What a nice day!

[Josie]

Time to give you a bit of an update on my stay in Lanzarote and although it's blowing a gale outside right now it's been a lovely day.

We've been very lucky with the weather and having given up waiting for a cloudy day so we had an excuse to go touring I persuaded Mr J to head up north this morning under a cloudless sky on the pretext that we should go to look at the barbecues in Megacentro in Playa Honda.

Having been tipped off by our very own Flooey Bart Flash and Lyndylou that there is a decent sized Zara in Arrecife I managed to persuade Mr J to pop into the underground carpark there and very soon we found Zara in the pedestrianised street Leon y Castillo.  And what a lovely shop!  All the new spring/summer stock that has had a good write up in the UK papers and it is as big as the Zara shops we have been to in Madrid and Barcelona  .  The prices were not terrible particularly as Zara has always been much more expensive in the UK than in Spain so the exchange rate was not as noticeable (well that's my excuse anyway). 

So I bought a few things.....

You must see the range of great summer shoes Flooey!

There was a cruise ship in town and a market by the San Gines lagoon and a really good atmosphere. 

After that we went to Megacentro and although we didn't buy a barbecue we bought a Spanish digibox for less than 40 euros and now have 21 more TV channels than before - all but 2 are in Spanish but hopefully it will help us to learn the language!

We then went to our favorite furniture shop in Tinajo and bought another piece of furniture for our flat.  The crops in the fields are looking so healthy now that spring is here and it was great to drive across the island and then through the Timanfaya national park (lots of cruise ship passengers on camels) on the way back to Playa Blanca.

Then a late sandwich lunch and a bit of sunbathing and book reading on our balcony followed by a long walk to the lighthouse and back and tonight dinner at l'Artista (which was full).

Perhaps we'll go to the beach tomorrow...........

Josie x

[dixie d]

i love shopping in arrecife josie i have found a fantastic little pattisere shop there with a small coffee shop on the side really nice i will give you the address,didnt you fancy the 17th floor in the grand for a nice cold beer and them fantastic views.

[Madstock]

It sounds like you both had a fantastic day Josie (I so love that walk to the lighthouse) and I'm glad to hear that your not just lounging in the sun.

When do you fly home? (sorry to remind you )

[Josie]

Thanks guys.

Yes Dixie I suggested the top floor of the Arrecife Gran for a drink and the view but as it was baking hot at ground level Mr J decided he didn't fancy sitting behind plate glass even if the aircon is good so we decided to come back another day to see the view at sunset.

DIY is taking priority this morning - teak oiling the table is next - beach later.

J x

[Mick]

Hiya J.
Sounds like yer avin a beano deary. ( on Mr J's credit card I hope) !! 
Sorry I've not been on the boards of late (work is ruling at the mo)
Unfortunately I'll be stuck in Poland for Easter.( I'm begining to feel like one of the locals)  .
 I've only slept in my own bed 4-5 times this past month or so. By that I mean (my own bed at home) and not some "Lady of the night's" in Katowice !! UNFORTUNATELY !!  (DO NOT COMMENT FLASH) !! 
This time last year I was lookin forward to 14 days in the sun. I went to Lanza for the last 2 weeks in April 08.... This year ? Ahhhh well,,,never mind. I s'pose it pays the mortgage...
Hopefully I'll get away sometime in July...... Maybe ??  I really wanted to get over for the Ironman competition in May, but there's no chance.
Eat, Drink, SHOP & be merry Josie... I only wish I was there with ya my friend..
Enjoy the rest of yer hols.
Send my best to; Flooey, Bart, Flash, Lyndy & the rest of the gang.
Happy Easter, BIG HUGS
MICK xxx

[Josie]

Hi Mick

Happy Easter and big hugs to you too!  Sorry you're stuck in Poland.  Keep saving for the next visit to Lanzarote!  Hope you've got some nice people working with you and some Easter eggs to look forward to.

Josie xx

[Flash]

Hi Mick, glad you're OK and Happy Easter matey.

Get yourself into some of them Katowice disco's at the weekend, I hear they're full of Pole dancers 

How's the back btw?

[✈ Elle ☀]

Hola Mick ya loon! Good to hear from you.

Keep in touch matey xx

[Josie]

Anyone interested in what we did today?

Thought not, but I'll tell you anyway.

Bit of a slow start and dodgy weather but finally got our act together enough to have a glass of wine at about 1pm (with crisps!), peered over the edge of the balcony and discovered that Playa Blanca is packed out for the Easter hols!

Left the flat at about 2.30 for a quick look at the beach.  After about an hour's sunbathing it got very cloudy so went on an expedition to PDC to see the results of the multi million euro spend on the new sea front.  Finally found our way to the new one way seafront which looks pretty good and after inspecting it closely made our way back to the old harbour (with some difficulty in view of the continuing roadworks), inspected the new sea wall and repaired to Puerto Bahia restaurant on the cliff overlooking the sea, ordered drinks, got the bins out and waited for whales.....which unfortunately didn't appear.  However, the sun came out which was good so we decided to drive back through Yaiza to eat at El Golfo and watch the sun go down. 

It was a bit chilly but we had lovely food - a shared portion of steamed mussels followed by grilled squid and vieja (parrot fish I think).

Life is good in Lanzarote.

[dixie d]

sounds great to me josie,did you notice down at the harbour when the marina is planned to finish.Im sure i seen a sign there last year late 2010? by the way im over for a week 30/4 so thats another stone on 

[Josie]

Hi Dixie

I didn't see the sign but they've still got a lot of work to do.  The new breakwater is just about finished but what used to be a carpark is still full of builders materials and equipment and no new moorings have been put in yet.  It could easily be at least another year.  The signs leading down to the old harbour said no parking but there were a couple of rows of parking spaces either side of the road where we parked without a problem.  The original way down from town to the harbour is blocked to traffic as is access to the seafront outside the Fariones hotel as they still have the road up.

It was still really quiet at the harbour as it was a bank holiday yesterday so no machinery was working.

J x