dec 30  At the end of the year, we took a little break from the dreary weather and headed down to the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Temperatures were in the high 60s to low 70s (Fahrenheit). Our hotel was in town and had a few different heated pools to choose from. The beachfront shots above are a short walk down the street from our hotel. That bottom middle shot shows what I got when ordering a simple margarita. This island is popular among Scandinavians, Brits, and Russians.

dec 31  We spent New Year's Eve at the hotel party. It was the first time that the kids actually stayed up past midnight. Candy might have had something to do with that. We sat across from a gloomy Norwegian family who looked like they were at a zombie movie audition. There was some dancing involved (but not with the zombies). Then afterwards, we walked down to the waterfront to watch the firework display at 1:00am. (Way past my bed time).

jan 3  Some of the landscape around here wouldn't look out of place on the moon. The upper right shot shows a spot where salt is harvested. Got lots of sea salt here.

jan 3  After gazing at the lava rocks, we made our way through a national park (over 5 kilometers of a bumpy dirt path in second gear) to Playa de Papagayo (Parrot Beach). It's one of the rare beaches on the island without dark volcanic sand. The bottom right picture shows the rocky outcrop you can see in the right of the bottom left picture.

jan 3  Another view of Playa de Papagayo...

jan 3  ... and facing the other direction, some other beaches. I thought this shot was kinda... pretty! And yeah, you wanna watch your step around here.

jan 4  The next day we went to explore the eastern half of the island. We stopped in Tahiche at the very cool house of an artist named César Manrique who lived on Lanzarote from 1968 to 1988.

jan 4  César Manrique built his house to encompass five large bubbles formed in the lava. Top left: a mural in the house grounds. Top right: one of his artworks. Bottom left: Luke and Kajsa descends into one of the lava bubbles. Bottom middle: Tina by one of the sitting areas in the house. Bottom right: An outdoor dining area tucked into the lava.

jan 4  At the gates to César Manrique's house.

jan 4  And in the grounds.

jan 4  Kajsa and Touky-Lovey.

jan 4  From César's house we drove north. There's much more greenery in this part of the island. Cacti are everywhere. Eventually we made our way to a tropical park exhibit. (Touky-Lovey wanted to see a real toucan — she did.) Clockwise from top left: Tina and Kajsa by the penguin pool; a "dangerous" ostrich; up on the hill looking over the park; one of the many parrots; three meerkats on sentry duty.

jan 4  Out to dinner.