We do like to be beside the seaside!

Time to post an update to cover the month of February!

To say that the weather has been varied is to completely understate it!

We have had some beautiful days, such as the one when this yacht was spotted between our Bristol promenade and the islet of Lobos.

...and then there is the handful of bad storms! A particularly nasty one started on 31st January. There had been some warnings, but we went out with neighbours Sandy, Pete and Gary in the afternoon for a round of mini-golf at the Baku water-park. We had a great time (although three of us pulled various muscles!), but the dark clouds were massing. We thought we should be close to home for dinner so went to La Luna and caused havoc with raucous chat and laughter a la Saga Louts!

At about 10pm there was a huge thunderstorm which continued into the early hours. The streets were ankle-deep in rain, and they stayed that way with the Monday being disgusting. One thing you can say about Canarian weather, however, is that improvements happen fast. By Tuesday afternoon we were sunbathing at home, and on the Friday it was worthy of a big beach visit! This was the first since late October. Last year the mid-winter gap went on until the end of February, so we are arguing that this winter has not been as bad as last. Many disagree! The good spell this time lasted a week - until 13th when it turned dull, and on the Sunday exceptionally wet. Ruth had won another free English breakfast at Penny Lane (the other end of town). We arrived there - equipped with Saturday's Guardian - as the heavens opened. We left to move on, stepped outside and immediately turned round and went back in for a beer until they closed for the afternoon. Then it was a long and very wet walk back. The following week (largely English half-term) was pretty bad too with either very strong winds or rain or both. The talk was all of what horror was on its way and whether our island would catch it, but on the Tuesday there was a tiny afternoon window of glorious sunshine and stillness. We went for a walk around town and then decided the opprtunity was too good to miss and stopped for tapas at El Bribon. This is a rather flash and recent addition to the seafront, which our other neighbours swear by for lunch, and it was indeed great value and with a beautiful view. We talked to the staff about the coming storm, but the sun continued to shine and we ended up staying so long that we saw three ferries come and go! Next morning the storm had still not arrived, but we remained on red to orange alert. As we needed shopping for staples we ventured out and made a quick stop at Africa's shack. She was (as usual) despondent about the weather and its effect on the (already dwindled) custom. At 3.15 it happened! All hands to the pump to clear her tables, chairs and plants and a frantic dash back home! This was a Wednesday - the most significant transfer day for Brits - so the restaurant over at La Luna, which is part of a big hotel, was heaving with people who couldn't venture any further for dinner. We joined them and watched news flashes on local TV showing that Gran Can and Tenerife had - once again - suffered worse than us. Once again the streets were awash, and Ruth had a very soggy walk to the radio station next day. By Saturday we were realising how lucky we were as we saw footage of Madeira!

The weather has gradually improved over this week, with a glorious day to report on Ruth's next Thursday programme, and 28 degrees until late evening yesterday.

We went to El Cotillo on the (very hot) bus. It was too windy for the beach but we had a walk round the town (village?). The sea was wild! Three closed adjacent restaurants and nothing happening at the biggest hotel suggest they are suffering badly from the recession, but at La Capitana and La Vaca Azul there was plenty of custom. We had a very pleasant light lunch at the former, bringing a sardine home in the bag!

Today we are again on storm alert! It keeps you on your toes!

New Tricks!

January has been the month of "Learning New Tricks". Firstly Ruth has been gradually taking the reins down at the radio station on Thursday afternoons (2 till 4 Canarian/UK time). She has been encouraged to move to the side of the table with the mike, and to handle the various sliders, culminating in getting through the daunting 3pm news slot. Last week she was left in sole charge and made only one gaff!
Friend Eileen has needed to give up her slot in order to take on paid work so Ruth is now officially its keeper, and has a 2-4-1 Sunday roast to give away each week, thanks to Mike at The Casbah next door to Blue Rock. She has homed in on a "Who am I?" quiz associated with the music theme she has used. So far we have Shirley Bassey for the Bling for Kings week, Queen Sofia for the "Ladies with an S" and Rolf Harris for the "Heaven" progamme. An overambitious week with Music Film Soundtracks went down like a lead balloon, with the only correct answer coming from Scotland on the web! Some dumbing down has taken place!

The weather in early January was very good at times, so eventually we arranged to go and claim our own prize from before Christmas of a round of golf at the new 9-hole, par-3 course on the outskirts of town, called Mirador de Lobos. It is a long bicycle ride from our end of town to this freshly-developed end and it was a very hot afternoon. We had a wonderful time! Joe helped us with grips and coached us in both the driving and putting areas then let us loose with 3 clubs each and 8 balls to try the course as a whole. It is exquisitely laid out and maintained in a deep hollow with an oasis-like water feature in the base. Holes 3 and 4 have their tee up-top and it isn't easy to reach the greens down below. There are a good few balls in those pools! Everyone who has been sings its praises - whatever their golfing skill. Bob was pleased to have completed many holes in 3, and went back just two days later with Gary our neighbour and his dad.

Speaking of whom - last Friday we went on a trip to unknown territory. Ian and Audrey took us in their hire car over to the mid-West of the island - via the delightful agricultural town of Pajara to Ahuy. This is allegedly where Europeans first set foot on the island, It is difficult to see why - as it has very rough waves nearly all the time and the route up to Betancuria, which became the capital is ghastly! We insisted on taking the gentle route to get to the bay at Playa Negra. There is a black beach and a couple of restaurants. We walked up to the top of one of the cliffs for a view and as we stood contemplating we heard a voice saying. "Do you know any good restaurants round here?" It was John - brother of Julia whom we meet every year in Paleochora! He was in Corralejo for a week with Sally -one of Jill's twins. A real "small world" moment! They joined us for lunch in Pajara and later in the week we went for dinner together. They enjoyed Caracoles so much with us that we heard they went back the next night (their last) without us.

Their final days on the island were cold and wet. We have been suffering night temperatures of 12 degrees - unheard of; and evenings have been chilly too! (Put away those violins, we know we should be grateful!)

Today shops shut a little early at lunchtime causing some inconvenience. This is in anticipation of Monday and Tuesday being festivos. Also we had trouble getting a table at La Lonja - the fishermen's bar - which only happens at such times. We had no idea about this as they are not national holidays that come up on the calendar, but local ones for a patron saint. It means two more days of schoolchildren on the streets, and we had only just got shot of them after Kings! Ex-pat parents grumble particularly about this. We think Spain beats even France for official "days off" per year. Next will be three days for Carnaval. Ah, the hypocrisy of the jubilados (retired)!

Clever decoration ideas and some others!

Today the town returns to normality. At last the kids go back to school, and the decorations - that traditionally go up on December 8th - will start to disappear.

Some have never quite worked! On "smelly corner" at the ferry port entrance we have the unspecified message "Happy" -

At the other end of the scale for imagination and attention to details we have had the Blue Rock ceiling. This tiny bar always rises to the seaonal challenge, and this year the theme of festive fare is "reflected" on the ceiling with intricate displays.

Note particularly the cardboard model turkey carefully crafted by Mark. Futhermore, as far as we know, nothing fell from any of the displays in the whole month.

The town council pulled out all the stops to have the "prettification" finished on time, and we have now lost all but a few skips in terms of plant. In Calle La Iglesia the cobbles are gone, and in the music square there is new central lighting. All the businesses in the two areas have the same retractable canopies, and they will receive - apparently - uniform tables and chairs. Then further planters etc can be placed by the owners to put back some character! The council's attempts at decor qualify for the Silly Idea of the Decade prize. Down the middle of the old cobbled street they have put some items. The seats might work, but the rectangles made of hardwood planks do not. One month on and they are warping and lifting - as surely they would, and as for the see-through thing - well! This may have been inspired by a clever idea used in a little bar (that is now closed) called El Muro Alto. In line with their nautical them they modified their
tables so that through a glass top you could see shells, pebbles and so on. Pretty! The coucil have tried to do the same thing for a 3m square display in the paving of the pedestrian area. As soon as it was it finished the perspex developed condensation so that nothing of the nautical bits under it could be seen, and the slippery surface meant it has had to be cordonned off.

A (Wild) Goose Chase & Some Dinners!

Chloe arrived on 16th December. We borrowed Mike's car and en route to the airport went to various DIY and furniture stores on the edge of Puerto del Rosario. The new extension to the airport has now been open for a couple of months. With the current economic problems the huge and lavish design looks a little inappropriate, and the baggage handling does not seem much improved, so it was long wait before Chloe appeared - wrapped up for the early morning frost - and bearing gifts of parsnips, Camembert, smoked mackerel, suet and duty-free champagne. A nice surprise was a new Travel Scrabble set!

The weather during her ten-day stay was "disappointing" - and included a whole Brit-tourist week of cold and wet days. She managed some short spells of sunbathing - but no pool and no beach! In the meantime we made daily visits to different shops in search of a goose. This is either ganso or oca in Spanish and we never found out the difference! We followed up various leads - including the cash and carry. Just when we thought we had succeeded the butcher at Claudio's said "Si, vino, pero se fue!" - It came but it went away! In a repeat of last year's debacle the butcher had taken a look at it when it arrived and refused it! But this year we had heard further rumours and found a last one in the Spar supermarket (shocking price, but we felt we deserved it) We cooked it for a Christmas Eve dinner using Gordon Ramsay's suggestions. We coated it with Chinese five spice and browned the breast on the electic plancha. It yielded about a litre of grease, but was scrumptious!, and a pleasant end to a foul wet and dismal day! On Christmas Day we spent a very mellow few hours outside the Blue Rock in warm sunshine, with snacks of roast meat and potatoes and the "pigs in blankets" we had taken down there. In the evening we went to La Tasca for a chateaubriand cooked by the former Mirando al Sur grill man, Sergio. It was very crowded but we had an excellent time!

Chloe went home next day. She was annoyed that it was a beautifully sunny day! We used buses to get to and from the airport, and there was much anxiety about the weight of her luggage - the space vacated from the outward journey being filled with Spanish goodies. It was a tedious wait in a badly-behaved queue before we found that -whilst she was finding the bag very heavy - it was under-weight and we could add 2 litres of Sangria. (The couple in front paid 132 Euros cash for their excess!) We waved her off in the knowledge that the flight was on time. It was only in the early hours that we heard there were long delays the other end and she missed the last Brighton coach. This led to the "journey from Hell" for her - killing time at Gatwick, and early morning trains in freezing cold over to Swindon


Meanwhile we took the buses back to Corralejo, and got off at the top of the main drag with a mob of teenage skate-boarders. We went to the new Hot Wok and had an excellent good-value meal there.

And next day it was Sunday roast at the Casbah - a prize Ruth won on the radio. (They are on Facebook as Casbah-Corralejo) This is a clever composition of tender meat, roast potatoes, fresh vegetables and gravy in a giant Yorkshire Pudding. Great value at 6 Euros - even better if half-price! The wine was good value too!

So it was then time for frugality! Ruth did her fourth session on HotFM on New Year's Eve:- a playlist of twenty tracks with the mystery word "ten" in the title or performer's name. Our dinner that night was as usual at Caracoles. The "surprise" menu was as delicious as ever, and consisted of:

• A little cup of gazpacho with a savoury pinwheel biscuit
• Smoked salmon from Lanzarote
• Plate of mussels, razor clams and crayfish
• Lemon sorbet with cava
• Fillet steak with peppercorn sauce, and a potato-stuffed red pepper
• Local cheeses with quince jelly (membrillo) and physalis garnish

Afterwards we saw in the New Year in the Plaza and then at Blue Rock. Once again, the only fireworks were from the hotels.

On New Years Day we lurked at home all day and then consumed one of the brace of British pheasants we had brought over in November to freeze.

Happy New Year 2010 to all our readers. Good Riddance to 2009 during which we lost - far too young - two good female friends!

RIP Penny and Doris

Fish and quips

Recovery from the trauma of our return journey took a few days! During the three weeks up until Chloe's arrival we have mostly doing very little - Bob renewed his gym membership and Ruth has been a guest on Fridays on Eileen's show on Hot FM. There is even a risk that she will learn about the knobs and go solo. As it is she has been taking in and talking about her themed playlists. Great fun!

Whilst talking to Eileen one day we mentioned that we liked mackerel and next day her partner Chris turned up at Africa's shack with two shiny caballas. (not caballos - which is horses!) As our resident "Chris the Fish" he knows a thing or two about such things and had just caught three. He stood in the shallows to gut and clean them, as all the fishermen here do. They were very tasty baked in foil for twenty minutes with lemon juice and plenty of pepper!

Meanwhile Corralejo's street refurbishment is nearly complete, and we have our first ever wind turbines - two of them near the desalination plant. If they had been in service they would have been busy over the last couple of weeks.! The weather changed on 29th November and we have had some funny weather - including the unusual South wind, and some downpours. There have been a lot of converstions around "Yes, but look at the UK!" Quite so!

The Joys of Travel - Not!

After our jolly family day things went rapidly downhill! The next day was Bob's birthday so we were meeting Chloe in Brighton. Bob had arranged an eye test with Specsavers as he needed to order new galasses. He turned up for the appointment, but was told the NHS wouldn't pay for it because he had been examined earlier in the year in Fuerteventura. The weather was atrocious with wind and driving rain, but we traipsed round every optician in the city looking for someone who would do one, and fuming about unhelpful regulations. Eventually we returned to Specsavers and used the Spanish prescription. Lunch was to have been fish and chips on the pier. The pier was closed because of the huge waves lashing. So that was off, and instead we sat in Harry Ramsden's watching the weather!

Eventually we met Chloe in the supermarket and bought her some supplies, then went back to her house for introductions to house-mates. The evening with her and new beau Ben was fun but we stayed late in the Italian and when we reached the station (long wet uphill walk!) the last train had already gone. A helpful employee said there was a solution - so we took it! This meant a long wet downhill walk to the coach terminus and a depressing wait until the 1 am service to Gatwick Airport, where we had another miserable wait for a night train to East Croydon.

Next day we went to Balham to do some business and then abandoned any plans for activities in Central London because the weather and our spirits were so damp. We got ourselves to Victoria Coach Station and eventually boarded a coach to Stansted Airport, after an argument on behalf of ourselves and a number of foreign tourists with a driver who maintained our tickets were for the previous service (which had never turned up!). This is,in fact, a very useful, efficient and cheap service, (there is even a half-fare for the over-60's), but it doesn't feel like it as you crawl up through North London. We had an early supper in the Irish pub at the airport, then took the shuttle to the Holiday Inn Express. This is also useful and cheapish, as well as comfortable.

We were up at 4am for the shuttle back to the airport, and a quick Easyjet check-in with no baggage weight problems:- straight through security, the day's papers and a coffee - so far so good! There were warning notices about the time time taken to get to some gates, so when ours was put up we set off, only to to discover that we needed to use the shuttle. This runs every 3 minutes and should have two coaches, but mostly there was only one, and Bob had a severe attack of claustrophobia when he saw the crowding. (A huge number of flights leave between 7 and 9am!) Ruth went on ahead without passport or boarding card. Eventually, after a great deal of frustration trying to deal with both Easyjet and BAA staff, Bob was brought in a vehicle, but 5 minutes too late. So.... we missed the flight! Bags were off-loaded but lost somewhere in the system and we were told to wait to be accompanied back to Arrivals. This took ages and meanwhile we saw that there was a virtually empty Thomas Cook flight going to Fuerteventura, but unavailable to us!

We were led back through staff doors and onto the (empty) shuttle, and found the bags. Easyjet declined all responsibility (as did BAA) but could sell us a ticket for the Saturday (3 days on!). We opted to go back to Gatwick on a three hour coach journey to catch an afternoon flight to Gran Canaria. This worked but was very stressful! Fortunately we know Las Palmas airport so went straight to the right area for inter-island flights and got ourselves onto the 19.30. Buses worked except that at this time of day they don't go down to the ferry, so we had a bit of a trek from the bus station. We were home by 10pm - just 18 hours since we started (and a few pounds and euros the poorer!)

GC and GB:- roving again!

We left Furete on 6th November - bound for Gran Canaria on a cheap residents' air ticket. The plan was to stay on the island for two weeks before going back to UK for Ruth's Mum's 80th birthday party. With clients in the Corralejo apartment and a bargain accommodation deal for us this was virtually a free holiday!


We spent 11 days in what has become a regular haunt in Maspalomas. The weather was very good indeed. We swam in the pool at the complex and had two beautiful days down on the dunes including dips in the sea. Our little bungalow was basic but comfortable - so much so that we had daily visits from a very affectionate local cat! In general GC seemed less adversely affected by a drop in tourism. Certainly the main beach was heaving when we were there, with no spare sunbeds and busy beach bars. On a couple of days it was too windy to be pleasant on the beach, but we "did" the Maspalomas market with bratwurst lunch, and Bob hired a bike for assorted rides.


We think, however, that the dreaded All-Inclusive deals are as devastating to small businesses as in Corralejo. Over in the tourist mall near us there was desperation to drag in diners, and even more empty premises than last time we visited.



In "Holiday World" - a fairground and amusement arcade nearby they lit the lights and ran the rides, but punters rattled around.

On the second Sunday we took a northbound bus to Bahia Feliz, so that Bob could take out a sea kayak. He had done so in Corralejo harbour in October - complete with falling in the water when trying to get out! The resort itself is totally forgetable:- minimal beach, uninteresting restaurants and no Spanish visitors or residents! Bob a had a good ride out though in both directions. We gave up on finding a "charming little Spanish spot for something tasty for lunch", and walked back down the coast to a better spot before taking the bus back to Playa del Ingles.


By the next day all the talk was of the looming storm! Tenerife took the brunt on the Monday itself. GC had cloud and wind. As we checked out of the complex next day the receptionist said that Las Palmas was suffering badly. There was evidently some disruption to transport as we had to wait a long time for a bus, and when we eventually arrived there was a lot of standing water. It seems we missed the flooding of one of the Las Palmas bus stations by a matter of hours.

We stayed three nights in our "usual" hotel just off of Carateras beach. The weather was absurdly changeable;- at times around 32 deg C, and then suddenly heavy cloud cover with the threat of rain, which barely happened. Sun umbrellas went up and down, whist chair cushions went in and out! Out on the delightful promenade we encountered again the fisherman cleaning his catch. He could easily have been one of the "live statues", but is in fact a very convincing inert one. The plaque speaks of the need to be always living near the sea:- a sentiment we share!

We spent time up on the hotel's top floor following weather developments on the laptop, and researching Fiat dealers in the city. We will soon have to decide whether to buy a new car in UK or GC. The ins-and-outs of this are tortuous, but we thought we might make some progress if we visited a showroom and discussed prices and procedures. (It is said to be more complicated to buy a car than a property in Spain!) We looked up where to go and which urban bus (guagua - pronounced wahwah!) we needed. We waited a long time at a bus stop where it was stated one would stop, but then we decided to check on this by looking at the network map pasted in the bus-shelter :- completely different from the one we had picked up from the bus station the day before! Grrrrr! - especially as we could not find a stop for the alleged service.We walked and walked in hot sun and as the 1pm watershed loomed. At a bus interchange we asked and found out that our map was right and the one on the shelter wrong. He recommended carrying on walking! As time was no getting critical we abandonned for the day! Next day we got to the premises (on a tiny bus that first did a circuitous route round the residential heights). The bus driver said it was a SEAT place, but there was a also a large FIAT sign to lead us there. Rejoice! Except that it didn't sell Fiats - just repairs and service! The salesman showed us a map of the city and pointed out another place at the other end of the city. (Las Palmas is the 5th largest in Spain apparently) Off we go on more buses - thankfully at only 68 centimos per ride. The traffic was so bad as lunchtime approached that in the end we got off and abandoned our plans! We went for a walk in the San Telmo area and saw an exhibition promoting Gran Canaria's plans for a high speed train. One can only hope that the information on its services is more efficient than for the guaguas.

After a pleasant three days including dinner at Galia - the magnificent French restaurant - but the discovery that the Brasilian rodizio we also wanted to visit was gone without trace, we set off on an evening Easyjet flight to Gatwick. The fear had been of the cold:- we don't have many winter clothes in Fuerte! In fact it was quite mild for the five days we were in UK. It was just very, very wet and windy!

We stayed four nights on the 10th floor of the Croydon Travelodge. From there we visited the properties in Morden and Balham, consumed plenty of real ale (one of only about three things we really miss about England!) and stocked up on teabags and sauces. On the Sunday we went by train to Hampshire, with Chloe hopping on the train at Hove. There were 13 people from four generations at the restaurant for Viv's 80th birthday celebration - including four boys under six. This was a total attendance of all offspring and partners, and worth the journey! (House policy means no family photos posted :- if you know our e-mail, ask and ye shall be given!)