1 July on to Estepona and the footy final

I will add photos later - problems with wifi here
Here it is again now with photos...

There was more of Gibraltar that we wanted to explore before leaving, so we decided to pre- book into a hostal in Estepona, only  a 45 minute drive away for the night. This way we could still spend an extra day in Gibraltar.

So after breakfast we booked out and moved the car out of the multi-story carpark we had managed to find a space in. This is another thing that has been a bit of a problem to us. There is never anywhere to park. Every time we arrive anywhere we spend ages driving around trying to find where we are going and then trying to find a park reasonably close

We drove back up the rock part of the way up to the Jews Gate, as we hadn’t managed to see it yesterday.

We found a parking spot in the area near the Botanical/Almeda gardens. We spent a considerable time exploring the gardens with Bill trying to find the area that he remembered playing in. We think we finally found the area where the swing was but it was all fenced off so we couldn’t go in, but we did have a good view of it from a little bridge.

We also spent some time in the wildlife park, adjoining the gardens. Only a small park that started as a home for animals, such as pot bellied pigs, and terrapins, that had been confiscated for maltreatment or illegal importation.

We couldn’t leave Gibraltar without at least one photo of Bill sitting on a cannon, even if it wasn’t the same one as he sat on when he was a child!!!!

Next stop the 100 Ton Gun built for WW1 but never fired in anger!!! It was placed at a spot to protect the entrance to the harbour.

Lots of gulls here as they are all over Gibraltar, there is a continually incessant sound of their squawking.

We then drove through a few tunnels through the rock to reach Europa Point

And then the beaches on the other side in Catalan Bay where we were hoping to stop for a bite to eat. Sandy Bay where Bill used to go was all built up with ugly little units, and we couldn’t see any cafes, so we didn’t stop there. The bay a little further along seemed to be the place to go so we pulled in there but everyone seemed to be driving out. We discovered why – there was a strong wind blowing in from the sea, blowing the sand (if you could call it that!!) all across the beach and the shore.

We decided to give a try and find somewhere where we could sit inside, which we did, and had some fish and chips. By the time we came out again the wind had died down a bit.

Before leaving Gibraltar we tried to find a shop where we could buy a Gibraltar flag but everywhere was closed – nothing opens there on a Sunday except petrol stations!!!!

Interestingly, there was no queue to drive out of Gibraltar and NO passport checking!!!

The short drive to Estepona took even less than we had anticipated because Karen let us down and took us via the Auto Pista even though I had said I didn’t want to go that way as the other road would have taken us along the beautiful coast line.

Stroke of luck when we arrived in the town though, we found a parking spot right behind the Plaza De Las  Flores at the Hostal El Pilar hotel where we were staying. Pretty little square and a very homely hotel, except they didn’t understand English and we don’t understand Spanish. We muddled through though, as we have had to on many occasions when we have stayed in less touristy places

Seeing as we had altered our itinerary slightly and hadn’t gone as far as Ronda I decided to contact Mhairi who lives in Estepona. I knew Mhairi who is Blanche’s sister from Kenya days as they lived not far from us in Ruiru and went to both the Nairobi primary and the Kenya High. I rang Mhairi on the off chance she would be there and as luck would have it she and her husband Will were both home and were available to spend the evening with us. A gorgeous evening stroll along the waterfront to where we had arranged to meet at the Puerto Deportivo and a very pleasant evening at a Chinese restaurant slightly away from all the restaurants with the TVs showing THE GAME.

Needless to say everyone went crazy when Spain scored the first goal and thereafter every other goal and at the end the streets went crazy.

We walked home at midnight amongst the mania