20-21st of July

Lazy, lazy, lazy. It’s very easy to get into the habit of not doing much all day, the boys are great at it. If it was up to them, the entire month would be spent on the beach/pools and the comfy sofas of the living rooms of different hotels with a remote control for the TV and iPad/iPhone respectively. The sound of the crashing waves of the ocean lulling you to sleep and gently waking you up in the morning. Mind you, their bed is awful now. They’ve put a mattress protector of some sorts, very soft. Maybe I should just have it removed.
Long hours spent on the beach, temperatures around 28C, gentle waves, floating in the cool water of the ocean, happy times. Even managed to read a bit while they took off in search of water, came back with a box of Minecraft Lego. No point in giving ex a lecture about not buying everything his son points his little finger at, kept it to myself and suggested to build a sandcastle instead.
Love this beach, the Anfi beach, nice, clean with gorgeous sand. It’s very grainy, difficult to wash off,but you get that real beach feeling, if you know what I mean. There are lots of other beaches around here. Playa De Lajilla next to us, Playa De Las Maranuelas a bit further. We passed all these beaches when went for our morning walk. Small ones, frequented by the locals as well.
You can find much bigger ones as well, like the one in Las Palmas, the capital city of Gran Canaria, The Playa De Las Canteras or the beach at Maspalomas, with the awesome sand dunes (that was my son’s expression). You really feel like you are in the desert, riding on the back of a camel, scanning the horizon, and all of a sudden you see water, the ocean! We did go there in April, took some great pictures of the dunes. A bit of advise from me is to put your shoes, flip flops, whatever you have with you on, don’t think that it’s only a few meters away from the beach and you can do it. I was stupid enough to start out on barefoot, had to go back for my shoes, way too hot. Imagine now, in July!
Dinner time and we just didn’t want to go far. Tried the Maroa here, at Arguineguin, were unlucky, no tables. Nice fusion restaurant, surrounded by green garden, definitely a plus. Yet to try their food. Walked back to the RadissonBlu. Since Mish wasn’t that hungry, decided to stay at the top floor outdoor bar. Had some drinks and a cheese platter. Kids of all ages and sizes kept running in and out, guess nobody keeps their bedtime routine. Unless you have really small ones, you all go out with them. The further south you go, the later the kids stay up. I remember falling asleep in Kuwait to the laughter of the kids playing outside next door. This was the first time in my life that I had to wake up Mish at 10 am., him, who even on weekends wakes up before 6.
So he stayed up again, playing endless rounds of UNO, while sipping at my delicious pina colada, at last, this was the best so far.
One more thing that is a must for me, some sort of exercise. Heavy gardening at home, running on my “good knee” days, walking when it is not so good. This time we walk, I cannot do anything else because of my right hand. Still hurts, stiff, green and blue and pretty much useless. Still cannot open the lid of a water bottle, need help to cut my food at the table and cannot hold anything heavier than a napkin. Getting a bit worried. So, we walk. Sometimes together, sometimes alone. Went further than the tourists go, just one street up from the main road, totally different. Along the coast is all about tourism, hotels, shops, beaches. Going further in where they live, now that’s interesting. I’ve always been fascinated by people from different cultures, even more open minded because of our son coming from a mixed marriage. Have this habit of trying to peek into other people’s houses, lives, through the windows, through the half closed doors. Listening to their fast chatter, not understanding a word, watching them walking across the street to the beach, carrying half the house with them. They seem like happy people. Maybe the sun helps, with all the sunshine here how could you get depressed?
Lazy days end with lazy dinners, always tasting new vines, new dishes. We finally tried the Maroa restaurant. What should I say? Arrived at 9, took them half an hour just to give us a menu and take our order for drinks. Total disorganization. Luckily we were in no rush, and the food was excellent. As I think of the appetizers, my mouth starts to water. Had salmon carpaccio and tiny tuna cubes marinated and served in a sauce consisting of among other things soy sauce and jutzu juice. What the heck is that? Must be a fruit. All I know, it was the perfect combination of sweetness with the saltiness of the tuna, and with the sharp,crisp taste of the pickled ginger. For the main course we had fresh fish from Mogan with some vegetables and their traditional canary potatoes. They are small, wrinkled salty potatoes, I think that’s the best way to describe them. Here is the recipe for it.

All you have to do is to put some small potatoes in a pot, cover it with water and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Cook till tender, pour off most off the water and return to the stove. Move the potatoes in the pan till all the water evaporates. In the end you have wrinkled, salty potatoes. Will try it at home. The atmosphere was only spoilt by us arguing with Mish. Really having a hard time with him. Keeps snapping at me, always grouchy, miserable. I am not ready for this. He is not even 9 yet, can’t possibly be behaving as a teenager. Just looked it up. According to Wikipedia:” A teen, is a young person whose age falls within the range from 13-19.” So that’s not it. Must try harder. Hugged him like crazy in his sleep. He is still my little boy.