It's our one month anniversary in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria! Hip hip hooray!
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| The foreshore near the old city |
Everything has happened like clock work, which is impressive considering the numerous phone calls I have had to stumble my way through with my limited Spanish. The other day, I was "put on hold" for aaaaages. Fifteen minutes later, I finally realised that I was actually listening to the welcome message playing over and over and OVER. I simply had to press number 1 to be put through to the right person. Live and learn. Live. And. Learn.
Moving to a country where you don't speak the language is such a humbling experience, you have to be prepared to look like an absolute idiot most of the time. My miming skills are top notch these days let me tell you.
We have found ourselves a great apartment in the very center of the old town. It's a two bedroom/two bathroom "piso" with lots of character, high ceilings, huuuge windows, beautiful old floor boards in the living area, a little fountain in the shared garden and a facade from the 1500s. It is VERY novel for us to live in such an old building because, let's face it - even the 'old' houses in Australia are new compared to here.
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| The door to our new apartment |
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| A typical street near our apartment |
I absolutely love strolling through the old town to our apartment, along paved pedestrianised streets, passing the old San Francisco de Assisi church and hearing the bells chime on the way. From my front doorstep, I can see the Catedral de Santa Ana towering over the city, which looks especially good at night when it is lit up.
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| The Cathedral can be seen from our front door |
At night, you can hear the big ships and cruise liners honking their horn as they head away from the island. Sometimes they go a bit "overboard" with the honking though and you feel like shouting out the window,
"OKAY WE GET IT!!! YOU'RE LEAVING!!!! GOOD FOR YOUUUU!!! SOME OF US HAVE TO GET UP AND DO NOTHING TOMORROW, YOU KNOW!!!!"
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| The plaza in front of our apartment |
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| The St Francisco de Assisi Church and bus stop right out the front of our place |
Around the city, we love to try new restaurants and we already have one favourite tapas bar where we often go for a beer and some stuffed mushrooms or some cured iberico ham with bread. The waiter will know us by name soon enough. And of course, there is seafood paella a plenty.... need I say more.
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| Seafood paella and vino by the sea |
On a Thursday night, conveniently the night that Brad returns from work, they have a 2 euro tapas and beer night in the old centre near us. A whole heap of bars open their doors at 8 and you can go from bar to bar paying only 2 euros for a beer AND a delicious tapa of your choice.
Brad has commenced his 10 days on 4 days off roster and, when I am not busy spending our money like a good wife, I am doing Spanish lessons Mon - Fri 9 am - 1 pm. I must admit on the first day I thought to myself, "why on EARTH would anyone ever learn a new language?! It is sooooo exhausting...."
All the other students in the class are European and speak at least two other languages already. But a wise woman (Sarah Willis) once told me, the less I have, the more I have to gain! I am definitely getting my money's worth out of these lessons. Actually, I am really enjoying the challenge, and a challenge it certainly is!
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| The walk along Las Canteras City Beach towards my language school |
Once we are settled, we are planning to hit Europe big time in Brad's breaks! We have already made a list of places we want to visit. On top of the list is Morocco. Next, I'd really just like to duck over to Rome for the weekend and enjoy a good pizza and vino.
Why not, right?
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