My Life in Canary Island

I am now more then 3 month in Las Palmas, and slowly i am getting used to the different lifestyle here. Life is  certainly very different and interesting here. I hope i can explain a little how I see it with my eyes. The Spanish people are very friendly, the people are much more relaxed and they don't live by the clock. It s a very slow pace lifestyle. Food and a good bottle of wine are very important. The dishes are very rich. But it is healthy food. Lots of mussels, seafood and typical canary dishes. Lunch is the main meal, and at night we eat only little. People go to the restaurants to a very late hour of the night.They like to sit outside, and every restaurant has tables on the street. My stomach rebelled at the beginning, because i was not used to the rich food, but after one month my stomach got used to the different diet. I have found a walking group where i can walk sometimes, because the inland is very mountainous,and very beautiful. I took hundreds of photos, and one day i will make a book. The city is full of tourists all year round, On the port every week 4 Cruise ships anker there and stay for 3 days. Lots of people from Germany Sweden and England come to see this beautiful Island.I am now enrolling in a Spanish school. I like the language a lot. My partner is very kind, he bought me a new computer, and a beautiful camera. I go to the beach a lot, it is only 3 minutes from my street. The sunsets are beautiful here. Where we live, it is very close to both sides of the ocean. We live on the narrow side of town, it is abut 300 meter from one side of the ocean to the other side. On one side  is the beach on the other side the harbour. On the harbour side the sun sets, and on the beach side the sun rises. The streets are narrow and all one way, Car park on both side off the street, because they don't have enough garages. It takes skill to drive trough it. Las Palmas is full of palms, there is  also a big harbour for the sailing boats. I go walking different streets every day, it is like a labyrinth.  Every street is full of little restaurants and shops, hairdressers, beauty saloons, souvenirs, coffee shops,tapas you name it. It is very interesting to see. The Islands are very close to the north-west of Africa, and  they lie only about 250 km out in the ocean.  There are 8 Islands, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Forteventura, Lanzarote, Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera and the smallest Island is La Preciosa. The climate is very mild all year round, because the Islands are protected by the Sahara. Sometimes the wind brings a lot of sand in the air and we have to close all the windows. The island has a lot of history, Christopher Columbus sailed here. The old town has narrow streets with very old typical Spanish buildings with charming wooden balconies.  When i look to the mountain i see houses like birds nest on the hills.I can walk everywhere, not like in Australia where i needed a car. My partner has a car and we drive often to the south or north or to the inland of the Island where it is very beautiful. The Island has many beautiful (Barancos) Gorges. I explore Las Palmas a lot by myself to learn the language quicker. I hope i have given you a little inside of my new life here. It is certainly very different from my life in Australia.

http://www.pulsemed.org/gran-canaria-map.jpg

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/africa/canary-islands/gran-canaria/map_of_gran-canaria.jpg

Some of many beautiful sunsets 

 A beautiful Baranco