Safari in Spain

If your looking for something to do for the kids or just looking for something to do with friends or guests who come out to visit you, I definitely recommend going to Selwo Zoo. Its situated near Estepona, so about a 40 minute drive from Gibraltar. I wasn't all that keen beforehand and don't personally agree with Zoos in general. Having said that as I was on holiday I really needed to find a place to take my son and be sure that he would have fun and be safe. We arrived at about 3.30pm and discovered that the safari park was split into 3 areas. As they close at 6pm (Oct hours), we only had time to look round the first part. I was a little disappointed that we didnt have time to catch the last bus (4.15pm) to take us to the second park with all the big animals, however the first park was fantastic and had some wonderful animals, apes, birds, flamingoes, Pelicans, Macaws, parrots, chetahs - its truly worth a visit. www.idealspain.com

I'm definitely going back to enjoy the other two parks.

Castles in Spain

One of the best things about being in Gibraltar is that you are so close to Spain. Spain certainly offers huge potential for discovery. It has vast space and after living in Gibraltar for a year you'll understand why space suddenly becomes such a priority. We recently visited a beautiful castle in the mountains called Castellar De La Frontera. We went on a Monday and there were only one or two tourists. The views from the castle are breathtaking and overlook the beautiful lake. The narrow cobbled paths and the tropical colourings of the flowers really give it a sesnse of history. There's a whole village inside the castle, with shops, houses, restaurants. Apparently you can't go in the castle but you can stay there. they've turned it into a hotel and you can stay there. Now thats what I call romantic Romeo! http://www.tugasa.com/castellar.htm
http://www.idealspain.com/Pages/Places/Castellar.htm

Swimming Pools

You woul dhave thought that in a country that is surrounded by water that there would be a swimming pool facility for all to enjoy. There is one - GASA. It's easy for me to sit here with a communal swimming pool on our roof , why should I care? For one thing, there's no way you can use an open air swimming pool in the winter months which is at least half the year, and in any case it's a pool for adults, so not much fun for the little ones. So I went in search for an indoor pool for kids and adults that the whole family can enjoy. I was delighted to discover that there was an indoor swimming pool in Gibraltar and that it had children's pool too. I eventually made some enquiries and found out that its use is somewhat limited. The summer months are reserved for OAPs and the disabled. From around september onwards you have to complete a form and go on a waiting list. The same applies for kids swimming lessons. They start from 3 years onwards and you have to apply about a year in advance as that's how long the waiting list is! The worst thing for me was to find out I couldn't go and use the kids pool. Apparently there is some kind of mother & toddler session being organised and they were going to call me back about that. i still havent heard anything. Even if they did have them I wouldn't expect they would cater for working mothers. It all seems quite peculiar to me, as a country with only about thirty thousand people (and a large proportion of that non-residents), why limit use of the only indoor swimming pool. Perhaps it all seems so strange because I come from London where I am used to having access to most community facilities immediately. Unfortunately looks like I may have to extend my search to the near by town of La Linea, Spain.

Shopping & pampering

If you're looking for supermarkets there's one. Yes. Just one Supermarket in the whole country. Imagine that. It seems top be perfectly sufficient and with it being a Morrisons (formally known as Safeways) you are never too far away from your favourite good old british condiment sauce. The great thing about Morrisons is that its opening hours are pretty much the same as in the Uk - open 7 days a week. The only other shop is also the british invention - the asian corner shop . There's one of those here too, yes just one. Ramsons. Fantastic for those last minute, late night purchases!

As for the rest of the shopping arena, most shops are mainly situlated in main pedestrianised high street called Main Street. This is where you'll find all those branded shops such as M&S, Accessorize, Monsoon, Early Learning Centre, BHS and Top Shop. There are a handful of other good clothing stores such as MarbleArc (trendy branded products) and Rosabella, and a few others. Other than that fashion and homeware stores are fairly limited. Most shops close here just when you have time to shop. If you work full time your only opportunity to do the weekly shop, get a haircut, get a present for your son's friends bithday and buy a new outfit is probably Saturday morning. Its a tall order. It reminds me of living in the UK about 25 years ago when shops closed earlyt on Sat and were not at all open on Sunday. I even remember that most shpos closed on Wednesday afternoons too! How did my parents manage? Having said all that I do like the sense that we are forced to find other things to do with our wekends other than shop, I have to say that I think moving here and experiencing that alone has been my saviour , its allowed me to think more about how to relax and not get caught up in the world of disposable consumerism.

I am guilty however of over doing it a bit on the shopping side in a recent visit to London. I think I spent a whole day in Selfridges! I had been starved of quality choice for far too long. But I guess all those Sundays for reflection one has to indulge every so often.

Utilities

I was just about to start this new blog on shopping when I was reminded that I lived miles from home where there was a sound utility infrastructure or at least reliable. I just experienced a power cut. Thought it was just my flat but looked out he window to see that every single light in the whole vacinity had gone out except the odd emergency light. I#d heard a recent story of guests at the local casino having to play poker by candle light, no doubt they'll be doing the same tonight! Well its come back on now and am sure it will be fine - I guess its not been a major hassle just a reminder of where you are. it's very easy to get on with your daily routine and feel you are in the UK with famililiar brands such as Top Shop, BHS , Early Learning Centre and Accessorise.
The other utility issue I've had is having no water for a few hours in the day, this is especially difficult when you have small children and its the middle of the summer. But again it doesnt usually last very long. It can be quite off putting when you go to run a relaxing bath after a long hard day at work only to find rust coloured water coming from your taps while initially spitting out.

Charity, Recycling & Car booties

I have to say that I've never really had a particularly eco friendly conscience however at least I didnt think so. While being here I have struggled to find anywhere that would accept recycling of anything and everything. FOr a country that outputs nearly 10 differnent magazines on itself each month I thought they would have some kind of infomation as where to recyle your plastic etc . But after much research I've had no luck. And as for charity shops - I think there's one and I've heard its particularly difficult to get to with a car load of stuff. It pained me but just as I didnt have any space in my flat and I had a load of things to get rid off I had to resign to chucking it all out with the rubbish. I find it difficult being here sometimes. Perhaps I'm just not paying enough attention but there are frequent demos and exhibitions promotion green issues however it fails to promote what I see as the easiest of solutions - Recyling.

Gib Parks

The first thing I had to consider was what kind of life would it be for my son. As a baby he would need lots of things to do and lots of care. There was only one nursery that I was infomed of through my company so I didnt get a chance to check out the other nurseries. All I know is that me & My husband have been very happy with our son's nursery Right Start. Our son has been going there for nearly one year and we can honestly say he really enjoys it and he loves all the nursery teachers there too.

One of the keys things we noticed about living in Gibraltar with children was the freedom we had to enjoy a drink whilst also taking our son with us, not only would the weather allow us a longer warmer evening but lots of children would also be playing outside. Overall Gibraltar is a safe place for children and open minded and relaxed enough to entertain having children at bars and restaurants.

This has been a great advantage that we have experienced with being here. We have spent many evenings enjoying a drink with friends while also enjoying spending time with our son.

When we need a babysitter I usually ask at the nursery and one of the nursery teachers will usually be able to do it. I like the idea of Fabian enjoying the evening with someone he knows and likes.

Space, it has to be said, is limited. Gibraltar does not have too much land mass and thus means that the childrens open play areas are somewhat restricted and few and far between. This has been disappointing although I am slowly getting to about more and more play areas just by getting to know the locals. Unfortunaltely some of the play parks have no grass at all and look like little cages surrounded by traffic. Sounds horible I hear you say. I guess this is made up by the great and accessable beaches. There is Eastern beach, Little Bay (excellent for children) and others. The fact that you can go to the beach pretty much anytime of the year is a great advantage of living in Gibraltar. The local swimming pool is still a bit of a mystery - seems to be closed to all but OAPS and the disabled durng the Summer. Once I have checked it out in more detail I will post up the details. Apparently there is an adult and childrens pool. We are lucky enough to have a communal swimming pool on our roof and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Once you been here a while you have to check out the Gibraltar Botanical Gardens - it is an absolutely fantastic retreat and is full of the lush greenery that I so miss. I do miss the masses of green parks I grew up with (even in the congested city of London) however if you need a short bust of nature, the botanical gardens may do the trick.

It even host events, parties, weddings and concerts up there so there's always other opportunities to visit.

The Zoo. As with most things in Gibraltar we just stumpbled upon the Gibraltar zoo one day. Its not the kind with tigers and elephants however it does have all sorts of animals, not to mention the infamous gib monkeys.

Moving to Gib

I want to start by saying, contrary to popular belief Gibraltar is not an island. Now that I have cleared that up, I can start. I've been living in Gibraltar for exactly a year today which is why it is such a significant that I got the idea to start this blog, it was quite accidental. Moving to Gibraltar was a seriously difficult decision to make as after spending two years renovating our house in West London and finally finishing it to perfection , I was offered a job in Gibraltar. With a 9 month old baby and a husband in a full time job which he loved, it was a tough decision.

A four day visit to Gibraltar was certainly not enough to decide whether to relocate or not, I guess the deciding factor was really the curiosity factor.