So after several bottles of wine last night we didn’t get up too early, but we did make breakfast!

Faye and I were woken up by a very loud and large seagull on our balcony.

The botanical gardens were right by our hotel so we decided to pay them a visit. These gardens are also called La Alameda gardens and span around 15 acres. The gardens were commissioned in 1816 by the then British governor of Gibraltar, General George Don. He wanted the soldiers stationed in the fortress to have a pleasant recreational area to enjoy when off duty. An area where they and could enjoy the air protected from the extreme heat of the sun.

We entered via the side gate and the first thing we saw were some butterflies feeding.

We immediately passed the workers memorial which was placed in the gardens in 2018. Unite the Union believes there should be better laws in place to protect the safety of workers and placed the memorial to remember the dead and fight for the living.

There were loads of beautiful flowers and amazing trees to see.

We also had a little posing session amongst the plants.

If you come in the main gates you come across a huge statue of George Augustus Elliot guarded by four 18th-century howitzers.

The gardens are also home to a very small animal park. The Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park began in 1994 as a collection of parrots, tortoises and monkeys,  all confiscated from illegal traders who were passing through Gibraltar.

The park has also become important for the care of native species that are considered for future re-introduction to the Upper Rock Natute Reserve.

I think my favourite animals were the otters.

After the gardens we sat by the pool for a bit before heading into town for some lunch – chips and gravy.

We then wandered down to Morrisons with the intention of buying some cheap gin, but they didn’t have what we wanted so we picked some up in town on the way home.

In the evening we had some pre-drinks on the balcony.

We ordered a taxi to take us to to the restaurant and as we waited we watched the sun setting.

We had a really delicious meal at The Ocean Restaurant.

After a very filling dinner we walked down to some little bars which were very lively.

We walked back to the hotel and then left for home the next morning.

After a very tasty breakfast at the hotel we decided to explore the Rock. I suggested we walk up it rather than getting the cable car – and managed to persuade everyone that this was a great idea!

From the hotel we walked to Jews Gate Cemetry.

Located on Windmill Hill near the southern entrance to the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, Jews’ Gate Cemetery includes the earliest known Jewish burials in Gibraltar. It is the burial site of a number of Gibraltar’s Chief Rabbis, with the earliest known dating as far back as 1746. The cemetery was actually closed for burials just over a century later, on the 6th May 1848. To date, nobody knows for certainty the reason behind the Jewish community burying members of their dead at this specific location.

The Pillars of Hercules can also be found here -one of two promontories at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar, and the southern pillar has been identified as one of two peaks: Jebel Moussa (Musa), in Morocco, or Mount Hacho (held by Spain), near the city of Ceuta (the Spanish exclave on the Moroccan coast). The pillars are fabled to have been set there by Hercules as a memorial to his labour of seizing the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon.

We were going to take the Mediterranean steps up the rock but we took a wrong turn and ended up taking a short cut to St Michael’s cave.

On the way we came across some of the local residents – the Barbary macaque apes. These apes are originally from the Atlas Mountains and is the only wild monkey population on the European continent.

We ventured into St Michael’s caves which were beautiful. The caves are often host to concerts and theatre productions with a 600 person capacity.

The caves were originally thought to be bottomless and this gave rise to a rumour that there was subterranean passages between Gibraltar and Africa.

It’s believed that in 1704 Spanish troops spent a night in the cave after climbing the precipitous east face of the Rock. Another story about the cave recounts how a Colonel Mitchell and another officer were said to have descended into the cave at some unspecified date before 1840 and were never seen again.

During WWII the cave was prepared as an emergency hospital, but was never used as such.

At some period during the history of this cave, part of a stalagmite became too heavy on one side and fell, possibly thousands of years ago. It now lies on its side at the far end of the main chamber, cemented through the years by nature to the floor of the cave. In 1972 a slice was cut off from the top end which revealed the interior structure of the stalagmite in a most dramatic fashion.

Leonora’s cave is a system of caves within St Michael’s caves and as they are difficult to access they largely remain unspoilt.

Graffiti found on some of the rock date back to 1801 and early reports mentioning “passages leading off St. Michaels Cave” suggest that the site was first explored in the 1700s by British troops; however, it was only until 1864 that Captain Frederuck Brome explored this system extensively and realised its beauty. In 1867, he named this cave after his wife Leonora saying the site was “of unimaginable beauty”.

We spent quite a bit of time wandering around the caves and exploring.

Back out in the sunshine we came across more of the monkeys- one who was abiding by the hand sanatising rules.

We walked across the rock to the Queens viewpoint.

Before heading off to the Windsor Suspension bridge. This bridge was officially opened on the 21st June 2016 and is 71 metre long and suspended over a 50m deep gorge.

At one end of the suspension bridge is Hayne’s cave battery. This was first occupied during the Great Seige of Gibraltar (1779-1783). The battery dates from 1788 although it has a plaque labelled “1903” It is named after the nearby Hayne’s Cave. This battery was named after Captain Haynes who was the garrison quartermaster in 1787-1788 and who began the construction of Queen’s Road. You can see the remains of one of the two 4-inch QF gun positions which were installed in 1904 and are about 40 metres apart. In 1911 the guns were removed in favour of superior 6 inch guns.

We carried on down the Royal Anglican Way to Apes Den, and then on to Queens gate.

Most of the macaques monkeys sleep within an area of 22 acres around the Queen’s Gate. This is also the point where we started to climb up the huge amount of steps to the top of the rock via Charles V Wall.

The Charles V Wall is a 16th-century defensive wall that forms part of the fortifications of Gibraltar. It was built in 1540 and strengthened in 1552 by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The wall remains largely intact and has around 660 steps.

At one point a monkey was sitting on the steps. The signs warned you not to get to close if they were on the steps as they might feel threatened if they didn’t have enough space. So we waited for the monkey to move before carrying on our climb.

We tried a YMCA photo on the steps but not sure it was that successful.

The views from the top were beautiful.

Most of the beaches on Gibraltar are on the eastern side of the rock. This photo is looking down at Sandy Bay.

We walked over to the Skywalk which is 340m above sea level. The Skywalk is built on the foundations of an existing WWII base structure, and is designed to withstand wind speeds of over 150km/hour and can carry the weight of 5 Asian elephants, or 340 people, standing on it at the same time. The floor and balustrade panels are made up of 4 layers of laminated glass, with a total thickness of around 4.2cm. Laid out side-by-side, the 42 glass panels would cover more than 750m².

On the walk up to the restaurant at the top cable car station we came across some baby monkeys – they were so cute.

There were some more lovely views from the restaurant.

We decided to stop at the top.for a glass of wine and some nibbles.

We decided to get the cable car down, the entry had it’s own little guardsman.

It was only a few minutes before were back at the base of the rock.

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner at the Lounge restaurant at our hotel.

There was a beautiful sunset as we had our pre-dinner drinks.

The dinner was really tasty and the wine went down very well too.

Well, I didn’t think I’d be travelling anywhere this year, at least not anywhere that involved getting on a plane. And to be honest, Gibraltar was not top of my list. But it was for a friend’s birthday, it was going to be hot and sunny, it was only around 3 hours on a plane and there was no need to quarantine on return. But I was actually pleasantly surprised.

It was an early flight out of Heathrow, and we obviously had to have a 6am beer. The flight was actually quite busy but I slept for most of it.

When we arrived in Gibraltar we were planning on getting a taxi to our hotel – but there were none to be found and we couldn’t book an uber.

So after some discussion we decided to walk to the hotel. Not the best idea as it was a 40 min walk in 29 degrees sunshine, with suitcases and up a very steep hill! But we made it.

Our rooms weren’t ready when we checked in so we got changed and went to the hotel pool. The pool was lovely – salt water and quite cold.

After some time by the pool we went into town. It didn’t take very long to wander down the high street to Casemates square. This square  takes its name from the British-built Grand Casemates, a casemate and bombproof barracks at the northern end of the square completed in 1817. It has lots of restaurants and bars so we stopped off for a beer and some very sweet sangria.

After a couple of drinks we headed down to see the super yacht- Sunborn.

And as it was happy hour we stopped for a cocktail or two! The bar staff were pretty useless though as they didn’t really know what they were doing.

We had dinner in the Ocean Village – very tasty fish and chips!

Today was our last day in Estepona so we were up earlish and down by the pool in order to catch the sun.

We had a late lunch and then headed into Gibraltar. We left the car in Spain with our luggage in it and walked across the border into Gibraltar.

You have to walk across the runway once you’re over the border which feels a bit weird. Luckily the airport isn’t that busy.

Gibraltar is obviously famous for its rock, which is 426m high, but we didnt have time to climb it and get back down before our flight. The rock is home to the Barbary Apes, a type of tail-less macaque which are the only wild monkeys in Europe

So we had a wander around the town instead.

Gibraltar has a really long main street, but to be honest it wasn’t all that interesting.

We then headed back over the border to pick up our luggage before coming back to the airport in Gibraltar. Just after we crossed the border I realised I’d left my phone in the rental car. So Jamie and I had to go back to Spain to pick it up – luckily we had left enough time.

At the airport we had a drink and then watched our plane land.

We were delayed by around 20 minutes but we had a little sleep on the plane.

It took a while to get back to the car park and then both the M23 and some of the M25 were closed. So the journey home took longer than we wanted but we all arrived safely.

Today we started the day with beer. Probably not the best idea.

We then went for a walk along the beach into Estepona port. About 5 minutes into the walk we stopped for a little refreshment.

It was quite a cloudy day but still very warm. We spotted a shark in the water (not really).

At Estepona port we had a drink at one of the yacht clubs before wandering around the market.

It was really busy at the port, everyone seemed to be out for a Sunday stroll. We stopped off at one of the restaurants at the port, almost directly by the sea, and ate some delicious, and very fresh, fish tapas. The place was rammed so we stood outside. The waiters don’t write your order down, but remember it, and then shout out your name when your dishes are ready. It’s a crazy system but it seems to work.

Unfortunately Ticket doesn’t really like fish so we went to another restaurant to find something he would like.

We stayed here, relaxing with a couple of bottles of wine and some sort of hazelnut liqueur for a couple of hours.

And then it was time for dessert at an ice cream parlour.

After which it was back to the salsa club where Jamie, Ticket and Alicia joined in with a salsa lesson.

Around 10pm we started to make our way home, walking back along the beach.

Jamie and I decided to go for a little swim and the sea was actually not too cold.

When we got home, we sat up for a bit chatting and singing along to all the old favourites – Bowie, Nat King Cole, Pink Floyd etc.

I think it was around 2am when we went to bed.

So today was a relaxing day. After getting home around 7am and devouring all the dippy cheese and jamon we went to bed. But I was awake again at 1030am. We had snacks for breakfast and then I went for a swim and laid by the pool.

The others went back to bed. I got a little bit burnt on the back of my legs.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching films and eating snacks and I even managed a beer or two.

In the evening we bought some food from the supermarket and had a fairly healthy dinner.

And we just stayed in, watched tv, chatted and drank some wine.

We had a lazy start to the day, having breakfast around 10:30am. Around midday we headed to Ronda, a historical southern Spanish town. Jamie drove us along the windy mountain roads.We got stuck behind a lorry and couldn’t overtake for ages.

On the way up we took a little rest break at a viewing point. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy so the views weren’t that great. But it was a good opopportunity to relieve ourselves!

We arrived in Ronda and had a little wander through the main street.

We stopped at an Argentinian place to have some empanadas and beer, but they weren’t that great. And we sent the calamari back as it wasn’t actually squid that they served us.

Next stop was in another ham and wine shop.

And then we wandered down to the older part of the town, stopping on the way for a glass of tio pepe (white sherry).

Ronda is famous for its bullfighting and it has the oldest bullring in Spain, built in 1785. It is a neo-classical style, but we didn’t go inside.

During the 18th century, Fransisco Romero was the first matador to face the bull on foot rather than on horseback at this bullring.

We wandered round the edge of the El Tajo gorge.

There were a lot of ferral cats around, sleeping and eating in the sun. They seemed in really good condition but wouldn’t come up to you.

This is looking back to one of the platforms looking out over the gorge

These platforms are known locally as ‘Balcons Coños’ as they are scary to staand on.We then walked on to the Puente Neuve (new bridge). This was completed in 1793 after 40 years of constraction. 50 workers lost their lives in the building of the bridge which is 100m deep.

The bridge connects the older and newer parts of the town.

Ronda is one of the famous white towns of Andalusia.

On the way home we stopped at Aldi and Mercado to do a quick shop.

We had a delicious dinner before relaxing on the balcony with a drink or two.

Around 11pm we headed down to the port and sat by the boats as we drank our bottles.

We played some more table football (I lost again) and then partyed until around 7am.

I was up at 330am, showered, hair washed and dried and last minute items packed by 4am. Jamie and Ticket arrived at mine and then we were off to Gatwick. I didn’t realise the long stay car park was so far away from the airport but we made it in time for the flight.We all had a little snooze on the plane and then a g&t!After landing in Gibraltar we bought some very cheap alcohol in the tiny duty free shop before walking across to Spain. In Spain we picked up our hire car and Jamie drove us to the flat, it’s only about 25 minutes and along a coastal road.We quickly unpacked and headed to the swimming pool to catch some rays.Whilst we were sunbathing Alicia prepared a delicious Spanish lunch.We decided it would be a good idea to walk off some of the food we’d eaten. So we set off, walking along the beach.Just up from the apartment is a nudist beach which made for some interesting sights! We also came across a huge jellyfish.We walked up to some small rocks at the far end of the beach where we took a little rest.Alicia and Jamie decided to walk across to some larger rocks, but that wasn’t such a good idea as Jamie slipped and managed to get some sea uurchin spikes in his feet.Alicia performed emergency surgery and managed to extract one of the spines but we couldn’t get to the others. So we walked back to the apartment and Jamie managed to get the rest of them out using needles and and tweezers.After all that drama, alcohol was needed.And then it was time to get ready to go out!We got the bus into Estepona and walked through the town to a posh tapas place.The food was delicious! We had a beer here before heading off to another tapa place where we had more tasty fod and a beer or two!Alicia then took us to a small club where we played table football- I was not particularly good at this and let in quite a few goals.We then walked through town, the small streets are really beautiful.We decided to walk down to the port ewhich is where the nightlife is. On the way we had a little fun in the playground.At the port we stopped at a bar where Alicia and Jamie had a shisha.We also had a little dance!On the way to get a taxi we stopped off at a salsa club and I had a little bachatta dance with a very good dancer!I think it was the early hours of the momorning when we got home.

Today I ran a 10k route in London with Mandy, Helen and Lou. Along the way we learnt all about the history of gin.

On the train to Waterloo we had a little traveller to help us on the way.

We met the other people on the run, and the tun leader Matt, at an old pub, Ye Olde Cock Tavern, where the upper floor is now a gin palace.

Our first stop was at the riverside where we learnt that the definition of a gin is neutral spirit with juniper. So basically gin is just vodka with juniper berries.

At some of the stops our run leader had hats or other props for people to wear to try and bring the story more to life!

We then ran on to Cleopatra’s needle. Apparently the Egyptians used juniper for jaundice. It was later used by the Greeks for male enhancement purposes. And in the Roman times juniper was steeped in wine for chest infections. And although this was a combination of juniper and alcohol it wasn’t gin.

We carried on to St Martin’s in the field where we learnt that juniper was used by alchemists and in apothecaries. Alchemists believe that everything is related to four main elements- earth, wind, fire and water – and anything can be made from this. The apothecaries used juniper for many purposes including as a cure for the plague.

John Parkinson was an apothecarist and belonged to the worshipful company of apothecaries.

The next stop was by Trafalgar square at the statue of Charles I. Charles I supported the Dutch when they were at war against France. The Dutch were drinking gin and they drank this before going into battle and this is where the saying ‘dutch courage’ comes from. The Dutch and English won the war and to say thank you the Dutch itch gave a large quantity of gin to the British to take home with them.

So gin became a popular drink.

We ran on to Westminister Abbey and to No 1 the Sanctuary. This is the location of the Worshipful company of distillers and they made sure that the gin was of a certain quality. Around this time Samuel Peeps wrote in his diary that he had been suffering from constipation and that drinking gin, juniper water, had relieved this.

William of Orange came to power in 1688 and war there was a war with France. Beacause of this William banned all french products and this included french brandy. French brandy was the drink of noblemen who were slightly annoyed with this. They substituted the brandy with gin.

Our next stop was a statue of Anna, known as Brandy Anna, who came to power after William of Orange. She cancelled the charter of the worshipful company of distillers. Once this was cancelled, in order to produce gin, all you had to do was put a letter in your window to say you intended to distill gin and if this was not opposed in 10 days then you could start your production. This led to lots of gin houses where people produced gin in all sorts of ways, including in bathtubs.

William of Orange was not a popular monarch and their is only one statue of him in a private garden in London. Before William became king the previous king was Charles II. Charles was a catholic but the people didn’t want a Catholic king. In order to avoid being beheaded, Charles II renounced the throne to Mary. It was felt that Mary needed support so she had to marry William of Orange. William had asthma so he lived in Kensington outside of the pollution and smog in london. He was said to be very ugly and apparently Mary cried when she knew she had to marry him. Despite this e had lots of sex with both sexes. William died falling off his own horse as the horse went over a small mole hill. The statue shows and mocks this.

And then it was on to St Giles in the field past s very nice shop selling lots of gin.

St Giles used to be quite a poor part of London and gin was everywhere. Signs said ‘drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence, straw for nothing’. The straw was there for people to pass out on. Gin was extremely cheap – cheaper than ale, but the quality was really bad. The gin was toxic and made with turpentine and sulphur acid. People literally lost their sight from drinking it – blind drunk. Mothers drank gin and many babies were stillborn or deformed – mother’s ruin. Lots of children drank it too and many of them died before the age of 5.

In 1732 there was a case heard at the old bailey. Judith Defur was tried for the murder of her child. Her child was 2 years old and she said she couldn’t afford to look after it so she took it to the workhouse. The child was clothed and fed. After 2 days Judith picked up her child from the workhouse. She strangled it and sold the clothes to buy gin. Judith was hung at the old bailey.

And then we carried on to Bow Street where there was a stone commemorating some notable men including Henry Fielding. Henry was a magistrate and had two pictures commissioned- gin alley and beer street. The beer street depicted a much nicer scene and the message was drink beer and you will have a better time than drinking gin.

So a number of gin acts were put in place. The acts were aimed at the gin sellers and basically anyone selling gin had to have a license. These cost £50 each and only two were ever sold.
In 1738 they had 5 acts in place but people got round the acts in a number of ways. One of the most notable ones was the black cat in blue cap alley. People would put money in the mouth of the cat in the wall and gin would came out of its paw.

In 1751 the Tippling act came into force and this targeted the people making the gin. The act said that gin could only be distilled in 18 hectare vats and only be sold to taverns.

Also in 1757 there was a massive food shortage and the ingredients that went into gin were used for food instead and this also had an impact on gin production.

In 1761 the laws were elaxed a bit, but you continued to still need a license to make gin and be a licensed distillery.

In the 1800s there was the creation of public houses and many of these were in a sorry state. Gin Distillerys payed some pubs to be done up so they could then sell them their products.

This led to the creation of gin palaces, over 5000 in 5 years. Gin became a bohemian drink.

Lord Byron started to drink gin and water which is an early vesrion of a gin and tonic. People are still trying to recreate some of the oldecipes today.

The gin trade began disappating again in 1900s and vodka became more popular as it was easier to prepare and drink. Gin became the drink of the grannies.

The Tippling act inhibited innovation as 18 hectare vats meant that you couldn’t try new gins. In 2008-2010 both Sipsmith and Chase distillers managed to overturn the Tippling act. So more distilleries started to open and there are now 390 registered in this country to date. In the City of london there is only one distillary within the square mile.

£1 billion of gin was sold last year.

Back at the pub we were rewarded with a Sipsmith gin and tonic – it was very welcome.

We all woke up early as there was a massive thunderstorm this morning which started around 330am. I tried to capture the rain coming down and the lightening but not that successfully.

We had to leave early anyway this morning to catch the 630am ferry back to the mainland. So we stayed up, finished our packing and watched the sunrise. It’s such a beautiful time of day.

We said goodbye to our bungalow and set off for the walk along the beach to the pier, which was a bit of a struggle with our heavy bags.

It was a bit worrying as when we got to the ferry terminal there was nobody there. At around 630am somebody did turn up but they said the ferry would arrive around 7am. Eventually we left about 730am. I slept the whole way on the ferry as I was really tired.

Once we got to Sihanoukville we had some breakfast and then got a taxi to the airport where we had time for a quick drink before boarding our flight.

The flight was only 50 minutes but I slept for most of that too.

In Siem Reap we were met by a driver from the hotel. He was only expecting two of us for some reason so had only come in a tuk tuk. Somehow we managed to fit all four of us plus all our big and small bags into the tuk tuk and we set off for the hotel.

The hotel was down a little back street but actually looked really nice. The staff are lovely and can’t do enough for you.

After a quick look around the room, which was very spacious and clean, we headed off to downtown Siem Reap to go shopping. The markets were fantastic, really colourful and a real mix of food, clothes and souviners.

We all bought a few little bits to take home!

It was then time for a late lunch of pan fried fish with rice and sauces and the best spring rolls to date – they were so fresh.

On the way back to the hotel we got a ride in the cowboy tuk tuk and sang along to a few classics such as sweet child of mine!

At the hotel we had a lovely shower and freshen up before heading out to the circus. This circus is very special as the performers are all former street children that have been educated in performing arts. Any money generated supports the free education and social programs of Phare Ponleu Selpak non-profit school.

The performance was amazing, very entertaining, lots of skill and talent and also really funny.

We were all really impressed with the show.

We were picked up by the hotel tuk tuk driver and headed to pub street. Our first stop was a sky bar which was beautiful but pretty quiet.

We then headed to the main street where we stopped for another th and coke. It was really noisy with loud music from all of the bars, it was difficult to know what to listen too.

We went to another, slightly quite bar called miss Wong for a final drink before heading home.