too. In some ways Gibraltar seemed a victim of it's own success.

Spot the difference!

Phyl and Terry kindly offered to show me around the town centre, taking me to places Mum and Nick hadn't been able to, due to my late arrival in Gibraltar. They took me over to Casemates Square, but instead of going up Main Street, we went up Irish Town. Irish Town runs parallel to Main Street (like George Street and Princes Street in Edinburgh). I was starting to feel right at home. Not only an Edinburgh Estate but an Irish Town too (would my surname get me any discounts there?!). They pointed out some good restaurants, and then the tourist information centre at the top of the street, in a nice square called John Mackintosh Square. John Mackintosh apparently a Gibraltarian philanthropist. This square is the site of the the Parliament Building and City Hall.

John Mackintosh Square

From there we went over to a nice city park called Commonwealth Park, next to King's Bastion Leisure Centre (again with the British connection). The highlight of the Leisure Centre is bowling. Not lawn bowls as is popular with O.A.P.s in the UK, but the American 10 pin variety. I was again struck by how much of Gibraltar is coastline, as we went round by the Queensway Quay, and saw some very expensive yachts parked. As we walked back into town, we passed an election van, which had a loudspeaker extoling the virtues of the incumbent party, or the opposition. The election was just over a month away, so things were heating up politically. This campaigning tactic, was totally different to anything I had seen in the UK during election campaigns. It reminded me of the 60s TV series the Prisoner, where 2 political opponents are competing during a village election, and both are driven around the village, campaigning with loud speakers.

The Prisoner was known as Number 6 in the TV show.
6 Convent Place, referred to in Gibraltar as "Number 6",
is the headquarters of the Government of Gibraltar!

Then, from one marina to another, we ended up back at Ocean Village, where I had parked my ash covered car. It had been a really nice day, and I felt I had got to know Gibraltar a bit better.

Ocean Village