Salty Dog – 23 March 2019

Another warm day

After breakfast we sat in the garden and I painted while Scamp read her Kindle.

Later we walked in to Caleta and had lunch in The Trafalgar, an institution in Fuerteventura. We always visit it if only to get a mug of coffee for Scamp. The only place in Caleta that she trusts to give her decent coffee.

When we got back, Scamp went for a swim and I went for a walk over the wilderness to the Museo de la Sal. A museum of salt is not the most interesting of places, but behind it is the original salt pans and a full skeleton of a whale. I’d forgotten about the skeleton the last time we’d been to Caleta and this time I got to see it. I didn’t actually go in to the museum, but having read Tripadvisor reviews, I didn’t miss much. Besides, you can just walk round the salt pans and the skeleton without having to go in to the museum.

On the way back I got some photos of the tough wee desert plants growing on the dunes and it was one of them that became PoD.

It was a long walk over the wilderness and I my feet were quite sore when I came back.

28,025 steps
12.65 miles

Tomorrow is Scamp’s birthday, so she gets to decide on the format of the day.

Puerto del Rosario – 22 March 2019

A day in the Toon

Got a bus timetable from reception for a trip into the big city – Puerto del Rosario.

Found the bus stop. I’d looked everywhere for it yesterday on my walk back from the wilderness, but there it was, just outside the Atlantico Centre. We were first on and paid our exorbitant fare of €1.45 each! Not bad for a 30 minute journey!

Wandered round the Las Rotundas shopping centre in the town. A big shopping centre built in three levels. Really quite impressive range of shops. I found a cheap electronics shop which was offering SSDs (not to be confused with STDs) for really low prices. I was tempted, but I walked away. As it happened, the only things we bought were two little €0.99 fold up shopping bags.

Outside we found the famous church with the bar. The bar isn’t actually inside the church, but it is in the grounds. An excellent way to encourage more worshippers.

On the same street there were a load of statues to various dignitaries from the past, along with another one of a goat. I couldn’t work out the significance of the goat statue. Maybe a political statement.

Lunch was further down the street in an outside cafe and was a meal-deal of a Spanish omelette and salad accompanied by a small beer (half pint) for €6.50 each. Coffee was also included in the price, but we were happy to forego that, much against the better judgement of the waitress who seemed disappointed that we were leaving without getting full value for our €6.50.  However, we weren’t totally in the shade for our meal and the sun was becoming quite hot just after midday, so we felt it would be better to be walking, rather than enjoying the extra coffee.

While we were eating we were people watching. One group of men and one group of women, sensibly sitting at tables in the shade of the cafe building. Men with their beer and cigars, women with coffee and cake. Another group at the next table to us seemed to be the Canarian version of Scamp’s ‘Witches’. All the groups were well into the ‘pensioners’ bracket.

After leaving the cafe we walked down the street, finding more statues and sculptures and also a lot of murals. One especially cleverly painted with exaggerated perspective of Time Square. I’ll hopefully put it up on Flickr once I’ve got the blogs up to date. Today’s PoD was the first mural we saw and we both liked it.

On the subject of blogs, I didn’t write this on the laptop while we were away. I tried a different method this year and made notes and sketches in a sketchbook while we were away and am typing this up at home. The book will make a nice record to look back on.

At the bottom of the street we found PdR beach and esplanade. It’s beautifully laid out and much prettier than we’d expected. Certainly worth another look some time DV. We both liked the bench seating under some shade, each bench painted with a different portrait or scene. Brightened up what could have been a dull seating area.

Back at the hotel I had too much meat for dinner and suffered from protein overload. Scamp was fine.

The show was an ABBA tribute by the in-house entertainment team. We weren’t interested and went back to the room to read.

11,437 steps
5.16 miles

Tomorrow we may go for a swim.

First Day – 21 March 2019

We’d decided that today would be a day of rest after yesterday’s fraught day of travel and that’s what we did.

In the morning we just sat by the pool. Scamp went for a swim but I decided to stay on dry land. My head was not my own. I hadn’t slept well and apart from the excess of alcohol yesterday, I realised I’d had more than my fair share of sun without a head covering. Also, I’d been careful on the flight not to drink too much and the combination of all these things meant I was probably dehydrated and had slight sun stroke. That’s why my head felt slightly woozy. The reason I’d not slept well was because I kept waking up hearing noises during the night. We eventually decided that because our room faced into the prevailing wind, the constant buffeting by that strong wind was causing the chairs to vibrate on the balcony. Not only ours were vibrating, everyone else’s chairs and tables were doing the same thing too. Thankfully in the afternoon, somebody realised what was happening and the chairs were removed into the flat or stacked in such a way that the noise was eliminated. That was a great relief.

Saw a Hoopoe in the gardens of the resort and amazingly it let me get quite close. It made PoD. Haven’t seen one here before, in fact the only one I’ve seen before was in Puerto Rico in Gran Canario about 10 years ago.

In the afternoon we went for a walk as far as the small strip of shops just short of Caleta De Fuste. Walked back along the new walkway.

Later in the afternoon, I went for a walk over to the wild side beyond Elba Sara. Got some photos of the camels walking to their overnight accommodation and also some shots of a curlew.

Show tonight was a music quiz which didn’t interest us and shows the quality of the entertainment in this hotel.

16,179 steps 7.3 miles today.

Tomorrow we may get the bus into Puerto del Rosario.

29 Degrees – 20 March 2019

Set the alarm for 6am. Up and out after a tea and toast breakfast. Drove through fairly heavy traffic along the M80 and the M8 with CITRAC still predicting 42 mins to the airport. Didn’t take near that time, of course. Checked in without any delay and then we reached security where the traffic was heavy and two of the gates were down. Forgot that I’d put my insect repellant spray in the carry-on bag and had to wait while they searched the bag. Flight was on time and we arrived in Fuerteventura to 29 degrees heat ( I wish Windoze 10 would make it simpler to create a degree symbol). For some reason my phone phoned Fred Parker while we were waiting in a long queue for the taxi to the hotel. He wasn’t pleased when I told him about the 29 degrees!

Checked in at the hotel and dumped the cases then went for a first ‘Holiday Beer’ or two. Dinner at night was underwhelming and there were a lot of empty tables. Whether that was because of the quality of the food or the lack of guests is hard to tell on a first night.

Delighted to find that ‘Tina’ was the vocalist and sax player tonight. We’d heard her play last year at Elba Sara and we had danced to her music. Scamp asked her to play some salsa and we danced to Carnival which seems to be the only salsa song she knows. For once we made a mess of things. It might have been because the floor was slippery or it might have been a case of too many ‘Holiday Beers, Mojitos and G&Ts. The jury is still out. Gave up and went to bed. It had been a long day.

Today’s PoD is a quick snap of a serviette in Frankie & Benny’s at Glasgow Airport. Someone must have seen us!

Tomorrow we will be relaxing by the pool, hopefully.

At the Airoport I’m happy – 12 March 2016

combo bListening to the “Passaheros” and “Condestinos” announcements while we wait in one queue after another, I’m almost tempted to stand to attention when German flights are called. German seems such an abrupt stentorian language. More a set of commands and demands than lyrical French or stiff upper lip English or even drunken Gaelic. Like the lady who informed the chef at breakfast “You vill cut up the fried eggs for me.”  A statement.  Not “Vill you … ?”, a request. Thinking along those lines, wouldn’t it be better if we used local vernacular at places like airports: “Aw right, them thits gaun tae Zurich git in the queue noo. Them thits no, jist haud yer wheesht an’ wait ’till yer telt.” Now doesn’t that have a bit more character and humour?

Anyway, for once we were called to the gate, then boarded well ahead of time and we are currently flying through the air strapped in to an armchair in an aluminium tube, heading in the general direction of Dublin. Isn’t technology wonderful?

Arrived ten minutes ahead of schedule in Glasgow. It took about 20 minutes to get through security, possibly because three planes had landed in swift succession, possibly because the much vaunted automatic Euro Passport booths weren’t working again – well, to be honest, they’ve never worked since they were brought in. It took another 20 minutes for the cases to be delivered. What’s the point of having faster and faster transport links when the infrastructure at the airports isn’t up to the job? Anyway, we were home and the weather was, as a flight attendant once said “… eh, Scottish.”

Today’s title comes from the Loudon Wainwright III song “Lowly Tourist”
“… at the airoport I’m happy ‘cos I know I’m going home.”

Last full day in the sun – 11 March 2016

combo bMaking the most of the last full day. It started with grey skies, but by the time we headed off after breakfast, the sun was breaking through. We were headed again for Corralejo town. Basically it’s north to the town or south to the dunes. East is the Atlantic and there is no road west. We wandered round an open air market and I was thinking about buying a Rolex watch, but I couldn’t decide between it and a Breitling. Both were €35. I decided to think about it. Scamp was taken by a woman’s scam, selling wine bottle openers.  She had a slick pitch, but was no match for Scamp.

So we are now sitting in La Cantante in Corralejo having a mojito after another of their excellent tuna pizzas. On the walk back to the hotel. On the way we passed a wee shop selling souvenirs and I got two shirts for €6. A bargain at twice the price. Ok, they were so thin you could spit peas through them, but bright cheery colours to match my sunny disposition.

When we got back, there was just enough sun left for an hour or so on the sun beds. Then it was back to the room to pack. 🙁

As you can see there were a lot of photos taken today.  To get a better look at them, visit my Flickr page by clicking on the mosaic.

Another day in the sun – 10 March 2016

combo bToday started like yesterday with a search for a couple of sun beds together. We found them by the pool just outside the flat and that is where we stayed most of the day. The day began earlier with a sensible preparation for the sun. Rather than be caught out like yesterday we got thoroughly covered in sun cream. Then it was off to breakfast before we faced the sun.  The sun was not so constant today which was a blessing really because it was too hot yesterday.

WARNING!  MAY CONTAIN TECHNOSPEAK
After lunch we rested for a while beside the pool and then Scamp decided it was time for a walk. I’d said I wanted to do some painting on the dunes, so we headed up the road to the mini Sahara again. I didn’t get any painting done, but I did confirm my suspicions that this end of the dunes is a nudist beach. Couldn’t settle on a suitable spot for a painting and was getting exasperated with the camera occasionally overexposing. So started off back when I hit on the idea of doing a complete factory reset. I’d just done it when I realised that the over exposure only happened with the old kit lens. I checked it and sure enough, no matter what aperture setting I set on the camera, the lens aperture was stuck wide open. That would explain the overexposure. At least the overexposure in the camera. The overexposure of the blokes in the bushes was another matter entirely. Anyway, the reset seems to have made the E-M10 useable again.

Dinner tonight was in the Spanish restaurant where we had tapas to start with and then I had shoulder of lamb that simply fell of the bone – delicious and Scamp had salmon which apparently was quite good too. Pudding was banana flambé which was good, but with little evidence of any flames. Not like mine at all!

Tonight’s show was billed as Radio Gaga, but announce as We Will Rock You. Actually, it was better than the full length show we went to see in The King’s in Glasgow. The cast were all miming, but that didn’t affect our enjoyment. Sometimes enthusiasm is better than ability.

More pictures of the architect’s house, a desert shot and a cat for Hazy!

A day on the dunes – 8 March 2016

combo bThe sky was a bit more promising this morning, so after breakfast we went for a walk to the dunes again. Took some more photos of the strange house which apparently belongs to an architect, not an artist.  Every time we pass it, it seems there’s more to see, just something we hadn’t noticed the last time.  We walked right in to the dunes proper this time and watched the kite surfers for a while. Then, when we got brave, we paddled our wee tootsies in the Atlantic. Ooh it was freezing! I can now see why the kite boys and girls need those wetsuits. Took some more arty farty photos in the gloriously warm – no, HOT sunshine before heading back. On the way back I did spot a couple of folk skulking behind some of the prickly bushes, apparently in the bare buff, (a dangerous game to play!) so this end of the dunes might be a nudist beach after all.

We’re sitting inside in the cozy wee bar at reception now drinking rum ‘n’ cokes and pretending it’s the Canaries we’re in, not a freezer.

Good weather forecast for tomorrow. We’ll see.

Hoodie – 7 March 2016

combo bToday I gave in and bought a hoodie. It was another cold grey day. We did have an hour of sunshine around midday but that was it. In the morning we walked to the start of the dunes saw a strange (artist’s?) house with lots of icons on the walls. Just begging to be photographed.  Next door was what we think is a nudist hotel. High industrial looking metal walls and a name that hinted at naturism. We must go back and investigate.

Once I’d decided to bite the bullet and go for comfort over fashion, we walked half way into town and had a look in lots of shops, even venturing into Zara!!  Couldn’t find what what I wanted at a sensible price (€85 for a hoodie? I think not). With that in mind we walked back to our local shopping centre and got one there. Not in the shop where the Indian woman asked “You like it. You not going to buy?”  “Eh, naw”. Finally got one. A bit dearer than the Indian one, but from a much more pleasant seller. The squeaky wheel doesn’t always get the grease.  Just been to the Rambutan restaurant for dinner and it was great. Not the best hotel in the world, but the food is exceptional.

Sunday Stroll – 6 March 2016

combo bToday after breakfast we walked all the way in to Corralejo. It took us some time.  We passed through a shopping arcade where there was an open air craft market and a group singing folk songs.  Further into town I got a cheap, but really comfortable shirt after waiting in a long, long queue. We saw the most amazingly customized bikes, cycles, not motorcycles, covered in shells and goatskin!

We walked down to the harbour and saw painted fish statues, like the cow parade, but fish!  On the walk back we stopped at a bar where we could have danced last night, had we known. Instead we had a pizza, Scamp had a glass of wine and I had a beer while we listened to a jazz guitarist playing Jimi Hendrix covers. Good guitarist, good pizza and the drinks were very welcome because it was starting to get warm.

Back at the hotel we watched a volleyball game in warm sunshine for an hour.

At night we watched the show – Cabaret and then got to dance salsa and bachata in the disco. Knackered now.