Gibraltar

Looking for information on a place in Andalucia or simply asking for advice on somewhere to visit? Post here and someone out there may know the answer.
ajtg1952
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Re: Gibraltar

Postby ajtg1952 » Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:33 pm

Good post. I have never in my life asked anyone if it is worth, or safe, going somewhere. I've just gone. I've had vastly more good experiences than bad and the bad I've mostly turned into good. I had a friend who would go nowhere without asking if it's okay to go. She never visited many places.
Just do it. Life is not a rehearsal!

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby Alcala Barry » Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:34 pm

Is Gibraltar worth a visit? Nope.
Have been there a few times over the years, but it never impresseed me at all. Unattractive, untidy and anachronistic.
So it has a Morrisons, so what.
Seems to have a lot of ex-pats living there who want to live in a Britain that doesn't actually exist anymore and hasn't done for many many years. It's also got loads of banks, betting companies etc whose main aim in life is to avoid uk law and taxes. Quite a few there enjoying lower taxes, or in some cases none at all. And still they expect protection and security from the British Government - all paid for us taxpayers.

If you pop over there, good luck to you, but I wouldn't bother.

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Flexo
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Re: Gibraltar

Postby Flexo » Fri Feb 16, 2018 3:21 pm

If you have a problem with small places maybe you shouldn't bother but it is a separate culture, Llano is not Spanish and it is not British either. They have a pidgin language which contains Arabic, Hebrew, English, Spanish and probably other languages as well. They use root forms of Hebrew words that is extinct in modern Hebrew so even if it is pidgin, it is one of the oldest pidgin around.

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby wollie » Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:36 pm

I want to head that way soon as probably June, two questions.
Is there a place that does proper "fish n chips"?
Is there a good "curry house"??
It be worth the journey...

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby Manchesteral » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:59 pm

Agree with alcala Barry, waste of time, regardless of what some people seem to think of the language, they're Spanish who live on an Island adjoined to Spain, other than a few British style bars and plenty of dodgy Asian electronics traders there is nothing remotely attractive about the place, time the Spanish took over !

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costakid
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Re: Gibraltar

Postby costakid » Sat Feb 17, 2018 8:45 am

Alcala Barry wrote:Is Gibraltar worth a visit? Nope.
Have been there a few times over the years, but it never impresseed me at all. Unattractive, untidy and anachronistic.
So it has a Morrisons, so what.
Seems to have a lot of ex-pats living there who want to live in a Britain that doesn't actually exist anymore and hasn't done for many many years. It's also got loads of banks, betting companies etc whose main aim in life is to avoid uk law and taxes. Quite a few there enjoying lower taxes, or in some cases none at all. And still they expect protection and security from the British Government - all paid for us taxpayers.

If you pop over there, good luck to you, but I wouldn't bother.
Totally disagree whit your views. There is a lot of good about Gib if you care to look deeper than main street.

Fish and Chips is not that good.

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby elusive » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:28 am

You know the fish and chips are bad when they advertise it as "real british fish and chips" is there anything else? Cant say iver ever had decent f&c outside of northern england especially when you are used to decent haddock..

Catalan bay looks nice but as we go to gib to do things. Ie rush around for a couple of hours having appointments etc its not somewhere we have got to yet or worked out how to get there!

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby Wicksey » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:42 am

We used to stay at the Caleta Bay Hotel as they used to have very good deals and it is away from the bustle of the main town. To get to that side of the rock you need to take a left at one of the first roundabouts after you've crossed the runway then it takes to to that eastern side. Have a look at Google maps and you'll see.

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby gerryh » Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:52 pm

In my humble opinion Gibraltar is worth a visit to see the view from the top of the rock, the monkeys, the caves and the historical aspects of Gibraltar.
Not worth the visit for:-
Shopping as we found the selection of clothes inferior to what we could get locally.
Eating out as found the meals disappointing and overpriced.
Cheers
Gerry
Gerry Harris

Alcala Barry
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Re: Gibraltar

Postby Alcala Barry » Sat Feb 17, 2018 1:25 pm

The situation with Gibraltar is far more important than Morrison's or Fish & Chips. It HAD military significance during WW2, but that ended more than 70yrs ago! However, most Brits prefer to look backwards rather than to the future.

We are in the middle of negotiating with various parts of Europe about how we will conduct our relations with them as we near Brexit and what are we worrying about - popping over to Gib to buy cans of beans, packets of cup-a-soup and cheap booze.

I give up.
Last edited by Alcala Barry on Sat Feb 17, 2018 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

katy
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Re: Gibraltar

Postby katy » Sat Feb 17, 2018 1:44 pm

On UK news yesterday that Gavin Williams Defence Minister stated Gibraltar will be one of it's major strategic positions and the Port will be extended to take the larger ships.

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby katy » Sat Feb 17, 2018 2:30 pm

Flexo wrote:If you have a problem with small places maybe you shouldn't bother but it is a separate culture, Llano is not Spanish and it is not British either. They have a pidgin language which contains Arabic, Hebrew, English, Spanish and probably other languages as well. They use root forms of Hebrew words that is extinct in modern Hebrew so even if it is pidgin, it is one of the oldest pidgin around.
Yes and one of the few places where Jews and Muslims live peacefully.

I visited Gibraltar on average every month for years. Kept most of my money there. Did a large shop filled up the car. Always made a day of it and wandered around away from Main St. Botanical gardens are nice, walk on the castle walls, Trafalgar cemetery etc. Won't go on just google things to do in Gibraltar. Food varies...as anywhere. There are some good places to eat away from the bottom of Main St. Have had good meals at some of the places on the Marina. We sometimes skipped lunch and had afternoon tea at the Rock Hotel, super terrace where you can watch all the shipping leaving and returning from Morocco. Always found parking difficult especially when there were events on the Parade ground. Queues to exit averaged around 40 mins, can be longer when Spain has a wobbly.

Has been a lot of threads over the years, just found some but wouldn't let me paste :problem:

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby elusive » Sat Feb 17, 2018 3:16 pm

gerryh wrote:In my humble opinion Gibraltar is worth a visit to see the view from the top of the rock, the monkeys, the caves and the historical aspects of Gibraltar.
Not worth the visit for:-
Shopping as we found the selection of clothes inferior to what we could get locally.
Eating out as found the meals disappointing and overpriced.
Cheers
Gerry
Totally agree. Still havnt made it to the top of the rock as i dont like the lifts and maybe its me but i find it hard to get a tour up. It would be alot easier if there were taxis that you could just jump in and out of at each end i will get up there one day! as i love taking photos.the historical part is very intresting but for shopping its very poor.makes me wonder where the locals go

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Wicksey
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Re: Gibraltar

Postby Wicksey » Sat Feb 17, 2018 4:11 pm

elusive wrote: but for shopping its very poor.makes me wonder where the locals go
Whenever I've been I think they are all in Morrisons :crazy: It's been packed with people, and not just coach parties as we've tended to call in just before we leave so it's later in the day.

The first time I went I was surprised as everyone spoke a form of Spanish rather than English and it felt more like Spain with English shops and post boxes! We did get stuck with a Gib bank note once ..... they aren't accepted in the UK I don't think so try to avoid them.

I wouldn't consider going there for shopping as we can get the few English bits and bobs we want here. We really only went more regularly in the past to meet up with the in-laws on board their cruise ship as it docked during their Med cruise. It was preferable to going back to England to see them (and we got free meals on board and free parking right on the dockside :thumbup: )

elusive
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Re: Gibraltar

Postby elusive » Sat Feb 17, 2018 4:32 pm

I guess morrisons is busy cause they have the monopoly.surprised tesco didnt get in there first. we always do a shop but dont buy that much as theres not much i crave. only things like hovis bread certain crackers, medicine stuff and a few of morrisons own brands like lovely sweet chile noodle boxes and the odd! Bottle of baileys. Oh and haddock fish fingers .but i really ment interms of shops like DIY or decent clothes shops. Theres very little there unless you want electronics and perfumes. I guess its problem is the size. Its tiny enough and they are still building on every bit of land they can find.theres no room for a good retail park!

Yeah we only go for appointments. Dont trust the correos to get docs there so go twice a year for that.but i doubt we would go much if we didnt have to. Maybe once a year for a shop if that

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby katy » Sat Feb 17, 2018 5:45 pm

Most nearby Spanish shop there after all many of them are paid in sterling. Quite a few Spanish restaurants opened up too. Not a massive choice of clothes shops, although not great in Spain unless you are young or very old (fashioned). There is a Mango and a Monsoon and a few others. I used to buy proper jointed meat, bacon, pork pies. All the food worked out cheaper because not having to exchange.

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby El Cid » Sat Feb 17, 2018 6:07 pm

In the mid 90s we spent a winter on our yacht based in Puerto Duquesa just south of Estepona. We had a car, so we used to go to Gib every two weeks to shop as it was so close and there were very few border problems. We occasionally went down by sea and stayed overnight to pick up duty free booze. Normally the cheap booze in the shops is not actually duty free, just vat free. If you arrive by boat you can get the really cheap stuff delivered to your boat at less than half the shop price!

When we moved to Spain some years later we did a couple of trips a year mainly to shop in Morrisons, but one Iceland opened in Fuengirola, we have no need to go any more.

My opinion is that it is worth just one visit if only to make you realise just what a dump it now is. However the trip up the rock is worth doing and from a historical point of view, it’s good to have been there.

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby northandsouth » Sat Feb 17, 2018 8:54 pm

For those living nearer to Gib than Malaga, Gib airport is pretty useful. We used to use it for most of our UK flights, although since the demise of Monarch, only easyjet and BA are flying to LHR, Gatwick, Manchester and Bristol, not sure what's happening now with flights to Luton and Birmingham.
Anyway the duty free prices when flying in and out are far far cheaper than in the Gib shops eg £9.00 for a litre of Bombay Sapphire.

Normally you can be in and out quicker than Malaga..........

unless the weather's bad, then you get diverted to............. Malaga :cry: :x

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby Alcala Barry » Sun Feb 18, 2018 1:04 pm

El Cid. Out of interest, what sort of yacht did you have?

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Re: Gibraltar

Postby El Cid » Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:24 pm

It was a Moody Eclipse 38, bought new in 1990 - the first one out of the factory!

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