Following the Dutch tradition, we had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, aka 24th December. The plan was simple but ingenious, we would all cook of one or two dishes and we would gather at Ben.nl boat and eat and drink all together. Despite the awful morning, where Jelle and I watched a catamaran sinking away and another boat saved at the last minute , we stayed true to our word and prepared “papoutsakia” (Greek traditional dish with eggplants and minced meat) and mushroom risotto. After the wind was normalized, we rowed to the shore and walked to the port to meet with our friends.
It is quite hard to describe our Christmas dinner, as everything was beautiful prepared, delicious made and we almost felt we were celebrating Christmas with our family, such “gezelligheid” and love in the air! We had more than enough food, a 4-course dinner, starting with tuna tartare, continuing with rattatuie and “papoutsakia”, followed by risotto, cooked vegetables and roasted beef and ended with three different types of desserts! The wine bottles were getting empty very quick and we engaged in spirited discussions and funny stories. Needless to say, Christmas at Gran Canaria with our sea family was an unforgettable experience!
The next day and officially Christmas day Jelle and I started our day with a glorious breakfast. Early afternoon we gathered at the beach to have a BBQ picnic and eat any leftovers. We were blessed with sunny weather and Eirini and Peter joined us as well, which meant I could finally speak another language except Dutch! Another great day of celebration, and one of the warmest Christmases ever!
The next day was a relax and charge-your batteries day, much needed! On the 26th December we decided to explore the city (finally!) so together with Marielle, Mariah, Jaap and Madelief we visited the Elder museum, a science and technology museum. It was so cool! History, science and technology all wrapped together into a fun package of exhibitions, interactive games and virtual reality! We all enjoyed lunch together in a sunny terrace and walked back to the port to rest for the rest of the day.
On the 28th December Jelle and I continued our exploration, this time towards the old town of Veguetta and visited the “El museum Canario”, a history museum explaining the origin of the Canary islands , including a very spooky chamber full of human skulls, skeletons and mummies!!
On the 29th December we received our long-awaited call from the marina, we could finally enter the port! So, after 40 days anchoring, we motored our way to the port! After our first night at the port, we realized we had to get used again to noisy neighbors, city lights and constant screeching of bad-moored boats. Anchoring suits us better in the end. Nonetheless, we did not have to do any dinghy rides anymore, which is always a huge plus for me, and we had quick access to the port facilities and our friends.
New Years Eve was another huge success, as almost the same people were involved. We began our celebration at Karakter with homemade olie-bollen and appelflappen , traditional Dutch desserts. Around 11 at night, Karakter, Ben.bl, Wandelaar , Tutti and we walked to Playa des Canteras, at plaza Solomon where there was a huge party with live music. We all gathered at the beach, opened champagnes and watched amazing fireworks! Most of the people left around 1:00, but Bart, Jenneke, Jelle and I continued the party at the plaza where we danced to the local tunes until the early morning hours. Happy 2019 everyone!!!!