Christmas in Gibraltar

Since we arrived, the weathers generally been great with blue skies and temperatures up to 26 degrees. This time last year we were hunkered down on the south coast of the U.K. with the heating on full 🥶 . We know into the new year the temperature will drop a bit but still way better so smiles all round. Christmas Day looks like sun & 19 degrees…. That’ll do nicely 🥂

We’ve had Beth & Harper (2nd daughter & granddaughter) onboard for a week. Charlotte & Beth went off on their own leaving us with grandparent duties which was lovely as these moments are so precious & fleeting. We felt so lucky to be together again❤️

The next week Carolines sister flew in so together we explored the Rock, leaving Charlotte onboard to get on with her university coursework.

The official tour is definitely the way to go which takes you up the Rock to the big 4 attractions. St Michael’s cave is simply amazing, and the history surrounding it even more so. Skywalk including the “locals” was next followed by the great siege tunnels and World War II tunnels. The engineering feats of the original great seige tunnels really does need to be seen to be appreciated as these were made by hand. These photos will never do it justice, you really need to go!!

World War II tunnels whilst smaller in length , are much bigger in volume presumably due to technological advances in demolition etc and can accommodate thousands of people for months. Their strategic importance is well documented & it’s clear to see with the view out over the straits.

We’ve settled in nicely and have found ourselves a couple of local bars within the “village” who offer happy hour drinks….. our favourite prices 😂. Despite Silhouette being on the market, general maintenance continues. The fresh water pump started to sound a bit dry so we’ve replaced it with a new more powerful one rather than mess about with a repair and I’ve replaced the toilet outlet hoses. I had the spare hose in the locker and it was on my list of things to do anyway…. Still not a nice job though 🤮

As I write this, Silhouette is under offer with deposit paid & survey booked for the 12th January. Interest was as we thought it would be & we always felt the first to view would fall in love as quickly as we did back in 2015. We hope the buyers come down during the survey as they’ve actually only seen Silhouette via a video link & a recommendation from a friend who came to look for them! We know the surveyor will be there to do a job (be nice!) but we’d love the buyers to take the helm from the berth round to the marina on the Spanish side where she’ll be lifted out and watch the smile on their faces for the first time…. Which would be something special for them!!

Of course it’s Christmas so Silhouette is suitably adorned with lights as usual, my mother has also arrived for Christmas & new year staying in a hotel nearby.

Caroline, Charlotte & Nala flew back to the U.K. briefly to bring my mother back, Nala is now quite the celebrity with British Airways having flown with them 4 times in the last few weeks & everyone falls in love with her….. she even has her Boeing A320 license. Fortunately the passengers didn’t know who landed the aircraft😂😂

A huge shout out goes to British Airways who are truly amazing.