Past Simple or Past Continuous?

LOST IN THE LOCH!

In the summer of 1980 a Spanish tourist, Gaspar Carner, ........................

(go) to Great Britain on holiday. When he ..............................................
(travel) in Scotland, he ..................................... (decide) to visit Loch Ness,
the famous lake where people say there is a monster. But while
he .......................................... (go) across the lake in a boat, his
bag .............................(fall) into the water. In the bag ...............................
(be) his passport, car keys, pen, and all his money. Loch Ness is 150 metres
deep, so he ..........................................(not expect) to see his possessions
again!
Fourteen years later, in 1994, some scientists in a mini-
submarine .............................................(explore) the bottom of the lake.
They ...................................................(look for) the Loch Ness monster.
Suddenly one of them .................................... (see) something black in the
water. They went nearer...

What happened? Read what Gaspar Carner says. Complete with the
Past Simple or Past Continuous.

Well, it ..................... (be) a Monday, I think, about half past nine in the
evening and I .................................. dinner (have) at my home here in
Barcelona when the phone ................................... (ring). It ................ (be) a
Scottish policeman and he ......................... (speak) to me in English. At
first, I .................................... (not know) what he .....................................
(talk) about. He said, ‘We ............................... (find) your bag yesterday,
sir.’ I .................... (say), ‘Bag? What bag?’ I just .............................. (not
can) believe it after all this time! I never .............................. (think)
I ....................... (can) see it again. The policeman ...............................
(promise) to send it as soon as possible. In fact, it ......................... (take) a
month to arrive from Scotland. I ......................... (be) very excited when
it .............................. (arrive). I ......................... (open) it, and I ................
(be) amazed! Everything ........................... (be) in perfect condition, even
the money _47,000 pesetas. But the most incredible thing is that after
fourteen years my pen still writes!’