Sometime, late afternoon, I felt a prod in the ribs and woke from my semi-slumber to hear Carol saying she was going for her afternoon nap and could I wake her later with a cup of tea – after I had been out and found some semi-skimmed milk. “There’s a new Morrisons somewhere Alan, they’ll have it and you know you like to explore” she said, and then she was gone.
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Although Carol has always enjoys an afternoon nap (when she can get one) I’ve never liked sleeping in the daytime and then waking up to go to bed, it makes me grumpy. On top of which I was quite happy to shove off into the unknown to find this new Morrisons; I had a feeling it was somewhere down by those new high-rise apartments on the other side of Edinburgh House and so (after I’d opened my other eye) I got myself together and headed off in the general direction.

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Turning right as I left the Bristol I crossed over the road (briefly turning back to glance at the Cathedral and promising myself to visit it soon) and a few seconds later I realised (with mouth open) that Morrisons wasn’t the only new thing to have been built in Gibraltar; I could hardly believe my eyes when, after I’d walked through an archway, l was confronted by the most beautifully designed outdoor space complete with lake, bandstand, lawns and all manner of trees, shrubs and flowers complementing the lovely stone ornaments and plaques. Somehow part of me was expecting to see concrete steps leading down to the old Fleet Pavillion site but what I discovered was the new Commonwealth Park and was totally blown away. 

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Standing on the balcony surveying the park was almost as though I’d climbed out of a wardrobe and landed in Narnia; in fact for a minute I had to look back just to check that the archway wasn’t a wardrobe door. Soaking up the whole environment of the park with the new high-rise apartments as its backdrop was almost like standing in New York’s Central Park, only a million times better. From the balcony down to the park level was the choice of a lift or steps which I thought was brilliant for people with dodgy knees (like mine) although not wanting to miss any of the ambience I took the steps.

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Although I was on a mission to find the Holy Grail (the new Morrisons) I wasn’t about to just bypass such a gorgeous place without at least doing a couple of circuits and getting a closer look; just at the point I thought Gibraltar couldn’t get any more beautiful I was delighted to be proved wrong. 

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