Christmas in the Canary Islands

On a cold London morning, Geoff and I set off for our flight to the Canary Islands. The pre-Christmas rush at the airport saw us wait in lines for 2 hours and a flight delay of 1 hour, but when we touched down in Gran Canaria, the third largest of the cluster of seven islands which make up the Canary Islands, we immediately forgot about London and relished in the warmth of the sun, the 20+ degree temperatures and the endless coastline of this resort island.

Wendy and Will would be arriving later that night, so we kept ourselves busy during the day stopping off first, in the old part of the capital city, Las Palmas. There are a handful of historical sites and some notable architecture.



And a pretty little square where we enjoyed lunch.



We perused the shops before heading to the hotel to attempt a check-in under Will’s name, as Wendy and Will’s flight was also delayed by an hour and they would not be arriving till midnight. I practiced some acting skills, checking in as Will’s ‘girlfriend’ waiting for him to arrive on the island after long delays at the London airport and was handed the keys to apartment 315 at the Blue Bay Beach Club.



The apartment was spacious and airy with a beachside feel to it. We had a wonderful sun drenched balcony too, with views over the swimming pool and Atlantic Ocean.



Geoff and I had dinner at a nearby restaurant and then enjoyed some cocktails at the hotel’s poolside bar while we waited for Wendy and Will’s arrival.



The next day, our first stop was poolside to catch some rays and soak up all the vitamin D we have been missing in the UK.



Will hired a car and in the afternoon we set out to see the rest of the island. Besides the coastline, there is not much to say about the rest of the island. The middle is quite bare and arid.



The city main city, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is quiet, with a handful of restaurants, cafes and shops. There are however, huge beaches. We stopped at Playas de Las Canteras to check out the view and stroll along the boardwalk.





We stopped for tapas and coffees before dark clouds collected for a short afternoon downpour.



We did some shopping at the big shopping centre up the road and tried to find our way back to the old part of town that Geoff and I had visited the day before. After hours in the car and getting lost in and around the narrow and winding back streets of Las Palmas, we decided our best bet was to find dinner back at the hotel, but after missing that turn off, we ended up in Playa de Ingles, the town closest to our hotel.

On our way over, the planes were packed with Brits, and we wondered where they all went after disembarking from the plane, as they certainly were not to be found at our hotel which was dominated by Germans and Swedes. Playa de Ingles is where one can find many Brits as the town is full of British type pubs and bars serving only British food from imported British products. As you can imagine, we weren’t too impressed, but pressed on anyway at a pub called Cheers, seeing as it was past 11pm and most of the restaurants, including our hotel kitchen, would be closing now.



Over the course of the trip, we would find out that the rest of the island was not too dissimilar to Playa de Ingles and noted that holidays in the Canary Islands were not for cultural experiences, but for the beach and the weather the Brits miss out on at home.

On Christmas Eve, we dared not to venture out on a car trip again and spent the whole day by the pool.



The guys got into a game of darts, losing terribly to the other hotel guests, while Wendy and I treated ourselves to the massages and facials at the Day Spa.



Our Christmas Eve dinner was largely spent waiting for a table at a local tapas restaurant. In total we spent 1.5 hours waiting for a table at the cosy Tango Tapas and Grill. The tapas were great, if not a little salty, but the desserts on the house, served at midnight to welcome in Christmas Day, made us forget all about that long wait.



We were also treated to some live entertainment



including some dancing of my own.



The owner had us write a message on the wall as he was so impressed by our patience for a table. Apparently no one has ever waited for a table at their restaurant for that long before!



To top of the late night, the guys had parked the car in a carpark and we arrived to find the boom gates down. Anything to do with this car was looking jinxed, but we made it out of there, boom gate bandit style.



Christmas was a stunner of a day.



We had breakfast on the balcony (after sleeping in past the hotel’s breakfast time) and opened Christmas presents.





Another day was spent soaking up the sun at the pool and relaxing around the apartment.



We booked a big Christmas Dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. We had a wonderful night and delicious dinner.



We were treated to live entertainment afterwards, which included some moves by Wendy this time.



And an acrobatic group call African Footprints.



Boxing Day was our final day soaking up the sun and lunching around the pool.



We left Gran Canaria that evening, grateful and satisfied to have spent a fun, warm and sunny Christmas in 2007. Hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did!

Homecoming in Brighton

This month marks my 7th month living in the UK and Geoff’s 4th. We have feel bouts of homesickness every now and then, but there is so much here to remind us of home such as friends in London, and our weekend in the seaside town of Brighton, an hours train ride south of London.

We had two great reasons to pop down to Brighton for the weekend, the first was that Brighton is the current home to our friends Kirsten, Tom and their two bubs, Islay and Constance. The second was that Crowded House were playing at the Brighton Centre on Friday night.

As I have a more flexible schedule, I begun my journey from Newcastle on Friday morning, stopping for an hour lunch with Geoff in London, and then hopping on the First Connect trains south to Brighton. Kirsten came to pick me up from the train station. It has been at least a year since we have seen each other, and many years since we have worked together. It was great to spend a relaxing weekend catching up on the past year and also playing with two-year old Islay, resident dancer, harmonic player, gourmet foodie, chip snatcher and green pea server.



And sweet Constance, a most well-behaved baby, who loves to smile and laugh (especially at Geoff).



After a long week of work, Geoff, Mike and Ben found their way to Brighton, enthused to see an old favourite Crowded House.



The auditorium was at 85% capacity and we couldn’t put our finger on the crowd who we found somewhat reserved. We wondered how many Aussies and New Zealanders were there, feeling the same bouts of homesickness when Neil Finn and his band played the finale...

Sampling of the Brighton nightlife was interesting... to say the least. We begun with a round of bad 90’s music and then ended up having (surprisingly decent) food at another bar-restaurant-club.

Saturday was a rainy and windy day but we decided to head out to town for lunch. The wind whipped our umbrellas inside out and the rain started and stopped on our way to Carluccios, a brightly coloured family restaurant and deli which was a stark contrast to the cold, grey, rainy and windy weather. We filled up on Italian food, hot drinks and sweet desserts and spent the rest of the afternoon indoors relaxing reading and playing.

Kirsten and Tom whipped up a home-made chicken and mushroom pie for dinner and Islay served up peas for everyone. It has felt like a long time since we have had a family dinner. After dinner it was off to a small Brighton party hosted by Kirsten and Tom’s friends.

Sunday morning was looking promising, but our sleep in meant that the clear skies passed quickly and we set out under grey clouds again to explore a bit more of Brighton before catching the train home. On Saturday, Kirsten and Tom wanted to have lunch at the very popular Bills, but the lines were too long, so on Sunday we decided to try our luck and lucky we were as there were no lines and a 2 minute wait for a table. When our food came we realised what all the fuss was about. I’ll let our breakfast plates of pancakes and fruit, and eggs Benedict tell the story (and if you hadn’t guessed already the food was awesome!)

Back in London, it was time for Geoff to move out of Balham and into Mike’s, temporarily, while the guys find a new place to live. Mike’s is right on the Thames with views to Canary Wharf, reminding us that while friends and songs can remind us of home, we were very much in the big smoke of London.

Sunshine in Sitges

Just 40 kms south of Barcelona is a quaint beach town called Sitges. It is documented that in the summer time, the town is full of life with people for holiday and leisure time at the beach and the numerous restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs which line the beach front.



As Europe is in winter now, we arrived to a sleepy Sitges. It was lovely though, to feel like we were the only tourists in town, as we had experienced in Tarragona. We loved exploring the narrow cobbled streets with boutique stores in the town but we especially loved the more historical side where we stayed, with its cafe culture beachfront and cluster of historical sites right on the edge of the Mediterranean Ocean.



The weather in Sitges was stunning. Clear blues skies, sunshine and a top of 20 degrees with lots of beaches to match. We felt very at home.



We stayed at the Miela Sitges, a 4-start hotel in a quiet part of town, just a few minutes walk away.



We had a huge room and lovely views. Especially in the evening.



And the hotel was right next door a port and boat moor with luxurious accommodation and restaurants.



We did a small amount of sight-seeing at two local mansions-turned-museums, the Cau Ferrat and Museo Maricel.





While the art, the objects and the architecture were amazing, we both thought the best thing about the two museums was their location, perched on the tip of a headland right over the green-blue Mediterranean.



The rest of our stay at Sitges was about winding down and eating...



sleeping...



and spending as much time as we could in the sun. We found a casual little cafe on the beachfront and spent hours there reading, writing postcards and enjoying the last day of strong espressos.



We also met some new friends.



We were sad to leave Spain at the end of our trip. We really enjoyed the country for its friendly people, laid-back atmosphere, art, history, food, shopping and the fabulous weather, even in winter. We loved Spain so much, the day after we got home we booked tickets back there for Christmas. Only this time, we'll be closer to the equator, on the Canary Islands.

A Birthday in Barcelona

We made our way up the coast to Barcelona for the weekend and for my 27th birthday. We arrived at our hotel, the Auditori Confortel, in a quiet part of town, close to the main city area and La Rambla and Gaudi’s work in progress masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia. Our hotel room was beautifully minimal with a free minibar (how many hotels do you know who do that?). We were also impressed with the buffet breakfast each morning.



After checking in we headed out to explore the city by foot and to grab some lunch. Our hotel was very close to the Arc de Triumph and tree-lined parks, which were relaxing to stroll down in the early afternoon.



We found a bright and small café for lunch on one of the main roads which served up gorgeous smoothies, huge paninis and excellent cooffe.



After lunch we continued along the main roads, passing the port with docked boats and the statue at the end of La Rambala of Christopther Columbus. We made our way up the bustling La Rambala, were even in the off-season it was just full of people. We strolled down the market stalls and along the restaurants which would spill out onto the walkways serving up hot paellas and tapas. We came across an even more crowded part of town, the St Josep Markets which sold food, food, food such as chocolates…



… sweets…



… fruit ….



And seafood so fresh, we spied some of it still moving on the ice.



We picked up a few snacks and continued on, this time ducking in and out of shops. The evening was settling upon the city and we made our way back to the hotel for an early night in preparation for a busy following day.

We spent the next day learning about the local art that resides in the city. There’s an awful lot of art in Barcelona. I don’t think I have ever seen so much work by Picasso and Dali in a single place, and Gaudi's work is nothing short maginificent. Gaudi really makes Barcelona the unique place it is with his artistic contributions to the city’s landscape.

The Museo Picasso was a detailed history of Piscasso’s life and work. The museum is located in a fascinating part of town where Barcelona’s noblity used to reside. They built stunning mansions, that now house several art galleries and museums down a narrow cobbled streets.



We popped into Dali’s museum, an eclectic collection of drawings, paintings, objects, sculptures and his notebooks.



And then came across a small cathedral, the Placa de Pi, with its well known stained glass window.



A few block away is the more famous cathedral, Cathedal of Santa Eulàlia. Having entered around the back, we admired the charming cloister and lofty arches that surrounded the private garden and wondered if there was going to be much more.



Instincts must have told us there was because we walked around the cloister a few times and on our last time around, we came across an obscure entryway to the back of the main cathedral. Here we found ourselves in the grandest of spaces, with towering columns, rich dark wood and colourful stained glass windows. We walked along the chambers filled with art and objects dedicated to the Roman Catholic religion and found a small sign indicating that we could take a lift up to the roof where we were first introduced to views over Barcelona.



The rest of the afternoon was spent wondering the city and the sparkling shops of the Passeig de Gracia. It was along here where we met our first encounters with Gaudi’s work, the apartment building-turned-museum, Casa Batllo and the more famous Casa Mila or La Pedrera as it is more commonly known, meaning ‘Stone Quarry’ for it’s wavy cliff-like exterior. As with all of Gaudi’s work, there is always a flurry of activity around it. Up close, we discovered and visited the temporary exhibition open called Passion and Commerce, Art in Venice in the 17th and 18th Century.



After a full day of sight-seeing we made our way down to the waterside for a birthday dinner of seafood and sangria.



The next day was a Gaudi sight-seeing day. Our first stop was the famous La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s work in progress cathedral which has estimations of completion sometime within the next 50 years due to the lack of finance over the decades and the need for advancements in building technology to see through Gaudi’s vision. Gaudi’s cathedral is nothing like anything you have ever seen before. A huge construction of many, many motifs, symbols, stories and meaning. A lot of the story and preserved artefacts from Gaudi’s work life can be found in and around the cathedral.



Moving further north of the city, we made it up to Park Guell overlooking the city filled with even more of Gaudi’s imagination and vision. The park has spectacular views over Barcelona, looking down on the building and towards the water.



Gaudi also created wonderful spaces for people to relax and enjoy, such as the meandering colourful mosaic seats. We parked ourselves on the seats and enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine and the guy opposite us strumming his guitar.



Upon exiting the park, we met Gaudi’s famous mosaic lizard and two gingerbread-like houses.





Our last stop in the city was for black boots, for my birthday. Over the past few days we had trawled many stores and on our very last night, on the Pasieg de Gracia, the perfect pair were found.