Europe 2014 - off again!!

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Hola everyone!



A few things we have noticed on this trip in Europe is that dogs are allowed in shops, restaurants and buses. Some girls copy the Paris Hilton's of this world and carry their small dogs under one arm.....

We're really getting the hang of an afternoon siesta after a great lunch and some wine - finding it very easy to do..

On Monday we did some stuff around the house, had lunch and pretty much relaxed at home during the day. Yesterday we decided to go to the Rock of Gibraltar and check out one of the golf courses we'd been advised to go, thought we might go there for lunch. Well, we travelled for ages and could see the Rock in the distance and followed signs, as it turned out - the wrong signs! Here they don't number the exits nor have it in English to say where things are and when to get off the motorway - it's a real guessing game. Yes the GPS we have is totally useless!!! Waste of money for sure. Each place has so many names attached to it we don't know what is the city and what is the street etc etc. some of locals have said they gave up on trying them... so what hope did we have. We travelled for ages and got to know a few of the roundabouts quite well - there was one with coloured trees as you will see in the photos. A dog was near one roundabout and causing quite a bit of confusion, no one seemed to be able to catch it ... so we just moved right on.

Anyway we finally found the way to the rock - headed towards San Roque, thinking that might be the Spanish name - not sure if it is but we got very close to the rock but with construction going on around the area we decided to take some photos and get out of there. It's a massive Rock and has at one end to only one part of it, cable cars to see the view from the top... of the bottom end. The scenery was amazing and went from barren, almost desert like to lush green areas, sea on one side and mountains on the other. Wind farms here too.

From there we went to have a look at a shopping centre and have a look at the nearby market stalls before heading somewhere for lunch. We were driving along the motorway when we saw a quaint sea shack on the beach - a restaurant for want of a better name. But we had lunch there and it was great. They cook fish on a fire on a wooden boat - yes they do - have photos to prove it. However the boat is on the beach and filled with sand. We came home after that for a siesta and then went to a great English restaurant for dinner - close by - yes we do seem to be doing a bit of eating. After dinner we went for a walk around the seafront and just wandered around and took a few photos. We have daylight savings here until almost the end of October. The days are great and the evenings are just spectacular. A lot of people on the beach with amazing tans and some over tanned and wrinkly, not a good look

Today we went to the local markets, quite good actually and some of the things I had seen in shopping centres were for sale at about a third of the price, same brands etc., anyway we topped up on fruit and nuts and John bought some shoes. After that we went for a drive to Rio Real Golf Club - very nice so had a great lunch there - yes still eating and drinking but hey we're on holidays. The views from any golf club over the golf course from the terrace are really spectacular and very relaxing. From there we came home for our siesta and then down to the pool for awhile for a swim and just laying around afterwards - quite a lazy way of spending time. We're still here for another 11 days so slowly learning to find our way around and John has got the hang of driving on the left hand side of the road in a left hand drive. Certainly an interesting place and lots to see and do... apart from eating and drinking.

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Photos

Rock of Gibraltar
Below the rock there is a huge cruise ship - the rock makes it look like a toy ship. A plane took off right next to the cruise ship while we were there - it was quite a sight.

John having his lunch
This was taken at the quaint seaside restaurant where we had lunch. Food was good.

Massage parlour
This was on the beach so if you wanted a massage, this is the place for it. don't mind all the restaurant patrons looking on..

Part of an old fort
This is now used as an information centre on the beach - looks great at night don't you think?

Rio Real Golf Club
The view facing another way from the terrace - note the barren mountains in the background.

Caesar salad
This was my lunch today - hope you can see how huge it was and no I didn't eat it all.

Late night diners
We have discovered that people generally have lunch around 2.30 - 4pm and dinner very late - this photo was taken when we went for a walk after dinner which was around 9pm but a lot don't eat until about 10pm..

Rio Real
This is the view from the golf club terrace in one direction - quite amazing. BTW Real is pronounced Ree elle. Like the club Real in Madrid.

Cooking boat
This is one of the boats used for cooking fish, ribs and anything you want grilled.

Apartments on the beach
What a great place to live - with so much going on all the time and retreat when you want to. Most are holiday apartments.

Coloured trees on roundabout
We got to know this particular roundabout quite well. Later the dog was here causing a few problems for the traffic.

Quaint seaside restaurant
This was the one I mentioned - it reminded us of some we went to in Portugal.

Comments

[Noveen]

Lunching
Great to see you are keeping up the holiday tradition of eating and drinking!

[JohnLyn]

Europe 2014 - off again!!
We do our best!