A day trip to Gibraltar would be better entitled “When Worlds Collide”. Very much like Malta it is the quintessential enclave of the embers of what was the British Empire. Unlike Malta, Gibraltar remains British. Don’t let the crossing a frontier and having to produce your passport fool you. Neither allow yourself to be fooled by the currency. Its pounds but Gibraltar pounds. Its duty free – yes for booze and fags but you’re only allowed 200 cigs and a litre of spirits, however everything else is more expensive than the UK with the exception of petrol at a mere 95 pence per litre.

So I bought gin for 4 quid a litre and managed to food shop at M&S. Leaving it was all about “Anything to declare” – “Yes I’ll be back… if only for the gin!” Seeing so many cigarettes on sale for pennies did create temptation within which lasted all of 50 nano seconds. Trust me a nano second is a long time when you have your plastic out.

The people are mostly ex-pat Brits, Spaniards and Asians. Yes we nation of shopkeepers have taught the world well. The alleged best “British Fish ‘n’ Chips in Gib’ made me want a McDonalds yet they managed a half decent ‘caffi con leche’. My partner in crime commented the scampi was good and plentiful. I merely watched as the baking sun robbed me of my appetite.

All in all its an experience, being British yet today I was a European – border checks, customs yet somehow it was a show, a facade of what was or as we enter uncharted Brexit waters, a taste of what’s to come!