Paige and I returned from Bologna on Monday and then Thursday left with a group of friends for Lanzarote, Canary Islands! I have to admit, before this trip I didn't have the slightest idea where the Canary Islands were... But they're a chain of islands off the coast of Morocco that belong to Spain. We stayed in a tiny town called Famara, and it is literally the most beautiful place I've ever been. The island is made up of volcanoes so when you're on the beach you're looking at the Atlantic Ocean in one direction and HUGE volcanic mountains to the other direction. It's absolutely breath taking!
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| I'm in love with this island |
When we arrived Thursday afternoon, we were greeted at the airport by Sergio, the owner of the surf shop (Zoopark) that helped us set up all of our accommodations. Lucky for the rest of us, Will really did his research and we couldn't have found a better place to stay. We rented two beach bungalows and got an AMAZING deal on both of them! Sergio took us to the bungalows from the airport where we dropped our stuff off and then we headed over to Zoopark to begin our surfing adventure!
 Sergio! |
Six of us spent Thursday afternoon taking surfing lessons from our Aussi instructor, Gerry, but Will being the pro that he is, rented a board and took off on his own. Surfing is something I've never really had the desire to do, but while I had the opportunity there was no way I was going to pass it up! It turned out to be a lot of fun and something I would definitely like to try again. |
The town of Famara is so tiny, there are only 2 bars (Lenny's and Sunset) and they are both very much local dives. They have 1 grocery store, a couple of surf shops, and that's really about it. It is honestly the least materialistic place I have ever been. Upon first glance at this little town, you would think that everyone must be really poor, but that's not it at all. Really, they just don't care. As long as they get their sun and surf the people of Famara are happy. I'm actually more than a little jealous of their lifestyle. It's just so simple!
Gerry and Sergio told us Lenny's was having a free barbecue that night, so of course we heard free food and knew we definitely had to check that out. The barbecue was a ton of fun! It turned out that the owner of Lenny's is actually one of the best surfers in Europe, but he decided to open a bar in Famara and was bartending that night. The only other people at Lenny's besides my group was a bunch of locals, Sergio and Jerry, 2 guys from Britain, and an Italian music group called Sud Soundsystem. It was really cool just hanging out with the locals. The people really are huge part of what makes Famara so great. After just being there for a few hours, they immediately accepted us and were incredibly friendly! There's definitely no such thing as a stranger in Famara.
Friday, we hung out of the beach all day and that night we grabbed some baguettes and cheese for dinner at the bungalow. For some reason, the police had shut Lenny's down so Sergio and Gerry told us the place to be was Sunset. A Spanish band was playing and one of the British guys from the night before attempted to teach me how to salsa dance, soooo much fun, even though I was definitely horrible at it.
Saturday, the woman who rented us the bungalows, Isabelle, was nice enough to also let us rent her car. We drove out to the national park where the volcanoes are and hung out there for a couple hours. The volcanoes aren't active now, and in fact the last time they errupted was A.D. 48, but it was still so cool to see the volcanic rock and craters. There were a few little green plants, but mainly just volcanic rock. It felt like we had landed in the middle of the moon or Mars. Definitely unlike anything I've ever seen before.
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| playing in a volcanic field of lichen Needless to say, when Sunday finally rolled around no one was ready to go. We all very reluctantly packed up and headed back to the airport, but I can say for certain that this was definitely not my last trip to Lanzarote. |
Then a couple days after we got back was my 21st birthday! Considering I'm in Europe where they start drinking before they can walk, 21 isn't really a big deal, but I have some amazing friends who refused to let my big 2-1 go unnoticed! After a fabulous birthday dinner with my host parents, Carmen and Jose, and my lovely roomie Devi, I met up with my friends downtown and headed back to the Tequila Bar for round two of the mojito fishbowl and then we ended up hanging out Delirium for the rest of the night. I had the perfect 21st with some amazing people, and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!
My mom and grandmother are coming to visit next weekend and I get to celebrate all over again with them, but for right now I'm pretty sure my life is as close to perfect as it can be. In just a little over 2 months I've been to 4 countries and before I leave I have trips planned to two more. Life is good.
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