Funeral of the Sprat

The day after the Big Procession sees the Funeral of the Sardine.

On the way to see the start of the funeral we passed a great piece of debris - an abandonned shopping trolley/ bull with black bin bag and horns. It was sitting forelornly on the beach by the marina. We don't know if there was a Euro deposit to reclaim.

A better view of the sardine this year - and of the mourners! We saw the whole works! Old men in top hats and older ladies in full black kit wailing at the demise of a paper mache model! The widow then turned up - in drag!

We followed the procession for a while. Ahead of the sardine on wheels and the mourners was the large wreath on its own transport - yes! a shopping trolley!

Confusion reigned at when the fireworks would take place. They are part of the burning on the town beach. In practice many missed them and we only just caught them by a nifty exit from Blue Rock. Very striking - as last year - but lasting abot three minutes and with no obvious finale!

Not so much a sardine......

Opinions now differ as to whether this was pathetic meanness that will add to tourist disappointment, or a justifiable response to the credit crunch! It meant an early night though - and it was blooming cold!

On and off-piste dressing-up

As was stated above the theme for Carnaval was Andalucia! Some of us did (Ruth, Sandra and David)

and many of us didn't (This motley crew including Pablo - a lot more wholesome than last year - his beau, and some Thomas Cook reps)

Bob had a cardboard matador's hat, but refused at the last minute - just like last year!

On Big Procession Night it would also have been hard to spot the theme from the floats. Several were clearly just recycled from the Puerto del Rosario carnival - theme Circus, and - most bizarrely - one was a "prison" (presumably an Andalucian one)!

As usual it was two hours late, wonderfully noisy with the drummers - and the far-flung sweeties hit many spots.

Blue Rock closed at 4 am (long after we departed)

Amongst the wayward were some shy Mexicans!

The Carnival is Over!

As you can see the theme was "Andalucia" - a boon for purveyors of spotty flouncy dresses - but otherwise a challenge!

A happy coincidence was St Patrick's night with Drag Queen night. This caused more than a few aching heads the next day! We saw an excellent band at the Rock Cafe (lead guitar Swing Kid in his mini-skirt!) and then spent too long at the Blue Rock (where the theme was re-interpreted as Andalucian Pirates)

A really good development is that the Carnaval showground has been re-located from a dump behind the bus station - where people were afraid to go at night - to the waste ground in front of the sports hall, which is 5 minutes walk away from home, and much better for local businesses. The fairground rides were on the hard-standing by the nautical school.

On the first Saturday of Carnaval there was a disco which finally ended at 6.30 a.m. A little local colour!

Mamma Mia!

... a commercial break!

We have recently discovered Bar Las Canas (there should be a tilde on the "n" but we don't know how to insert one!)

Gary (from Bedford) and Sarah make their own pure burgers which are utterly delicious. - and so cheap! When other places are struggling they are very popular - especially with the Spanish and Arabic speakers here. The latter know there is no hidden pork meat - unlike in other burgers round here!

There is a monthly special - and for March here it is! Ruth loves it!

Back to the reality of living in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean ....

Monday was the day of the wild goose (or goat) chase.

Exiled from the UK NHS screening programme Ruth needs a routine mamogram. Next time will be OK - we will be in the Spanish Social Security system which works. This time it needs to be paid for. Step 1 - an hour queueing in the local clinic to be told we need to go to the private clinic in Puerto del Rosario. "Do you have a card with the address?" - "No - but ere is a phone number!"

Step 2 - Ring up! Permanently engaged! Eventually R speaks to man in very slow Spanish. He says there is no need for an appointment - just turn up and the results will be available very quickly. A quick check on location - near Hiperdino - easy! - and it is open all day!

Step 3 - Check location on the web. Yes it is behind the new Rotundas mall - where there is a very large Hiperdino. Bob takes a mental picture of map. R thinks we should take a hard copy - but forgets.

Step 4 - Bus to Rosario and a long walk down to Rotundas. No sign of clinic in the supposed area. We ask a security officer at the Sorting Office who is very keen to help and goes away to check. No - it is back up the other end - vague mention of police station - ask when you are near there!

Step 4 - Check at the Red Cross. Guy there says it is back up the other side of the bus station. The temperature is 29 degrees. No sign of it anywhere up there. We go into the bus station. At the desk is a driver, a woman and an info man. They have a long discussion and say it is back down at the Rotundas. We gasp and the driver says we should get on his No 3 bus and he will drop us off! He won't take any money. Muy amable! He indicates a vague direction and we are back at the sorting office. No sign of clinic. Bob asks in a bar and we find it. It is closed for a long siesta... but hang on! There is more Spanish info on the door. Only hearing tests done here! The clinic has moved - back up near the old Hiperdino - not far from the police station - and we even had a street name now!

Step 5 - Groan in despair and go for tapas lunch on the seafront!

Step 6 - Just 3.5 hours after getting off the bus we find the clinic. It is modern and looks promising. The receptionist speaks good English and say that yes this can be done - how is April 6th for the x-ray and two weks later for the results, which have to be done in person!!!!! Hair is being torn out on our side of the desk We leave the island on 20th! We give an abbreviated account - she has no idea why we were told what we were told - perhaps the guy did not understand Ruth! Humiliation for an improving Spanish speaker! We will have to repeat research for Chania, Crete.

Step 7 - Back to the bus station - where we tell the info man who says he thought so all along! Muchas Gracias! Back to Corralejo and the afternoon sun is virtually gone!

Hey ho! Good job we are retired!

Grey and dyed Rockers do it for Charity

(with Elvis - not dead but lurking on the island!)

Back from Gran Can and the weather deteriorated (in fact we had a blowy flight and shivered as we left the plane!) Several overcast days and then suddenly bright sun and it seemed as if Spring was here! Last Sunday was gorgeous - we went out for a bike ride and then did our civic and community thing by attending a Charity Funday at Rogues Gallery.

The cause was raising money for a guy from Rotherham paralysed after a fall in Caleta de Fuste. 22000 euoros was needed to get him back to UK.

The place was packed with (smoking) oldies and Rick came up from Caleta to do an (excellent) Elvis impression. At one point Al and Val - who own Hot FM - were jiving in the street! As a result of various fund-raising activities and donations from owners Derek Mac and Jo some 680 euros went to the appeal, which has now met the target.

Most of the week has been hot since then, with an impressive downpour on Wednesday. We have been engaged in useful tasks!

4 stars and 3 close encounters of the wrong kind.

Whilst we were slumming it PG&G were at the Costa Meloneras Hotel.

With some nifty card shuffling we were able to enjoy the (slightly) heated pools, but did not indulge in the aquarobics!



The weather was pretty kind, with a lot of sun, but several wet afternoons. We had a trip to Puerto Mogan - which needed nifty footwork to find seats on a bus, and Bob took Gregory on a serious bike ride along the coast.



...and .. on the day when we went our separate ways... two "People like you!" confrontations for us!

First, a denunciation of the very nasty outfit Anfi! Further down the coast is a striking cliff-side development which started as a time-share, and there are some satisfied share-owners. Now it is marketed in a very aggressive manner all over the resorts, with desks that look like normal information spots and dodgy offers of free rides. PG&G had been caught when in Puerto Rico and had survived the process - which is the usual hard-sell process related now to a "holiday club" and so exempt from European legislation on, say, cool-off periods.

Our first engagement was near the Maspalomas beach where we avoided eye-contact and refused to say we were British. The staff ran after us saying "We areen't doing scratch-cards, Honest!"

It was bit too windy for the full beach experience so we walked off towards the bus stop. Suddenly a young Scots guy flew past on a bicycle and shouted to his partner a loud remark about the size of Ruth's boobs. We shouted something back and he expressed amazement that we understood English! (The same guy probably assumes it all the time in shops, bars and restaurants!) Anyway, Bob abandonned his bag and ran after them. He soon found the woman sitting down, and told her a few home truths about residents and their intolerance of gross tourists. The man was seen riding off. Point made!

An hour later and we are on the promenade in Playa del Ingles! Anfi are out in force again. We refuse to engage and give them a disparaging look. Three of them start to hurl abuse. We say we live there (well, almost!) and the remark comes back - "Yeah! Looks like it!"

Penny later sent us a link to a forum where this nasty organisation's sharp practices are exposed. Be warned if you go to Gran Canaria!

Good Golly!

Our "sort of holiday" was a week in Gran Canaria.
Our good friends Penny and George, who have the carp fishing business in France, were there on a real, rare and much-deserved holiday in Maspalomas with son Gregory and suggested we go over to see them.
As veteran cheapskates we found rockbottom flights at resident prices and second-cheapest accommodation.
This time we flew with Binter (chocolate wafer and water) and went back to El Palmeral (booked with UK firm Sunshine Holidays) All worked well except for the cooking rings in the bungalow. (90 minutes to boil pasta - 30 mins for a cup of tea!)



Walking past the marina in Corralejo to get the bus for the airport we saw this boat!

Great Yarmouth?????
(Bob's home town!)

The mind boggles at the route taken, and the contrast between here and Gorleston marina.

It had moved on by the time we came back so we will probably never know the story.

At long last - the beach!

Just four months after arriving in Fuerteventura we made it to the Grandes Playas and into the sea on 19th February!

It was really sunny with very little wind, the beach bars were fully functioning and even the camels were there.

We went again two days later, but the wind was up and the sea too cold.

Otherwise a quiet period of major UK-based adminstration - not a holiday! That started on Thursday 26th.