Week 77 of Gibraltar Diary

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Sunday 30th August 2009


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We set off for Ronda where, as usual, we find all sorts of interesting things to photograph.

Monday 31st August 2009



We set off on a walkabout. My girlfriend is carrying the Canon EOS1000D with the Sigma 50-500mm lens that really needs a wheelbarrow and I am carrying the Nikon Coolpix P90 which is very light and costs a fraction of the price. We take some hand held shots of the aerials on top of the rock which must be about a mile away. The pictures from the Coolpix are better.

Tuesday 1st September 2009

To the craft club where Lizzie has made a wonderful teapot cover. Meanwhile, my wooden whistle is not going well.

Wednesday 2nd September 2009

We set off for the ferry back to England via Bilbao. The roads are warm, dry and empty and I suppose it is inevitable that sooner or later we get pulled over by the Guardia Civil. Stalling the engine in the middle of the road while doing a U - turn in a small town did not help. After endless mis-understanding it turns out that they are baffled by my number plate since it does not appear to contain a number. Fortunately we have all kinds of documents and eventually they let us go.

They also recommend a hotel, namely the Hotel Alfonso VIII - which is pretty good. The internet does not work but the free internet from the Centro Comercial Abierto does, so that's all right then.

Thursday 3rd September 2009

An irresponsible person driving a fast car could actually cover a hundred miles in an hour on the brand new, free and empty motorway up to Bilbao - where we end up at about 6.00pm looking for a hotel. We pass the Sheraton which looks expensive. And is. Expensive but spectacular.

The man on reception is very helpful and suggests we get the tram to the old part of the town where we will find lots of nice places to eat which are a lot cheaper than the Sheraton. We follow his advice but finding somewhere to eat is tricky. There appear to be dozens of places but in fact there are not and we end up having a very good meal in a Chinese restaurant that could have been in Manchester.

I had assumed that Bilbao was just a place with a ferry like Dover but in fact it is definitely somewhere you could spend a couple of days and have a good experience. Maybe next time.

Friday 4th September 2009

We set off for the ferry and pass under a spectacular new road which is currently just hanging in the sky in bits.

When we do get to the ferry, we wait for hours because of some hard luck story concerning waves and broken arms. In the good old days they would have sawn it off and dipped the stump in hot tar and sent hime back to work rather than holding everybody up while helicopters come and go.

Saturday 5th September 2009

The Pride of Bilbao is not a modern luxury cruise ship but is OK for a day or so. We had hoped that they would catch up during the course of the day as the sea is pretty calm but in fact we arrive in Portsmouth at 10.00pm rather than 5.30pm.


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      End of Week 77 of Gibraltar Diary

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