This stretch of promenade of around 3 to 4 kilometres is the most sought after place in the Island both for residential purposes and for relaxation. I remember the opposite side of this promenade in my youth built in single or 2 storey houses, many of Georgian design. These have now been all knocked down and replaced by modern luxury apartments blocks 7 or 8 storey high each costing double or triple the amount they would have cost elsewhere. The promenade itself is alive all day, beginning before dawn with people jogging or walking, then come retired people like me (doing their daily walk) and tourists; the afternoon and evening is normally for people relaxing on benches which abound the length of the promenade. Summer evenings is especially busy with people lazying about trying to cool down after a hot day. Every day, in summer, my wife and I meet friends at the same spot and on the same benches – we may count 10 to 12 couples at any one time. What amuses many foreigners is seeing us segregated: the ladies and men separately grouped on benches and/or on the concrete hedges resting our backs against the iron railings. Talk between the ladies usually centre on the family, cooking, the house, tv and, perhaps about men while us gentlemen argue on every subject in the living world.
