stewartwillsher
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2017
- Messages
- 1,111
- Reaction score
- 97
- Points
- 48
- Location
- Western Spain and Costa de la Luz
You might think, "aagh, he's waffling on about cats again", what with LGN and Ounce; but no, a bit more thought provoking and a tad sinister.
With the hope that at least one person finds it interesting, and you might just find it more stimulating than the spam recently flooding in here, I give you a WAFFLE on our holiday village.
We have been on hols for a bit down south, feet up, booze and grub to excess.
I do do a bit of gentle exercise, nothing exhausting nor distracting from the prime purpose of doing near bugger all, so a slow meander to a bar or restaurant.
Our holiday home is a house in a plaza about fifty metres from the prom (paseo maritimo) which is a broad walk of a couple of kilometres, along the shore edge.
Below is an excellent beach maybe fifty metres of sand to the waters edge at high tide and double at low.
The prom has palms and is well paved and a balustrade so is very pleasant and peaceful.
Detracting from paradise are the occasional lycra clad peddler with bum in the air, enthusiastic joggers with their strapped on monitors, and dog walkers.
Sunday there is a bric-a-brac type market on the prom and up side roads.
Only one other thing is at odds with the tranquillity.
At the eastern end of this prom is a serious well maintained fence and on the beach this extends out onto a sort of jetty.
Locals can fish from it, but only by keeping on this side of the fence.
Go the other side and they receive a welcome and hospitality from unsmiling armed folk in fatigues.
This is one of the largest US/NATO bases in Europe that doubles as a logistics and operational port and airfield.
Glancing beyond the fence about half a kilometre away is a formidable sight
large grey sinister vessels snuggle up against each other or the dockside.
The most scary, and I will not say how many for fear of a friendly visit, are what are familiarly referred to as Burkes, each having the potential capacity in their vertical launch cells to wipe out a small city.
From my simple observations I sort of know what the normal number of vessels in port is and, as most have a crew of a few hundred, there are often American accents to be heard in town.
Never not once have we seen a uniform nor any hint of military.
A while ago a couple of smart young chaps were asking questions of a waiter at one of our regular haunts and some confusion so the bar chap pointed at us.
We helped them with directions and off they went after polite thanks; spotted the handcuffs on their belts under their casual shirts which was the only giveaway that they were shore patrol.
The presence of the base has encouraged our wonderful holiday retreat to be endowed with top quality cuisine from around the world and at silly affordable prices with many offering takeaway or delivery as they do to the base.
What is rather amazing, and we quickly cottoned on to this, which encouraged us to buy a property here, is that the base has very little negative impact on the town or the resort of Rota.
Occasionally a chopper goes over or is seen over the bay, and with a northerly wind the aircraft can be heard briefly climbing or on reverse thrust on landing, but for most of the time you would not know the base was there.
Symbiosis is the magic word, with a typical coastal Spanish town retaining its character, close to one of the most significant US bases in Europe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAfQUHVmdKY
With the hope that at least one person finds it interesting, and you might just find it more stimulating than the spam recently flooding in here, I give you a WAFFLE on our holiday village.
We have been on hols for a bit down south, feet up, booze and grub to excess.
I do do a bit of gentle exercise, nothing exhausting nor distracting from the prime purpose of doing near bugger all, so a slow meander to a bar or restaurant.
Our holiday home is a house in a plaza about fifty metres from the prom (paseo maritimo) which is a broad walk of a couple of kilometres, along the shore edge.
Below is an excellent beach maybe fifty metres of sand to the waters edge at high tide and double at low.
The prom has palms and is well paved and a balustrade so is very pleasant and peaceful.
Detracting from paradise are the occasional lycra clad peddler with bum in the air, enthusiastic joggers with their strapped on monitors, and dog walkers.
Sunday there is a bric-a-brac type market on the prom and up side roads.
Only one other thing is at odds with the tranquillity.
At the eastern end of this prom is a serious well maintained fence and on the beach this extends out onto a sort of jetty.
Locals can fish from it, but only by keeping on this side of the fence.
Go the other side and they receive a welcome and hospitality from unsmiling armed folk in fatigues.
This is one of the largest US/NATO bases in Europe that doubles as a logistics and operational port and airfield.
Glancing beyond the fence about half a kilometre away is a formidable sight
large grey sinister vessels snuggle up against each other or the dockside.
The most scary, and I will not say how many for fear of a friendly visit, are what are familiarly referred to as Burkes, each having the potential capacity in their vertical launch cells to wipe out a small city.
From my simple observations I sort of know what the normal number of vessels in port is and, as most have a crew of a few hundred, there are often American accents to be heard in town.
Never not once have we seen a uniform nor any hint of military.
A while ago a couple of smart young chaps were asking questions of a waiter at one of our regular haunts and some confusion so the bar chap pointed at us.
We helped them with directions and off they went after polite thanks; spotted the handcuffs on their belts under their casual shirts which was the only giveaway that they were shore patrol.
The presence of the base has encouraged our wonderful holiday retreat to be endowed with top quality cuisine from around the world and at silly affordable prices with many offering takeaway or delivery as they do to the base.
What is rather amazing, and we quickly cottoned on to this, which encouraged us to buy a property here, is that the base has very little negative impact on the town or the resort of Rota.
Occasionally a chopper goes over or is seen over the bay, and with a northerly wind the aircraft can be heard briefly climbing or on reverse thrust on landing, but for most of the time you would not know the base was there.
Symbiosis is the magic word, with a typical coastal Spanish town retaining its character, close to one of the most significant US bases in Europe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAfQUHVmdKY