Tenerife & Emilia

Miguel, Alex’s godfather and Alan’s pan-godfather, has a conference where he was invited to give a talk. He’s attended conferences all over the world before, but this time it’s in Tenerife. Nice and close, so it’s perfect for us to make a weekend trip. We’ll take the car and the ferry over on Saturday, and head back Sunday evening. Super easy. The only thing we will miss is Alan’s football match, but I think we can make it up by all the fun activities we planned.

The plan
We will take the ferry so we can take our car on Saturday morning. The plan for Saturday is to visit a fun adventure park. Afterwards, we’ll explore the little village nearby the forest where we booked a room, find a restaurant, and maybe even grab a geocache. On Sunday, if the weather allows, we might go up to the highest point in Spain: El Teide. Then it’s back home again.

The actual adventure
Rainbows everywhere!Oh no, a big storm was on its way… Emilia. Many public and semi-public activities were cancelled. The forecast for Saturday was high waves (up to 12 meters!) and strong winds. Not the best situation for a boat trip to Tenerife, but so be it. We had the first boat on Saturday. Also the last, because after that all trips were cancelled. It was an interesting crossing.

The forest adventure was first postponed and then cancelled. Mount Teide was off limits because of some snowfall. So we went for some alternatives: visited a few ancient pyramids, stopped at some viewpoints, found a beautiful geocache, explored the Museum of Science, enjoyed some lovely meals, brought Miguel to the airport, and then took the boat calmly back home. Despite the cancellation of almost all our plans, we fortunately still enjoyed the weekend getaway.

Sinterklaas

Barbacan!Every year, Sinterklaas visits the Hotel Barbacan in Maspalomas, in the south of the island. The hotel is a favorite destination for many Dutch guests, and maybe that is why they have fully embraced Dutch traditions. Sinterklaas comes by for all the Dutch children staying at the hotel, but Dutch residents of Gran Canaria are also welcome, and sometimes even receive a personal invitation.

We have been going almost every year, for nearly fourteen years now. Each time, the Sint arrives in his convertible, sometimes accompanied by a lively band, and always surrounded by plenty of Pieten. Afterward, the celebration moves indoors, where every child receives a small gift directly from the Sint, interspersed with musical performances and, of course, lots of sweet treats to nibble on.

It was fun, but we can clearly notice that the kids are getting bigger. Maybe this was the last time we visited the Sint, or maybe just one year more. We don’t know yet, but it feels like the end to this tradition is getting nearer.

Barranco de los Carnicalos – Ravine of the Kestrels

A fun and easy route. After parking on the small parking area at the beginning of the route you simply follow the water to the final destination of the trail, a lovely little waterfall. Along the way, you walk about three kilometers there and three kilometers back. The path is narrow, winding under tunnels of reeds and over slim walls. At some spots you need to be a bit careful! You’ll often need to jump across the water. Halfway through, there are a few beautiful spots for a picnic (so dont forget to bring some food and drinks). If the weather is nice, you can even take a quick dip in the water.

Fuerteventura

The English used to send criminals and unwanted individuals to Australia. The Russians sent their troublesome people to Siberia. Spain also had its own place for unwanted residents and they were given a one-way ticket to Fuerteventura. It’s quite understandable that Fuerteventura was chosen as a destination for undesirable individuals. The entire island consists mainly of sand and rocks, with only the occasional plant and a clear lack of water. It’s bone dry everywhere.

Nowadays, people go to Fuerteventura voluntarily. We’ve actually been there twice before, and this time was just as enjoyable. We visited some of the enormous beaches, charming villages, and took a fun excursion to a small island (Isla de Lobos) to explore and discover it.

Camping and filming – Lessons learned

Camping, llanos de la pez!Well, my first video that was basically centered around me got me quite a bit of comments. It also taught me quite a bit. First the lessons I learned myself:

– Batteries. Lots of video means you need some way to charge a battery, or have a replacement ready. In the two days camping I spend the battery of my good camera the first day. My phone was empty around noon the second day, and the two gopro clones I had did last a bit longer, but had a terrible image and sound quality.
– Interaction. It was difficult to film people I did not know. It felt like I would invade their privacy, so I did not film anything while I talked to others. People in our group also showed some restraint when appearing, so I also kept these interactions to a minimum. The result was a movie where I am almost the only person to appear.
– Clean. The video needs to be ‘cleaner’. I don’t know the correct word, but a lot of my sentences end in gibberish no-one can understand. I need to speak clearer. Some parts of the video show the ground, or my feet, or my shirt, and are not focused correctly. I needed to keep some of these parts to avoid breaking the monologue I was having.
– Information. I need a bit more of background information, so I have something to say when there is a dull moment.
– Editing. Cutting away boring parts is not so easy. I was talking a lot, and sometimes I had to leave bad parts to not cut my sentence in half. Sometimes I had to remove big clips, because I repeated things I had already said. Shorter sentences and a small pause before changing topic might help a lot to do the editing afterwards.

My family also had some comments. Quite a lot of comments actually, but most are covered my the issues I found myself.

– Focus. There is no clear goal for the movie. I was told nobody would be interested in seeing only me talk (and drink). It the focus is a family movie we see to little family. If the focus is transmitting interesting facts, I need to include more information.
– No interaction. The same as I already stated, but my family told me it was not all on me. The participants to the video should participate more, without being scared of the camera. This will probably be hard to achieve, because I told everyone I would be making a video, and everybody thought it was a good idea, but still almost nobody wanted to be filmed.

Conclusion: I liked filming and thought the video was not so bad, and maybe even a bit funny, but after all the criticism I have changed my mind. It is not a good video, and it would take a lot of effort to make it better. Will there be a next video… I´m not sure. We don’t normally go camping, so maybe I can make a video when we do something more often, and I need something to talk about. I’ll see, but for now my motivation is a bit low.

Camping – Llanos de la pez

About two years ago we discovered two YouTubers that really inspired us. First ‘Bald and bankrupt‘, who made really great videos, like the one I like most, where he visits an off limits Russian production facility to the one of their last space shuttle like rockets. The ‘Buran‘.

The other YouTuber is ‘Kurt Caz‘ with lots of good videos, but the one I like best is where he visited a family in the middle of nowhere, they invited him to some food, and he then did a fundraiser for the family in Haiti, and returned later to give them some money. The family uses the money to buy a motorcycle, to help them with a better future.

We went camping recently at a site called ‘Llanos de la Pez‘, in the middle of Gran Canaria, and tried to make our own video, inspired by these two great YouTubers. See for yourself how it turned out!

The educational aspects of the video, that maybe remain a bit in the background:
– We are camping in a forest that is representative to Gran Canaria a few hundred years ago
– At that time the entire island was covered with forest/trees
– Roque nublo is the place where the original inhabitants (the guanches) used to meet, to discuss important issues
Maybe the video is a bit over the top, but we laughed really a lot during the production, so even if it is not the best video, we can only be happy with the result.

If you want to go camping yourself, then here are some more info and guidelines for your stay. Ask for permission to camp and spend the night. Walking routes available in the area.

February ’24

No snow?!This month we are going skiing. For me it has been about 15 years since I last went on a ski trip. I’m not sure I remember, but I am sure hopeful I will pick up the pace quickly. Alex has had some indoor practice, and for Alan it will be an all new experience. Ana is like me. She is experienced, but her last trip was also years ago. There was some uncertainty about the availability of snow on the piste. At my work it lead to a couple of laughs and even involved some AI. A couple of days before leaving some snow started to fall, but it was not enough to have white snowy pistes. In the end only some pistes with artificial snow could be used.

Skiing was fun! We started out in ‘La Molina‘, and visited ‘Marsella’, and ‘Les Angles’ in France. Skiing was like swimming. Almost right away I remembered how to do it. I was afraid I had forgotten, but the memory was still there. The kids also learned a lot! Alex can now safely go down a red piste, and is starting to ski in paralel. Alan can now easily go down green and blue pistes.

Hobby

I am a big fan of the game where you need to push big piles of coins from a plateau. A so-called ‘Pusher’. I have thought about buying a game a couple of times, but I always resisted. A pusher game is expensive, and it take a lot of space. I thought of a new approach. I bought the plans for the machine, and ordered the pieces to be laser cut. When they arrive I will only have to put the pieces together, and then I can do all the hardware myself. A small computer that drives a small motor and some lights, and manages some bells and whistles. If it works out I hope to improve the plans, and maybe make a transparent pusher.

Disneyland Paris

DIsney 2023!After three days spend in the artificial happiness I must conclude we really did have a great time. There were lots of things in Disney that were not very nice, but these are common to all theme parks. Waiting times, broken attractions, commerce overload, masses of people everywhere, conflicts and discussions between parents and kids. Disney is a great park to enjoy and experience, but I was personally very happy to leave the park after three day.

For the kids it was a non-stop fun experience. They were running from one adrenaline shot to the next. Three days was perfect to see both parks, do all the rides, and the third day we spend repeating the favorites.

Disney & Paris prep

A drawing of a black mouse with big ears and a white duck with a big castle on the background and laser lights lighting up the imageIn a couple of weeks the waiting is finally over. We will head over to France, to visit euro Disney and Paris. Alex has been counting down the days for a couple of months already. I must admit I had big doubts. Before planning this trip I was convinced that Disney was a bit of a rip off. A place to avoid. A fake place, with abused workers in suits with a smile painted on it walking around the park. I felt it was a place where ‘undercover’ employees walk around to check on the ‘visible’ minimum wage workers, and where incorrect behaviour will not be tolerated.

I still feel like it is place of conflicting emotions, but I now see that there is also the other part. The part were everyone is (trying to) work together to create a long lasting good memory for people visiting the park. I have decided to just give the park a change. Lets see how I experience it. I am almost certain the kids will have a blast, and I don’t want to hold them back. I want them to enjoy this experience as much as they can.

Visiting Disney is pretty expensive, so we will probably do this only once, so it is important to optimise our visit. If we are going to enjoy the experience we have to do our best to enjoy it thoroughly. We need some preparation, and we will need some discipline. We are going with a big group, so it will be hard. The group is all Spanish, so it will be even harder, but we should a least try and wake up early. Breakfast early and head to the park as soon as it opens. Try and do lots of different rides and not repeat the same ride all the time.

After a couple of days at the Disney park we have some more days in Paris. Seeing the city, with a couple of visits to the famous spots, but much more relaxed. Time to enjoy some wine, a crossant and some french cheese. Enjoy the sites, visit the Eiffel tower, float across the seine, check out the Arc du Triumph, maybe see the Mona Lisa, visit the cathedral, do some shopping? Who knows.

Louis de Funès and a puzzle

a painting with mickey mouse, a bottle of wine, cheese and a crossant and the eiffel tower all on top of the french flagI can still remember the situation perfectly. As a little boy I was sitting on the couch, next to my little brother and my family. We were all watching Louis de Funès. It was a series movie called something like ‘La gandarmes de Saint Tropez‘. In French with subtitles (with would normally take away any interest I would have), but with Louis is was different. I remember 45 minutes of hilarious situations, ridiculously funny solutions and mayhem. We were direct fans, and watched all the shows. I think in my subconciousness I connected France with the sense of pleasure and enjoyment. To this day visiting France makes me recall the feelings I felt as a little kid, watching the show. I look forward to visiting France more than any other place, just because I get a dose of happiness in advance.

The three kings arranged for a special gift this year. A puzzle, with a message on the back. After completing the puzzle the kids had to turn it around, and the gift became clear. This year the kids get a great adventure, and will visit France, to spend a couple of days at the Disney park, and a couple of days in Paris. We are not going with just the four of us, but we wil go with a big group of friends. 7 kids and 6 adults. I suspect it will be lots of fun and excitement.

We plan to go in June, so I still have time to practice my ‘Louis de Funès’-French a bit. Finally I will be able to use my standard/favourite French vocabulary.

– ‘La summicion sil vous plaid’, the bill please
– ‘Bonjour’, good morning
– ‘un vin avec fromage avec un crossant sil vous plaid’, a wine with some cheese and a croassant please
– ‘merci bocoupe, au revour’, thanks a lot, see you
– ‘Command tu t apelle’, whats your name?
– ‘Je m apelle Adrie’, i’m adrie
– ‘Un chien avec un tres petit cull’, a dog with a very small penis

Except for the last sentence all my French should be really useful.