Considering Joe was 83 he’d had quite an active day; after spending the morning tromping off with me to see the 100-ton gun he’d then (after a brief lunch in Latinos) tromped off and around Alameda Gardens and so I was aware he probably needed a rest back at the Bristol. Carol and Sheila had also become accustomed to their afternoon siesta and so (as it was mid afternoon) we all headed off gently back to the hotel.
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Knowing there was no way I was having a nap Carol (being the organiser she is) said: “When you get back from wherever you’re walkabout-ing to make sure we are all up and about for 6pm because we’re going to the new Moroccan restaurant you found up behind the Art Gallery – plus it would be nice for us to call in the Art Gallery to have a look too because we haven’t been in there yet”. As I nodded my approval they all went off to their rooms for a snooze and I turned on my heels and shot out the door.

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All week long (during various walkabouts) I’d been searching for the Holy Grail – also known as the Buccaneer Night Club which readers may recall was a regular haunt during our time on the Rock in the 70s and where Carol floored a Royal Marine (see 2:31). Several times during the week I’d thought I’d found this elusive night club but each time it turned out to be a false alarm. What made the task more difficult (I think) was that there was quite a bit of redevelopment work going on in the area and because of scaffolding some parts had restricted access. Today, however, I was determined to put the issue to bed. Some people might wonder why it was so important for me to find a place I used to go to forty years previously but there’s a simple answer really. I don’t know.

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The entrance to the Buccaneer was in a wall and the only thing I remembered about it was that it was somewhere between Edinburgh House and town; you could walk through the Fleet Pavilion, go up some steps and bingo there was the wall and there was the door. But that was forty years ago and the Fleet Pavilion has now gone – replaced by what I think is a multi storey car park under construction. When I tried to get to where I thought the Buccaneer was I found my access denied because of the construction works – hence the reason I walked (too far) round and ended up photographing other doors in walls down on past Commonwealth Park (opposite the Quayside restaurant area) thinking I’d found it.
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(Door to the Buccaneer)

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Today, for some reason, there was to be no confusion. As if by a twist of fate it seemed someone was looking down on me and I was put out of my misery. After leaving the Bristol and strolling for less than ten minutes I found myself standing outside a door that I was 99% sure was what I’d been looking for and (because of the wonder of technology) it didn’t take me long to confirm that. A Twitter friend (thank you JB) saw a photo I took and immediately responded; he even updated me saying that the place was soon to reopen (I think) as a cafe?! What a brilliant idea. When I read that I tried to picture Carols face as she sat having a cup of tea somewhere she had once floored a Royal Marine. Priceless, and most certainly a Pitt stop on our next trip to Gibraltar. 🙂
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Happy that yet another question had been answered (or more like another massive objective had been ticked off the bucket list) I strolled back up the steps, over the road and found myself outside the Gibraltar Museum. Oh yes, and why not?

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