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We finally get to bed at 4.00am but we are up bright and early a few hours later. My left arm feels a little dead - pins
and needles - and I wonder if I have had a minor stroke but decide that if I am going to die then it is better to do it
in bright sunshine than in a hospital bed. So, we climb the Mediterranean Steps again in yet another record breaking
time (for us) of 13min 5secs. When we get to the cafe at the top it is still closed and there are bits of machinery
everywhere - they are replacing the cables on the cable car system.
It is a beautiful day with birds and butterflies flying all around us. We try to keep in the shade as we plod down the
hill to the Rock Hotel.
In the afternoon we take an urgent letter to the Post Office. This fails on two counts. Firstly, it turns out to be
Commonwealth Day which
is a public holiday in Gibraltar and the Post Office is closed. Secondly, even if the Post Office were open the last
collection is evidently at 2.30pm - maybe this is related to ships and planes, or something. Perversely, there are no
collections on Saturday but there is a collection at 7.00am on Sunday.
Incidentally, local
letters
in Gibraltar cost 10p and light letters to the UK cost 42p but can take a couple of weeks to arrive sometimes.
Most of the cafes are closed but anything run mainly by Spaniards seems to be open - we have a couple of really good
sandwiches in the Cheers Cafe at the top of Bell Lane. Sadly, the book shop in Bell Lane is permanently closed - it was
pretty useless but still a pity to see it go.
There are no newspapers because the border is closed to commercial traffic or something. Morrisons is open and about
ten percent of the other shops.
Quite why the
Daim
chocolate and caramel bar is so addictive I don't know - you would never buy one if you did not know of its exquisite
taste. Frankly, it looks tacky and I don't like milk chocolate but, in the words of the old song, there is nothing
like a Daim.
After having eaten all the Daims in the refrigerator, we walk into town and manage to post my girlfriend's urgent letter.
We are moving flats shortly and will need to buy a kettle. So, we record for posterity the
Bosch, Private Collection
kettle that is in our current rented flat. Here in Gibraltar people fit out expensive flats for the rental market at the
most incredible cost - everything is top of the range. Thank you, Mr Landlord, it is appreciated.
The flat we stay at in Dublin on the other hand,
Ellis Quays,
is a nice flat, nicely located and with nice people running the block. But, and it is a big but, they have fitted it out
in the cheapest way possible - everything falls apart when you pick it up. Very irritating. Mind you, it does have
incredibly quick (and free) internet which is a huge factor for casual visitors. Many hotels charge £12 per day
which is very annoying. They also have excellent free parking in the basement.
Of course, nothing is really free but it is irritating to be constantly hit with extras.
Late in the afternoon we go off to the bay next to the Caleta Hotel (200 76501) to collect driftwood as I have
slight pretensions to become a driftwood artist and we cannot think of anything better to do. It is very windy on our
side of the peninsula but here in the bay we are sheltered from the wind but the sea is very rough.
Later we have drinks on the terrace of the hotel overlooking the sea - very pleasant. This is something we should have
done before.
When we get home we soak the driftwood in the bath with some bleach to remove the yuck factor.
In the morning the driftwood has been well soaked overnight - I turned it over before we went to bed and my girlfriend, it
turns out, did the same five minutes later.
In the morning we go for a drive to Ronda along the coast road and then up the twenty miles of snaking bends. Usually
there are no motorbikes but today there are dozens of them. Not the usual wimps but real hardcore racers leaning right
over in the bends with their knees an inch from the ground. On the straight they lose us for dead but on the corners
we put up a very credible performance - flat out in third we cannot go any faster as the car is already beginning to
slide.
On the way down we round a sharp corner with the tyres screaming to find two policemen and a motorcyclist all staring at
us. The blue light is flashing but we look so respectable in our boring grey hire car that they probably think they
imagined the noise and we drive on laughing like drains.
In the evening we go to see
Watchmen
which is a work of genius - I have no idea what it is about but it is visually stunning - another
Sin City.
Go and see it.
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