Las Palmas...off to Nomad Land

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Here we go. ...... For those who don't know, Sean, Sarah and I have packed up our home and possessions into the "COW", shipped the truck and Cleo off to Grandma and Grandpa's, (along with anything else we couldn't quite fit), Oliver to Amber's, Hayden off to Taiwan (lol) and left Lindsay and Julia in the Big T.O as we take an adventure to the Canary Islands, Spain.

Why you might ask? Well for one, why NOT? We have been toying with this idea for the past few years, knowing we would wait until the kids were all out of the house, but the opportunity presented itself 4 years early and we said what the heck. It helped that Sarah was on board and willing to leave high school behind her for a year and start her grade nine year abroad (online with mom and dad- who are we kidding- with DAD)

Sean has always wanted to trade currencies in the European time zone and we felt confident our staff and new GM would embrace their roles and keep things running smooth at the gym while we are absent. We plan to still be active in the daily communication with our staff and continue to do our behind the scenes magic that helps make Crux a place many call home. We are excited to take this time off to pursue other avenues in our businesses and look forward to returning home to our family and the gym in 3 months.

So the journey begins...........

Day 1 October 30th -We finished packing up our last few items into the storage units and headed to the airport. (Thanks to Rob for his offer to drive us and make sure we got off safe and sound. We will miss all our friends dearly.) the airport was smooth, so since we arrived early a bottle of wine to celebrate the past few weeks of packing, moving and not killing each other was in order. (I will say if you ever want to test your marriage, 2 things come to mind: 1 build a house together (never again), or 2 pack up everything you own, move your house into a few small units, and then say goodbye to your friends, job and kids you left behind. 22 years of marriage proved to pass the test (so far) lol

We arrived in Portugal at 10:40 am ( 6:40 EST) ..little to no sleep makes for a tired bunch. We waited patiently to get our luggage as we had a 24 hr layover. After some time we decided to ask where it could be as it was not on the turn stall. Turns out they keep your luggage when you do a connecting flight..OOPS..so Sarah and I had no luggage for our stay...Oh well. Hiccup #1.

We decided to check out our hotel reservation and find our way to town. However turns out we booked the hotel on the wrong date..Hiccup #2. OOPS.. No worries, with a quick call we got things sorted and we were back on track to the Hotel Olissippo. The hotel happened to be right beside a mall so Sarah and I grabbed some clean underwear and Sean grabbed a bottle of wine. Good thing I packed my toothbrush in my carry on.

Hotel was nice, in a cool area on the Ocean, so we did some walking around to try and stay awake. We had dinner at a local Pizza place and headed back to the room by 7 to hit the sack (well after the bottle of $3 Portuguese wine).

Day 2: Oct 31st Happy Halloween - Flight was at 11 so we got to the airport early just in case there was another hiccup with our luggage. We decided to enjoy one last Starbucks for the next 3 months and Sean wanted to get in his Pasteis de nata (aka Portuguese tart). The flight was quick and guess what they served ...more Portuguese tarts. Our Luggage was waiting for us..YEAH and we had a quick cab ride to Las Palmas and we were checked into our Airbnb by 2:30 pm. Apartment was well equipped, plenty of space and right on the boardwalk. However the only balcony is in Sarah's room..so not fair. A quick trip down the boardwalk, picked up a few groceries and tried to get our bearings for the area. Still pretty jet lagged so home for a quick dinner (I made taco's) and off bed.

Day 3: Nov 1st All Saints Day - boardwalk and beach are packed today, we didn't realize it was a holiday. I made my way to the CrossFit La Canteras. Floated around the entry trying not to stand out and instantly was greeted by someone who was English saying I looked dazed and confused. lol. More like a deer in a headlight I am sure. "Mel" gave me a quick tour of the place and lay of the land. She is a Aussy yet a Canadian citizen, who also had been calling Las Palmas a home for the past few months, now back for her second stint. She made me feel very welcome and offered me lots of advice. I stayed for the open box and did some weights and mobility as I was pretty sure I couldn't get through a work out at this point....and it is sooo hot in the gym. Good thing I am use to that (think Crux in summer x 100). The space is pretty small, roughly 1500 sq feet and they only can lift in the middle of the gym as a class (which apparently can be as large as 20 ppl some days). I was glad I came and made my first friend. We exchanged numbers and hoped to meet up to chat about living here over the next few days.

We are still trying to find a home for our stay as our current situation runs out next Wed. We have been online and eyeing up a lot of spots, but it is high season and prices are a bit more than we had hoped, so we may continue on for a few weeks in a few places before settling down for the long haul. Would also like to get a feel for the land and find the neighbourhood we want to call home.

Day 4: Nov 3rd - Sean and Sarah explored the beach today while I went back to CrossFit. I signed up for a month and did another Open Box. I wanted to do class but didn't manage to wake up on time..go figure. My friend Mel was there and she gave me some additional pointers and I met her boyfriend Tom (he is from the USA) They both seem to really love the area and love to talk. We will get a long just fine.

Did some work at a cafe on the beach while waiting for Sean and then we headed up town to get a phone card for him and Sarah. I then decided to do some more work from another Cafe in town (Cafe Regina- Yes I sang a little diddy in my head all day after that ANDYYYYY?) I boldly made a conversation with a nice guy sitting beside me (Simon) and he invited me to a coffee meet up for Nomads that afternoon. Friend #2 Simon.

Sean and Sarah met me for the walk to the Coffee shop (which we were late for btw) and it was a packed house. They had a speaker from an online fitness business in Romania to teach us about Sales funnels. So old school..lol but it was informative and I chatted with a few others after. It was the Las Palmas Nomad entrepreneurs and so it seemed fitting, apparently a lot of people work remotely here from the UK. Anyways to the real point of the story, I made Friend #3 Jackie. I noticed her right away as I recognized her from the CrossFit earlier. She is here from NY teaching English and Yoga. So we shared contact info and I am going to join her Yoga class on Tuesday. I think Sean and Sarah are jealous of my friends, so now I need to just find a friend with a 14 year old.

All in all a good first few days.....lots still to do, including finding my routine! We have explored a few different areas ( found another mall- lol) and few different grocery stores. I am leaning to the beach for our home base but we are going to check out Old Town tomorrow so who knows.

I could waste the day away so easily here....it is truly a beautiful pace and very relaxing







Things I have learned about Spain so far:


• Banana is the New Apple
• Chicken is really cheap here, a breast only costs you $1 and they will dice up all your meat for you at the counter
• Beef (god cuts) is really hard to find
• You can get decent wine for under $6
• They close a lot of shops btw 1:30-4:30 I think to nap?
• A lot of people still smoke (Yuck)
• And every grocery store smells like fish
• Lots of naked people on the beach
• Sarah doesn't do well with change- she misses her go too's at home - but she found Milka so that works too

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Photos

Storage wars
Lindsay helping me put the puzzle pieces together

Naked ladies frolicking in water exhibit
Weird

CrossFit Las Canteras
my new home for the month

Spain's version of Apple?
Spain's version of Apple?

Taking off day 2
On our way to Las Palmas

Lisbon statue of legs?
Statue of Legs - Lisbon

Train station
Metro in Lisbon- my professionals

Big Fish?
Statue inside Metro station

Comments

[Sean Allinson]

I made a friend too
Portuguese guy that was born in Toronto...remember?

[The Allinsons]

Yes you did
but he did have a teardrop tattoo and was homeless asking us for money, so not sure that really counts?