Lost in Vienna: My weekend amongst Viennese Society

So I'm here at the Techniker-Cercle Ball, my first 'real' Ball in the European sense of things (somehow black tie in Chicago doesn't really compare to this). Honestly, it's almost as if time has gone backwards for a night in Vienna. Except there are a hell of a lot more hip flasks being pulled out of men's jackets than I imagine would have happened 100 years ago. Maybe I'm wrong though.

If you look closely at the clip of the opening waltz, you'll see Nick's friend Max right in the center (he's kind of in the center closest to the camera in the opening waltz). He spent the entire waltz looking utterly pissed off and counting out the choreography for his partner. Apparently the girl is called Rosina (translation: Raisin, who names their child "Raisin"???), given her apparent lack of dancing skill I can't really blame him for looking a little pissed off. But it was a gorgeous opening to watch and when all of the dancers entered they looked so stunning. I can only imagine what some of those dresses must have cost, they looking almost bridal!

And I have to say, I'm immeasurably jealous of the dancing skills every single man in Vienna seems to possess. Can I mention how glad I am that I took a dance lesson today? Not that you can actually dance once you get onto the floor, it's more kind of shuffling and trying not to get stepped on. But if you do happen to get some space it's such fun though. I could have danced all night long if it weren't for the migraine I was still sporting.

Okay, so I must make my slightly snarky comment on some of the jewels that these girls were wandering around in. Now don't get me wrong, I love beautiful jewelry as much as the next girl, but somehow I find it slightly disturbing to see girls in their late teens sporting jewels that, well quite frankly you probably could have put a nice down payment on a house or bought a car with some of the jewelry I saw last night. Nick and I had talked about it before, that some of the girls that move in this circle are so unaware of what they're walking around with, that for some of them it's just taken for granted, they're handed a credit card or an allowance and they don't really think twice about where it comes from, so at the end of the day I have to imagine that they don't really value what it takes to acquire all the pretty things they have in their homes/apartments/dorm rooms. I don't think I would ever be able to raise a child with that much privilege handed out without a second thought.

Having made my snarky commentary on upper society, I should point out that none of Nick's friends behaved in any manner that was less that wonderful. And they certainly didn't exclude me from anything just because I happen to be from out of town, well heck, from off the continent.

So anyway, I managed to make the night last from around 8:30pm until just around 3am in the morning, the ball went on until 5am, but I was pretty much done by then anyway.

It was amazing though, I wish I could have spent all night there. I can't wait to go back next year. . . hopefully I'll be able to break away from it all again.

Lost in Austria: Waltzer Lernen

Dress picked out. Check.

Hair cemented into place. Check.

Migraine still firmly pounding behind my eye. Check

Time to learn to waltz.

OK, I know it’s a stretch for most of you to think of me waltzing, in heels no less, given how superbly coordinated I can be walking down the street, but believe it or not I can pull out some of the grace and coordination I learned in the various dance, gymnastics and figure skating lessons I took during childhood. I just need to be under duress to do it.

Today seems to be my day though. After finding myself standing awkwardly and uncomfortably with a migraine in the dance school where Nick learned to do the various formal partner dances I missed out on in childhood (once again, thanks for that Mom and Dad), I ended up with an instructor (no idea what his name was) who managed in an hour to teach me both the left and right waltzes. To some degree of finesse. Although I don’t think I’ll be winning any ballroom competitions in the near future, I should manage to twirl around the dance floor tonight with a bit more grace than I had in Baden Baden last fall.

Here’s hoping. And I’m wearing lower heels tonight.

Otherwise I think I might break an ankle.

Lost in Austria: Migraines and Hairspray

I wish I could say I was excited about going to the ball tonight, but to be perectly honest my head feels like it’s going to split in two right now. I’ve had a pounding migraine for the last 24 hours and it’s just not letting up.

Regardless, I’ve managed to get my hair done by a guy named Josef that Nick’s friend Charlotte recommended. Apparently he does hair for all the fashion shows in Vienna (they hold fashion shows in Vienna? Who knew).

All I really wanted was to just get it straightened, but I walked in to find myself greeted by a reed thin man who took my hands gently when I said I just wanted my hair straightened and said:

“Darling, is this your first ball in Vienna?”

“Why yes.” I replied

“Darling, you’re going to the Techniker Cercle tonight, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Darling, you want me to put your hair up. Trust me, you’ll feel much better if I do.”

“But . . .”

“No darling, trust me. If you don’t like it, I’ll take it down and straighten it for you.”

“Well. . . ok, I guess.”

“Darling, I’m very good at this. I shall make a sculpture of your hair!”

And he did. It’s very sculptural. Almost like stone there’s so much hairspray in there. I don’t think it would move right now even if I stood next to a tornado. Thank god it looks nice, I don’t think I have enough time to wash out all of the hair product before the ball . . . Speaking of which, I hope this migraine gives up the ghost before tonight. I’d hate to feel like this all night long.

Who says there's no surfing in Chicago?

Good morning, Frankfurt!

It is a gorgeous morning here in Frankfurt, crisp and cool. It might almost feel like winter save for the fact that there is absolutely no snow in the city. But it doesn't matter. I woke up to the sun scattered on the clouds behind my apartment. A more welcoming vision than what I had last weekend in Helsinki to be sure.

Time to start another day.

Lost in Scandenavia: Fish Markets and Cathedrals

So Doug and Brianna headed back to the hotel again today and once again I decided to head off on my own to visit the White Cathedral and hopefully the fish market I've read so much about. Unfortunately there were only two fish mongers out there, it being winter an all here, but one of the guys was just fascinating. He'd been fishing and selling next to the docks for over 20 years, and his father and grandfather had done it before him. He was just chatting away with the three of us who had braved the rainy weather, gutting a fish, philosophizing on youth today and how he couldn't imagine doing anything other than fishing and selling at the market and that even with the tough economy he still made a good living to support his family and wife and all that sort of stuff.

It was like something out of a tour guide book, almost felt like it was staged. He was an interesting man though, with a fantastic salt cured face that had seen more than it's fair share of sunny days on the water.

After that I headed over to the Lutheran Cathedral which sits right in the Senate Square. It was really beautiful against the grey skies. Not the best light for picture taking, but really beautiful nonetheless. Not a bad way to end out my trip to Helsinki.

Lost in Scandinavia: Markets and Reindeer Kebab

As always, I have to track down whatever food goodies possible when I travel, so of course I dragged Doug and Briana over to the Old Market Hall to check out the gourmet goodies.

The hall was small, not even half as big as the Kleinmarkt Halle in Frankfurt, but instead of being filled with fresh vegetables and Metzgerei butchers and Turkish drit was filled with all sorts of fresh fish and reindeer product goodies. There were a few oddities in the market, most notably the bear meat pate and the snow goose pate. Then again I suppose for a region that has bigger animal populations up north it's not so strange. . . I just love checking out local food spots like this, somehow I always feel like it gives me some type of insight into who the people are that live in the city and what they're like.

Anyway, probably the most entertaining random food for Reindeer Kebab that I ended up having for me was the lunch. I mean I'm all for consuming Rudolph just like we did over dinner the other night, but somehow it seems like it kind of defeats the purpose eating it as a kebab. Honestly, after all the kebab cooking it just kind of resembled any old kebab meat, well maybe a little chewier but still very tasty. It's kebab, imported street food at it's finest and most random here.

Lost in Scandenavia: Food, glorious food

As Doug and I winged our way to Finland last night, we decided that we wanted to check out the only Michelin 2-star restaurant in Finland: Chez Dominique. Unfortunately they were booked solid. So we went for the next best thing (in my mind the better choice), a restaurant called Pos3.

Now the thing about Pos3 (pronounced Pos Tres is that was started by two of the sous chefs from Chez Dominique who defected right after the restaurant received it's second star. And they took a fair amount of the front house staff along with them. I love places where the chefs are young and hungry (please forgive the horrible pun), but honestly, these are the guys who always work the hardest to come up with a memorable meal. And it was definitely memorable. Completely worth the almost four hours we spent dining. We skipped the full wine tasting but there was a wine from Le Cedre (a 100% Malbec vintage) that was quite exceptional.

Anyway, I highly recommend checking out Pos3 if you happen to find yourself in Helsinki sometime soon.

Here's what our 7+ course meal looked like:


Pressed shoulder of lamb with Fennel and Truffle Oil








Duck Foie Gras Terrine with Brioche and Saffron Vegetables









Seafood Stew with Brill and Crayfish in a Potato Shell with Lobster and Fried Scallop, garnished with Asparagus Foam and Spinach Puree






Sorbet of Lemon with Champagne








Roasted Deer with Black Truffle, Shepard's Pie and Wine Roasted Pear








Goat and Sheep Cheese Selection






French Macaroon with White Truffle and Hazelnut Mousse**
Rose Marmalade Turkish Delight
Vanilla Marshmallow

**These were so good that we asked for extra macaroons to bring back to the hotel with us.



Peach Melba with Vanilla Ice Cream, Raspberry Sorbet with Fresh Peaches and Raspberries, and Raspberry Juice








Chocolate Ravioli with 12 Chocolate Sorbet

**Note 12 Chocolate is apparently a Venezuelan brand of chocolate

Lost in Scandenavia: Suomenlina

Since Brianna doesn't have a Russian visa and that has essentially squashed Doug's and my idea of heading to St. Pete's for the day, we decided instead to head out of Helsinki and take the ferry over to an island called Suomenlinna. It's only about 20 minutes away from the city and as it's a UNESCO world heritage site it seemed like a nice idea.

The island itself is still a working fort as I understand it, it's certainly been around quite a while now. Anyway, we arrived off the ferry (filled with totally random people and a school trip of all things), it was raining, the wind was blowing, and it was freezing. So we bolted for the visitor center and pretty much decided after 30 minutes that it was too cold so we were heading back.

As we hurried back along the paths, the sun broke through the clouds for the first time since we arrived in Helsinki. The sky was so pale, that looked like it was just trying desperately to muster up the strength to be a different color than the clouds before the winds covered it up again.

It was nice to see the sun for a while though, but honestly it was even nicer to get back onto the ferry and head across the harbor to coffee and warmth. Mmm, warmth.

Lost in Scandenavia: Helsinki, Finland

So I've arrived for my Helsinki adventure with Doug and Briana. It is January, we are officially bordering Russia and there is NO SNOW!!

Can you believe it? Rain, rain, rain and no snow and no sun. What kind of nordic country is this? I guess the effects of global warming are a bit more noticeable up here. Anywho, it is a gorgeous citiy. Beautiful architecture and some very cool stores to check out.

Everything here is on "Ale" this week too. We're guessing that means sale since all the prices are marked in red. . . .

We've spent most of the day walking around, although Briana and Doug decided to head back a little while before me because they got kind of tired of walking around in the rain. I was bound and determined to see a bit more of the city though because it is quite pretty despite the rain. I managed to get unbearably lost on my way back though. It took me three maps and three times asking directions to figure out where I was in the city at night I managed to make it back to our lovely Hotel Glo though in the end.

Briana is now off to the hospital with strep throat and I'm passed out in my little room watching BBC. Joy.

Not a bad first day for me in Helsinki, land of vodka and reindeer. . . .

Open and Closed: American Borders vs. the EU

Today I made my first visit to the American Consulate in Frankfurt. Almost a year of living abroad has finally nearly filled my passport with various visas and stamps and seeing as I need to renew my residence and work visa for Germany shortly I figured that now was as good a time as any to get some extra pages in my little passport.

As I strolled up to the consulate, a rather large complex surrounded by fences on the outskirts of Frankfurt I was struck by the number of people waiting for entry visas to the U.S. I'm fascinated by the fact that as American tightens up its borders every day, Europe is experiencing the opposite. With the continued addition of new nations to the EU partnership, established European countries are being challenged to open their borders and relinquish control of how people pass in and out of their nations. From what I've read it has in fact caused quite a few problems, but at the same time it is creating a significantly more fluid workforce which should be a benefit to the overall stability of the European economy.

However even as America becomes increasingly xenophobic, so the European nations are struggling with their own issues. An article in the weekend Financial Times just this past weekend talked about how Germany is struggling with an influx of human trafficking now that the borders have opened up more with Eastern Europe. With every change comes new challenges for sure, and I just cannot help but be fascinated as an American watching Europe struggle with how to manage the flow of people, commerce and goods (legal and illegal) through it's borders and still maintain safety and a certain level of comfort among their citizens. I've already seen much of the resentment in Germany by disenfranchised youth against the Turkish population that they feel is taking up valuable jobs that in their minds should be going to German nationals. I have a feeling that as the population begins to shift around even more that this will only begin to happen with more frequency.

Interesting times to be abroad for sure. The topic of America's protectionist stance is the subject for another day. But in short, I think we're doing ourselves a disservice. I'm looking forward to a new administration come next January.

dim sum and friends

I'm exhausted after the night out with Aari and crew at 333, but somehow, miraculously, we made it up and to dim sum to meet his friends and mine. And what dim sum it was, with my wonderful friend Annie and my old friend Saadia from college on hand to join in the finger food fun we ordered immense quantities of food and spent about three hours catch up before Annie and I had to book off to Heathrow to catch our flights to Zurich and Frankfurt respectively.

All in all a pretty spectacular weekend. Hope I can make it back soon. I could get used to London life.

Lost in the U.K.: A Ghost Devotion an Aussie band in London

Such a night out. I think we were in the club for almost 8 hours before we finally stumbled out in the very early hours of the morning.

Anyway, after a day of wandering Regents Park I met back up with the Aussie boys extraordinaire for dinner and a night out checking out this band called A Ghost Devotion at a club in Chelsea called 333. It’s an Aussie band and the big selling point was that the singer didn’t want to kill himself anymore so the music wasn’t nearly as depressing as when they were in Oz.

Yup. Sounds like a perfect night out.

Surprisingly they were actually pretty good, but the best part was that 333 transitioned from bar with band to full on club almost unnoticeably while we were there. Thus the 8 hours of dancing and drinking before finding our second dinner: Burgers. Yum. Doesn’t quite match up to my favorite taco place in Chicago but definitely good “It’s 4am and I’m utterly starving” grub.

Gotta say, I kind of like the London scene, I could kind of see myself living here.

Lost in the UK: London Weather and Regents Park

After arriving home from Lanzarote last weekend, then heading off to Switzerland, I've taken a last minute trip to London to visit friends, new and old. And truth be told I'm pretty happy to be here.

It is a gorgeous weekend in London. Now I know the words “gorgeous weather” and “London” don’t necessarily lend themselves to being used in the same sentence, but I seem to be lucky when it comes to London, because the last few times I’ve been here I’ve had pretty damn good weather. Even during Christmas a few years ago, the weather was really pretty lovely.

Today has been incredibly beautiful. Bright blue skies and crisp sunlight. I think I've seen more sunshine today than I’ve seen in Frankfurt in the last few months. I’ll take it. I've spent most of the day wandering through Regents Park. I feel like I'm following in my brother's footsteps a little bit because I know he used to come here and play soccer when he was doing his semester abroad in London. And it is definitely gorgeous, there are so many people out walking around, playing soccer or rugby. By the way, I think this is the first time I've ever seen a rugby pitch in a public park. But I guess that's because rugby just hasn't quite caught on in America.

Anyhow, I'm crashing with a couple of guys I met at surf school, Aari and his brother Tate. You might remember Aari from some of my New Year's Eve exploits. Nice Aussie guy who was kind enough to put me up this weekend. Anyway, had to share this picture of their "bike storage." I'm guessing the tub doesn't get much more use than what you see here. But better than having your bike stolen I guess.

Well, all said, a gorgeous day, a good night ahead and dim sum with Annie and Saadia on Sunday. Can't believe how long it's been since I've seen those girls.

Traveling. . . Again

Well, I'm about to pack up for the day to head off to my fourth country for the week. Yes, you read that right, my fourth country this week. After getting home from Spain on Saturday, I promptly unpacked, did laundry and repacked for a trip to Switzerland on Monday. A brief stop in Germany yesterday allowed me to repack again, and tonight I leave for London.

Whoever said back to back travel was fun is certifiable.

Oh well, this weekend should be fantastic. I'm catching up with two good friends that I haven't seen in 1 and 3 years respectively. Here's to uncharacteristically sunny and warm London weather. Yeah right.

Off to the airport.

Acceptably Black

As I skimmed through this week's issue of Ad Age, little did I expect to find a rather controversial article written by ad critic Bob Garfield on Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The article is titled,

"Why Even Hardened Racists Will Vote for Barack Obama: In the Electoral Marketplace, He Had to Pass the Halle Berry Test"

Published just after Obama won the Iowa primary, the article has generated some very interesting responses. In fact, I ended up engaged in this very conversation with two Americans going from the Alps to Geneva just last night. The idea that Americans are voting for Barack Obama based on the fact that his skin color falls into the range of acceptable blackness, almost as if to make some kind of statement that "Hey look at me! I'm not biased by race or gender or pick your favorite cause" is compelling, slightly flawed, but compelling nonetheless. I have no doubt that there are plenty of people out there who are wowed by his incredibly persuasive rhetoric and then neglect to look beyond it see if there is substance to his storytelling. I believe there is and what he lacks in experience he will make up for in choosing intelligent advisers who will help fill in the gaps. Only time will tell, we still have to get through the rest of the primaries to see if he'll make America's cut for president.

Home again

After almost 10 hours of travel I have finally arrived home again. Famara and surf school seem ages away. If I didn't have a few bruises and some sand still stuck in my hair (despite numerous attempts to wash all of it out), I might believe it hadn't actually happened.

I'm so glad that it did though. I'm already sifting through websites hunting for my new surf board (yes, Dad, this does mean I am buying one). It looks like I'll be picking up a Donald Takayama Egg when I have the chance, although I think I might get it in blue. Tim's recommendation of course.

The board description goes something like this on the Surftech website:

" If you're not quite ready to "rip and shred" on a short board, nor are you apt to "cruise" on a long board, then the Hawaiian Pro Designs Egg is the perfect solution. This model is an "eggy" looking shape that allows the rider to trim high on the wave in the middle of the board or race down the line on the tail, whichever the rider prefers. This board is also a perfect beginners board because of the overall forgiving shape that allows for a variety of mistakes without loss of speed or maneuverability. For a beginner or advanced rider, this board is an extremely fun alternative on any day."

I wonder if I'll be able to tone down my babblings on surf school after a week. I can't seem to stop mulling the last two weeks over in my head. . . well, we shall see. I have quite a few surf trips to plan in the coming months.

Surf School Stories: Bittersweet final moments in Famara

Well, my two weeks in Famara have finally come to a close. I can't quite believe how fast the time has gone. It seems strange actually to think that by tonight I'll be back in Frankfurt getting ready for my next trip to Lausanne for work. I feel like I could stay here forever. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that, so after a quick coffee with Anne today I'll be heading to the airport for what I hope to be a manageable trip home.

It's been an amazing two weeks. Completely re-energizing. I think we've got it all wrong in America when it comes to vacation time. We wear our overzealous worklife like a badge of honor, but finally after having taken a real vacation I feel like I am ready and capable of going back to work with energy and perspective. Something I think is a pretty valuable commodity in todays work world.

But enough of my rant on how I truly do believe that we as American's work far too much and don't actually know how to disconnect. Let me rant for a moment on how fantastic my surf experience has been. I have met the most incredible people from Ireland, Britain, Australia, Romania, Italy, Canada, you name it. I have people to visit all over the place now and it's fantastic. Plus I have a brand new sport that I will be pursuing with a passion. I've already hit Tim up for recommendations on what type of surf board I should get for myself.

I can only say the best things about Tim and his surf school. If you happen to desire to learn to surf, then this school in the Canary Islands is the place to go: Surf School Lanzarote. Amazing coaches, great conditions and warm water.

I definitely want to make a trip back as soon as I possibly can.

Surf School Stories: Last day surfing and almost back to reality

The last day has finally ended. I hate to say it, but it was crap conditions for my last day. A massive storm system had created big surges of water on the beach where we have the course so the conditions were such that I couldn't do much more than just play around in the white water and fight the massive currents running along the beach. Actually I think I might have spent more time pulling my board out of the water and walking back up the beach so I could stay in our surf zone than I actually did surfing. What are you gonna do though? I mean it's not like I can control the wind, although that would be kind of fun. But that's ok, somehow I still had a blast falling in the water as my feet got sucked out from under me.

So part of the whole surf course is being given a rating at the end according to the British Surfing Association Standards. They come in three levels (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) and each level gets broken down further. I managed to make Bronze level 3 which means that I can drop down an unbroken wave and then ride the white water. I'd been hoping to make Silver level 1, but the conditions just weren't right for it. Oh well, gives me something to shoot for next time I do surf school, which hopefully won't be too far away. I'm completely hooked on this sport. I'll never be able to do massive tricks or maneuvers, but I think I might be a decent surfer. Good enough to at least get out and play around on a fair amount of waves and have fun.

Tonight is Jenny (our Swedish Amelie)'s 22nd birthday, so George and I have gathered up a bunch of people from the group to take her out to celebrate properly. I think we're having a big dinner first at one of the local spots and then off to, you guessed it, the Surf Bar. Do we ever go anywhere else?

Regardless, a great way to end the trip.

Quick shout out to Nick: Happy Birthday! Sorry I can't be there to celebrate with you, but I promise we'll do something fun when I get back to Frankfurt.

Surf School Stories: Big drops and near death

Today was a big day. I was out on a long board and Tim paddled a group of us out back together. Apparently the waves are supposed to be getting really big and really rough the last few days I'm here, so this is one of our last chances to get out the back and paddle onto some unbroken waves.

I think today is the first time that I realized just how rough this sport can be. Exhilarating but rough. The waves were pretty big today (at least by my reckoning), and as Tim brought us out back, I got caught slightly behind the group. I paddled and paddled until my arms felt like they were going to fall off, but I missed the lull between wave sets and suddenly the waves were just piling on. I rolled under wave, after wave, after wave. It felt like and unending pounding with a massive struggle taking place between me and my board as I tried to hold on under the tumbling water. Finally, finally another lull set in and I was able to make the rest of the paddle out.

Wow. I dropped onto one wave right from the peak. I felt like I was staring down a cliff in the Cinque Terre it seemed so high. Before I could even process it, I was on my way down and the board kicked right out from under me. I was overwhelmed by it all. I couldn't wait to get back out and try again.

And then I had my near death experience. The waves pounded with unceasing force and I paddled desperately towards the surface only to realize that both I and another girl in my group, Mary, were sitting right under the crashing peak of another wave that tumbled us together like we were the most insignificant flecks of seaweed. We gasped for the surface together and started to clamber onto our boards when we realized that the wave had twisted our leashes together and another wave was about to bear down on us right then.

As soon as we came back up for air again, Mary pulled off her leash and we hauled our bodies on top of the boards. Mary started to turn back but ended up rallying and together we turned around, determined not to be shown down by a few waves.

It makes me appreciate just how much you are at the mercy of Mother Nature when you're out playing in the waves. And it gives me a much better idea of how long I can actually hold my breath. It's funny how the first time you go down and you scramble for the surface of the water, you panic a little, but after that, you relax. Somehow I knew that I would get up to the water's edge before my breath ran out, even if was going to be pounded by another wave as soon as I broke the surface.

Afterward, exhausted on the beach, Tim had us running drills to learn how to make a series of turns on an unbroken wave (I managed to fall over on the sand during my turn and broke into peals of laughter, as did everyone else as they laughed at me lying on the beach, all three coaches included). Over lunch, Mary and I both agreed that we are now quite good friends given out shared near death experience and we should plan a surf trip this summer. I think might actually try to go to Ireland to surf with her sometime in June if I can break away from the work madness.

What a day.

Lost in Spain: Lanzarote- The Hawaii of Europe

Today I got up early to head to a resort called La Santa, it is the sight of 3 world class waves. On my way out, Tim poked his head off the balcony to see if I knew where I was going (which I didn't of course, he then proceeded to direct me to the telephone box, where I was to turn right down a dirt road until coming to a little white church where I should turn left. Amazingly I actually made it there). He mentioned that Lanzarote is considered the Hawaii of Europe with 15 world class waves located around the island, three of which he said would be great today.

So off I went. And after following his cryptic landmark directions, I arrived. And what a sight it was. The video above is of a wave called El Quemau, basically it looks like Pipeline in Hawaii and it was thumping today.

Just next to it are two other waves called La Izquierda (a long left breaking wave off a rock reef I think) and La Derecha which is a point break. All three spots had lots of surfers on them today while I was there, and there was actually a guy with a massive camera shooting guys surfing El Quemau. I know that I'll never surf anything like that, but wow. It was an incredible sight to see, really. I could have sat there all morning long if I didn't have to get back for my lesson.

You can read all about the different spots on the islands here.

Lost in Spain: Mirador del Rio, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

It's New Year's Day, I've spent most of it sleeping after the big night out but somehow I managed to drag myself out the door and into my rental car to do some sightseeing as well as get lost around the island.

I can't say I saw that much and I know I'm missing out on some of the big sights like the active volcano park and the El Gulfo, the dormant volcano right by the shore that has filled to the brim with emerald green sea water. I did manage to Mirador del Rio though which was absolutely beautiful and I spent several contented hours driving (slowly) along winding, breathlessly narrow roads up through the valleys and over the peaks of the island.

It's beautiful here.

Vineyards are tucked away in the crevasses of the lava flow so that they are protected from the island sun and the dew that gathers on the leaves in the early morning lasts well into the day. The soil is pitch black in most places but spotted with furrows for growth. I drove past so many little plots of earth today with tiny plants growing in the soil. It's a striking contrast, the black volcanic soil and the pale green of new plant life.

Anyhow, as I said, I managed to get out to see the Mirador del Rio which is supposedly one of the most spectacular views in the Canaries. It was definitely breathtaking, however I don't think you actually need to pay to go in. You get quite amazing views from outside along the road.

On my way back I managed to get myself seriously lost. I think I drove in an enormous circle for a good two hours, but at least it let me see a bit of the island and I saw a gorgeous sunset over the valley.

I suppose I shouldn't have been that surprised that I ended up getting lost. Afterall, George did warn me that road maps really aren't worth much in Lanzarote. I definitely learned that the hard way.

Ringing in 2008!

Happy New Year!

Well, for someone who thought that she was going to have a quiet contemplative holiday interspersed with some surfing, I have to say I’ve been remarkably social. Somehow after my comparatively quiet Christmas Eve dinner, I ended up having 8 people over for New Year’s Eve dinner last night. It was amazing, again, everyone piled in. My new friends Sarah and Matt went shopping with me for what was initially going to be dinner for 5, them, myself, Aari who returned from Fuerteventura for New Year's Eve and George. Then suddenly it started to grow, we ran into another couple from the group and then Tim introduced us to a new girl who would be joining in on January 2, Jenny from Sweden. So there it was. 8 people!

But between Sarah, Aari and I we pulled together a big pasta dinner (plus many, many bottles of wine), George pulled out his lying dice game (think poker but with even more bluffing and using dice instead of cards) and we kicked off a great start to the New Year's celebration. Somehow I also ended up with an extra table in my kitchen, but I think that came from Jenny's house around the corner.

After dinner and some dice, we went to our favorite place, the Surf Bar of course. We partied there until well past midnight, received strange gift bags with noses and hats and handfuls of grapes that we were expected to eat on the spot. I don't quite get the grape thing, it must be a Spanish tradition.

Around 2:30am, Aari and I finally stumbled out (he was crashing in my spacious three bedroom flat before his flight the next day), and on the way home we crashed a family karaoke session. We kept asking to join in, but the older gentleman at the garage door didn't seem to want us to participate. He just kept saying "Familie!" So finally we went home.

My lord what a night it was. I've been more social here than I have in months. It is so nice to have time to actually hang out with people. And such fun people at that.

I hope everyone had a great holiday themselves. All the best wishes for the coming year to you and your families!