Greetings from Fuerteventura, south of Lanzarote, favoured Island of our president-elect, Bertie The Blameless. Or is that Bertie The Bollocks? We’ve been coming here for many years – our first visit being as far back as 1996 when most of the holidaymakers were Germans, with hardly a Brit or a Paddy to be found.
It was better then, if you ask me. As long as you were not in the market for a poolside sun lounger, that is. That first time, we were staying in an apartment near the pool of the complex, and derived considerable amusement from watching German couples sneaking down to the pool, late at night, to get their towels in place for Morgen. That Carling ad was not far off the mark, I tell you. We toyed with the idea of sneaking down ourselves and throwing the lot into the pool, but we never did.
Once, when we were in Jandia at the very south of the island, we saw a rock-built wind shelter (there are lots of them over the island, as Fuerteventura means “strong winds”) with the legend “besetzt bis 28. Mai” (occupied until 28th of May). Mad. Even a German guide book we bought at the time berated the idea. That said, at least there were plenty of opportunities to practice a bit of Deutsch, if you so desired, and we did it quite a bit.
As I say, it was better then as long as you had no territorial ambitions. Now it is all bulging Arnotts, Celtic, Rangers, and Man U jerseys. Sometimes it feels like Birmingham or, worse, Finglas in the sun. And what is it about the Irish and their aversion to condoms? Bloody hell, the number of Oisins and Roisins running rampant around the place we are staying is mind boggling.
They say we will all have to work until we are 90 because of the aging population, but I just can’t see that in an Irish context. Maybe we’ll have to work into our dotage just to pay the children’s allowances?
There was a famous quote from Groucho Marx, as he was presenting a programme many years back. The comic was interviewing a woman who had ten or eleven kids who said, presumably by way of explanation: “I love my husband”. Groucho replied: “I love my cigar too, but I take it out once in a while”.
Classic.
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2 comments:
Hey GM,
my first holiday on "Fuerte" was in 1973, when there was literally nothing on the island :-) My brother is living on Fuerteventura, make sure you call into one of his shops (he's the guy behind the cabrito-shops - the stickers of a white goat with "fuerte" or "carito" written on it ;-))
Looking at the picture you posted makes me think: it's about time to visit Fuerte again, must be 4 years since I've been there last. Hey, and I never put towels on a sun lounger (no point really when you have a private residence *g*).
Enjoy the rest of the holiday and don't get burnt too much !
Hiya Sven. I'm sure you - and most people - would be as aghast at the sunlounger shinanigans as me. I used to find it amusing, and as I say, it's preferable to present day Fuerte.
We love the island though, even if it's getting busier every time we come. Been here about 13 or 14 times, so that says it all. If you hire a Jeep you can get out of Correlejo in no time and be surrounded by desert wilderness. Don't know any other place like it, really.
And the beer's cheap! ;-)
Will look out for the shops... you see those logos everywhere here, so he must be doing good trade. Dream job, eh?
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