Grand Canary Islands: PARADISE

Disclaimer: the following post may make you a bit jealous. Proceed with caution.


My friend Justin and I headed to the Grand Canary Islands for a 3 night stay. We just booked the flights without doing any research about climate (turns out it scientifically has the best climate in the world-no worries there), and without knowing where we were going to stay. Look up where it is on a map-it's off the west coast of Africa, but technically Spanish territory. By a stroke of luck, there was a starwood property there meaning I got the hook up once again! (Here is where we stayed).

Sunset as we landed!

I also knew it was going to be a good trip when we were offered a complimentary glass of champagne at check-in, and when they gave us a card that gave us 50% off all food at the hotel. We immediately freaked out in the hotel room at how nice everything was. I was excited about having a nice hostel in Prague. Seeing this place I was speechless! After composing ourselves, we headed down to the all you can eat buffet person. Even with the 50% off card it was 17 euro per person. But you best believe we got our money's worth. We were the youngest people in there, and I'm sure the hotel didn't count on anybody eating as much as we did at the buffet. My only complaint about the hotel: the wifi wasn't free in the rooms, so I lugged my laptop all the way there for nothing! 


Something we noticed as soon as we got here: there are a lot of Germans. I'd say it was about 90% German, 5% British, 4% Spanish, and 1% American (that'd be us, the only ones).  It was the first time I've been somewhere and the secondary language wasn't English. I was approached a few times by people speaking to me in English. I like to think that it was a testament to how German looking I was, but honestly they probably just assumed everybody is German. 


So Friday morning we decided to get up at 9 to get the day started right. What we didn't realize was that we were in a different time zone so it was actually 8am. We killed some time before taking the first shuttle bus into town at 10AM. There at the Maspaloma dune beaches, Sheraton had its own private beach house where we spent most of the day because the wind was out of control and sand was blowing everywhere. There was almost no one there so it was like having a pool all to ourselves!

Maspaloma Dunes

I could tell we were right off the coast of Africa.

While we were in town, we purchased a 5 liter jug of water and some wine so that we wouldn't have to spend so much at the hotel. After sitting on our balcony with a bottle of wine, we headed to the buffet and once again did some serious damage there. The next morning we decided to stay on the resort and explore the 7 pools they had there. It was a great success.

Just another weekend in Spain/Africa.

Enjoying the Sunset Pool

Justin and I. Thank God for self timers!

Don't mind the African wind blowing through my hair.

Part 1 of my 2 course dessert one night.

We actually witnessed some freaky weather: a 10 minute downpour of HAIL. Then the sun came back out like nothing happened. So after a day in the sun and a night full of delightful food (we actually stayed there from open to close enjoying several courses!) we watched rested up for our last day. There's just something about laying in the sun all day that makes you tired!


The best part about our last day, Sunday, was the breakfast buffet. The worst part was the housekeeping people knocking on our doors at 8am, 845, and 930 to ask if they can clean the room. I was so half asleep I couldn't even think of anything to say in Spanish. After the 3rd time we decided that maybe putting up the "Do Not Disturb" sign would be a good idea. 


So after checking out we had to kill about 6 hours, which would not have been an issue if it was sunny. Unfortunately it was RAINY so we just sat underneath an umbrella, using towels as blankets and snacking on stolen food and leftover wine from the buffet. Still, I didn't hate it!

Even a rainy day on the island is better than being anywhere else!

Perfect ending to our trip: a DOUBLE RAINBOW!

This trip was the perfect rest and relaxation I needed to fully recover after my cold. It's hard facing reality here in Madrid! I'm actually spending this coming weekend here (say what?). At least I'll save some money by not traveling! Missing the states more than ever!

To see more photos from this trip, click here.

Back to Barca!

For those of you who didn't know, when I arrived home from London I was extremely sick. I had a very bad fever, feeling so weak I was unable to go to school for the whole week.  This means that I got homesick for the first time over here, which I thought would never happen. So I was glad to head to Barcelona to spend time with family for a weekend! My mom's brother Dave lives in Barcelona, and his sister Elissa was there for a visit so it was a Glatz reunion!


My flight landed at 10 on Friday night and after realizing at home for a while, we went out to Sitges because Carnaval was going on! It's basically like Halloween with people dressing up in costumes, and the streets are packed with people. I was "trash girl" wearing a trash bag and a newspaper skirt. Elissa was some kinda of weird thing involving a broken hoolah hoop-we said she was Queen Frostine from CandyLand but all the locals thought she was Cupid! Then you had Dave dressed as Boy George. Nobody got the reference! Finton, Dave's Irish friend, was dressed as a target, wearing a dart board around his neck. I wasn't feeling well that night to be walking around outside so unfortunately I had to be the party pooper.

Carnaval

Aunt Elissa and Finton

The next day we went out to lunch overlooking the Mediterranean with some family and friends, and afterwards we headed into Barcelona for some exploring. That night we hung out in the city and tried Leche de Pantera-panther milk. It's milk with a very sweet alcohol in it and is dangerously yummy. We even tried a pink panther, which tasted more like a strawberry milkshake. 

Mediterranean Sea

lunch with everyone

Leche de Pantera

Behind the bar!

the crew.

The next day we headed to the family house of Dave's friend Tony (who showed us all around last time we were in Barcelona). First we drove around Montserrat, which is a huge picturesque mountain that is so cool looking it looks fake. They think it was actually created under the ocean hundreds of thousands of years ago, which is where it gets its charm from. 

View from Montserrat

Me, Dave, and Lucia near the top

me and Aunt Elissa!

Can you see the camel and its humps?

So we had a big family lunch, complete with paella and afterwards we headed to the family farm. There were ponies, dogs, chickens, geese, and pigs. 

Family lunch

World's cutest town.

worried about waking up Frodo.

View of Montserrat from the town

Lucia riding a pony-bareback!

And that's pretty much it! It was a super fun weekend spent hanging out with family. I got to try some of my grandma's famous sweets that my aunt brought over! What more could I ask for? 

me and the biggest, laziest, sweetest dog ever.