It's our turn now!

It is generally agreed hereabouts that the winter has been one of the best for many years. Through January there have been some windy (and therefore barely beachable) days, and the nights have frequently been at no more than 13deg C - which is low for us; but there has been a lot of sunshine. We had a day trip by bus to El Cotillo (still looking like a ghost town, but with a lot of charm and excellent fish restaurants!), and had our first sunbathing Oliva Beach day of the calendar year on 18th January - unseasonable early! Next day the Winter Fuel Payment arrived - a nice little touch! We had a few more beautiful days, and then the clouds started to gather. We were off for dinner with Cake Eileen and Chris the Fish on a Friday evening and had walked 100m when it started to rain, and then it poured! We raced into the Rock for shelter, and eventually we were able to continue on, but this was the start of a really bad patch of weather, which persists. This is - of course - all relative:- with floods and deaths in Oz, Northern Europe freezing, and even peninsular Spain suffering very cold temperatures one should - as they - not grumble; but fleeces, closed shoes and long trousers have been seen; and it makes the smoking ban somewhat more uncomfortable for those in exile from bars.

This is Gran Canaria, but you get the picture!

Last Monday Ruth agreed to do an extra radio programme on the Wednesday. That day we had our final jabs, enjoyed some time in the Rock and remarked on the heavy cloud, and went home! At 3 am of Tuesday many folk (including Ruth) were woken up by the rain and thunder.This was impressive! Next day no Hot FM. The studio had gone under 5cm of water and the electrics were no more. It was off the air all day. On Wednesday - with the rain stopped, but very strong winds, Ruth thought there would be no need for her services down at the studio, but Val got going by 11am using her own MP3 player. Ruth went down there in case she could be useful and was able to operate in near normal conditions by noon. There has, however, been occasional rain ever since, and some grim cold wind.  Friday's theme was Wind, and yes, it is possible to find 24 tracks on the subject. The mystery person was Hurricane Higgins, and there were plenty of punters!

Now we are engaged in planning and packing for the Goa trip, which starts on Wednesday, and departure from this slightly depressing island seems timely!

2011 - A breath of (icy) fresh air!

A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR

TO OUR READER(S)!

Here on Fraggle Rock we are returning to normality with the kids back at school since Monday and the very slow removal of the seasonal decorations around town and in shops, bars and restaurants.

At Blue Rock the theme has been "Ice". Claire and her helpers made plastic ice cubes with intricate enclosed card snowflakes, only to have a couple whipped from outside overnight! Thereafter they were taken in each night. Inside was a model fisherman in arctic dress with snowballs and a seal;  and as you see there were plenty of frosted twigs!

It was here that we spent the early hours of 2011. We had seen in the New Year as guests of Mike and Liz. We were at a very full Casa Manolo, and enjoyed some excellent lamb, a great deal of El Coto Rioja, some cava and grapes at midnight, and the company of DJs Snowy and Sammy. We missed the Chilean rock band in the Plaza, and there were - once again - no council fireworks, but we just had to stop off at the Rock on the way home. There we joined a jolly Brit party. This included Boat Mike, who at 2 or so in the morning decided to buy and share a Cadbury's selection box causing raucous behaviour over the finger of fudge! This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that Ruth limped home with a pain in knee and groin, that kept us at home most of New Year's Day, so that we missed Chris the Fish's huge stuffed and salted tuna.

Sunday the 2nd was a watershed day for all of Spain! There had been virtually no prior publicity, but the start of the smoking ban did - on the day itself - make it to the UK news - heralded as one of the strictest in Europe! When asked about it the previous night the guy at Manolo's said they had not received any paperwork so would not be taking any action. Ruth had it as her theme for the show on New Year's Eve, playing such goodies as:

• Every Breath you Take
• Smoke gets in your Eyes
• Give it Up
• Virginia Plain
• Roll it to Me... you get the idea, and with Al and Val the proprietors away in UK, there was also The Other Man's Grass, and Don't Bogart that Joint!

The British and Irish bars are sticky to the rules (no smoking in any enclosed space), but the hunch was that the local bars would get way with it; but no!! The news on the streets is that within hours a Majorero owner had been fined 9K euros. So far, so good then, and it has been a joy to go into our favourite music venues and not suffer.

The final seasonal event was, of course, Kings! This year procedures for their arrival on 5th were changed. They were not on the 11am ferry, and they were not to be seen touring town during the day. In the afternoon we were at home when there was a tremendous noise from the ferry port, signalling the arrival, and they then scooted off to the villages. We managed to escape from Dr Kirstin's (pre Goa jabs!) just in time to see them perform the innovative ritual. At 6.30 or so (just after sunset) four small boats came round from the harbour to "Wai Kiki" beach. In turn a king  was tranferred to a smaller boat and taken to the shore. Each was helped ashore by guys in shorts with bare feet, a flare and some fireworks were let off and he did his traditional sweet throwing, kissing and posing. The camels had been brought down to the beach by the Corintia, and the procession set off from there (thus making the route considerably shorter than previously). We found a pole position for viewing it at the amusement arcade bar, and took the traditional lousy night-time photos! Otherwise the participants were the same except for a new horse-drawn cart. We skipped the kids' presentation to the kings in the Plaza, and went for a meal at the wonderful Wok! So too did an enormous number of others, including tourist smokers who were politely asked to go outside, and locals who weren't!

Ruth did an extra show on Kings' Day and the theme was "Stars" to acknowledge that they were - allegedly - astrologers. This was great fun and the audience participated in suggesting tracks which reference the "difficult" signs of Cancer and Capricorn. The latter
was solved by Kid Creole! What a clever lot they are!

And the weather over the Festive Season has been magnificent!

Aquatic Camels and an Erratic Iguana!

 Chloe stayed until 26th. The weather was pretty good, and she got in some serious sunbathing on the roof; but she was working very hard on Uni assessments and had little interest in trips out. For evening relaxation Ruth taught her to knit, and she started on a muti-coloured scarf for the man of the moment.

To spare our sanity we did not go on a goose hunt, but instead cooked for our Christmas Eve meal one of the Brighton pheasants and a veggie nut Wellington. Then on Christmas Day - when the sun shone beautifully we were at Blue Rock in the afternoon and La Tasca in the evening. Exquisite beef once again and - we suspect- an oversized piece! Afterwards we went in search of live music, but found nothing of quality, so it was up to Rosie O'Grady's where Dave n Pete were in action. This turned out to be "the place to be" as it filled up, and the Blue Rock crowd hoved in after closing their own bar. We returned home in a bad way, with the prospect of the airport next day!

We got a lift down with Chris the Fish and Cakes Eileen, and during the wait there was re-packing, and a rush job on the knitted scarf so the lethal needles could go in the hold luggage.

The new terminal must be one of Europe's transport follies. It was extended at enormous cost and opened last year, but is absurdly large! As the most significant carrier is Ryanair (Grrr!!) with its online check-in and low staffing policy there is no call for all the new desks, and people rattle around like peas. And with the crisis the catering outlets are mostly empty, but always somehow under-staffed. It is, however, currently festive! There is a large aquarium along one wall, and for Christmas we have models of the Three Kings etc neatly placed within them for the fish to negtiate. Bizarre!

And on the subject of unsettling animals:-

On the afternoon of New Year's Eve we came back from a Bratwurst at Curry Peter's (aus Berlin) to find neighbour Pete outside his door in conversation with Argentine Javier from a few doors down. "Have you got an iguana?" he asked us. There then followed a very silly conversation centring on the edibility of, Council responsibilty for, and athletic capabilities of - iguanas! He had found one on his roof terrace and was looking for the owner. It turned out to be a member of the dysfunctional family in the diagonally opposite corner of the complex, so the creature had  walked along the parapet some 80 metres.