Week 2 in Las Palmas

---

ahh where was I?

Thursday Nov 4th. Today we went on the Hop on Hop off bus. There is some interesting history in Las Palmas and lots of cool places to see along the away. We stopped at the half way point to visit Old town (Veguetta) There are a few old buildings and such to see but really not my thing so can't remember the names lol. Only one I do remember is the Momumento Espiral del Viento ( I called it a snail). It was at the entrance to the Old Town and everyone was climbing on it. We took a few pictures, stopped at the candy store (because why not?) and had a nice stroll through the cobble stone streets. Then we went to the North end of Las Canteras beach and found the Monument that was built as a tribute to the crash of 2008 flight JK5022. This monument is called Lights in the Dark. On the 20th of August 2008, Spanair Flight JK5022 crashed soon after taking off at Madrid's Barajas airport, killing 154 passengers. It was heading to Gran Canaria and the Lights in the Sky artwork is dedicated to their loss. Whilst, at the same time, representing the hope of the 18 survivors. It is kind of scary how 2 big plane crashes took place here off these small islands. In Tenerife ( another island in the Canary Islands ) the world's deadliest air traffic disaster happened in 1977 when two 747 planes crashed on the ground killing 583 people and leaving only 61 survivors. We hope to make a trip over there before our 3 months is up.

We only have 1 more night in our cozy Airbnb on the beach and we are not having much luck on the rental front, so we took another 3 nights at another Airbnb just UP the way. And by UP I mean up a big hill and about 200 stairs. Not a bad thing, except when you have like 100# of luggage to carry in 30 degree heat. Some pretty cool graffiti though and it is closer to the main strip - Mesa Lopez ( this would be a smaller version of Yonge Street IMO). This location is not as nice, in a very tall apartment building and we are not sure if it is a good part of town or not. (I guess we will find out). The place is well equipped but the beds are HARD and not much sleep is being had by Sean or myself. It's bad enough Sean doesn't have his favourite pillow and now a hard bed....whatever, will we make do?

Spent 2 days searching for a rental place, pretty stressful when everyone is on slow speed here (or at least not into email) and not speaking the language it can be challenging to say the least. It also doesn't help that it is high season, heading into Xmas, and that we need a bigger space due to # of people. It seems everything is booking up and is now twice the price. We scouted out rental agency, but no luck for anything short term, then checked Airbnb and I made a few connections on Facebook and tried to work some social networking. Laura -Our soon to be Spanish teacher from has been very helpful and sent me several people to connect with. The People here are very friendly here. For instance, one lady who had a rental (she is now in Madrid) had her mother come pick me up and drive me to the apartment to view. She was very friendly, a bit of a crazy driver, and even asked me to join her on Saturday to play golf (I knew when she asked me my handicap I was out of my league). Unfortunately the apartment was not quite big enough so we didn't end up taking it(nor did I play golf with her LOL)

Finally we connected with a company through one of Laura's connections and found a large apartment literally 3 blocks up from our first place that could hold us all and would take a short term lease. PHEW so glad that got sorted, now to somehow find a way to pay cash upfront before Friday!

I joined a few Nomad and Expact facebook groups and managed to set up 2 play dates. First was a family living here that have 2 kids. The mom and I arranged to meet for a swim on Thursday. Sarah and I met them for a few hours on the beach. Her kids were only 12 & 8, but I think Sarah enjoyed the company and time in the ocean swimming and chatting with someone other than me and Sean. We chatted on the beach for a couple hours about her time travelling (she has been in Las Palmas for 6 weeks and travelling for the past 3.5 years with her husband and 2 kids all over Central America and Europe.) Such cool experiences and gave me lots of great info on how to manage while abroad and what to expect. We have traveled to similar places so we also had that in common. She home schools and finds that Las Palmas doesn't have a large network for this, and thus they are leaving in a week for Romania and then back to Seattle. The waves were crazy today so swimming was eventful. However, it was a nice change of pace and hopefully we can get in one more get together before they leave next week.

Friday, Sarah and I went on the Hop on Hope off Bus again with the group from the Spanish lessons. It was mostly adults so pretty boring for Sarah (and me too- seeing as we just did this a week earlier) but regardless had a few chats with some other ladies and found a cool place to party on Thursday nights...Tapas and wine for 2 Euros. Not too shabby.

We rushed back home as today we are moving...YEAH last time we have to climb those stairs ....and sleep in that awful bed!

We moved in at 3 pm and started setting up the apartment. Need some essentials but overall it is larger and more comfortable (yes I tested the beds on my first viewing). We are here for just under 3 months so had to be sure. We are about 3 blocks from the beach and only 1/2 lock from the main strip of Mesa Lopez. We are also only about 6 min from the mall so Sarah will be happy that she can get to the arcade ..lol We also have a big patio (with view of a pool that we still don't know if we are allowed to use) but better than not having one I guess.

The weather is suppose to be hot this weekend so we bought a football to take to the beach in order to spend a few hours chillin'

I am still loving the experience, getting lost in my days, wandering the streets, finding new cafes, working out ( I made it 4 times to CrossFit- a new PR for me) and trying to find decent $3 bottles of wine.

Sean is doing his workouts at the beach each day, trading in the mornings and butting heads with lazy Sarah. LOL

Sarah has a cold and is grumpy pants so that has been a challenge. We force her to get off her computer and get outside every day, but once we are out she is fine. I know she is lost somewhat not having friends here and needs to connect via the internet so we have been giving her lots of freedom, but it is starting to take on too much of her time. She enjoys walking around and being on her own. We have set up surf lessons starting Monday so hoping that helps with keeping her active and maybe finding some new friends. I'm tying to get her to come to CrossFit with me, but she is still hesitant. We also start Spanish lessons next week so that should help us get by and socialize a bit more.

The language barrier is not that bad, most people understand some English and google translate is a life saver.

Next week I plan on getting more work done....!!!! It is hard setting a schedule, but it needs to be done for all of us.

Hope there isn't too much snow back home yet ( well what do I care actually). LOL

Till next week....we miss everyone!!

---

Comments

[Joyce]

Glad you have found a place to live. Exciting exploring isn’t it?

[anonymous]

Sunny days
What a place to be. So close to beach etc and able to just relax and enjoy. The sun and the sand. You will all be thrilled to have Lindsay with you soon. And Sarah may have more activities by then to keep her occupied and stories to tell Lindsay❤️