Vicksol Maspalomas

... maids daily with clean towels, bedmaking, and cleaning. The provision of a cot was no problem (even though Thomson had forgotten to tell them we needed one).

The large heated pool (yes it is I found the inlet) with sunbathing area adjacent to the bar/restaurant, there was a second adults only sunbathing area on one of the rooftops, (the other rooftops are covered by solar panels). There are two play areas ...

... good infrastructure and the cleanliness of the place. We took a jeep 4x4 safari up into the mountains to the volcano. It was a bumpy but good time. When going up into the mountains you climb through a permanent cool cloud layer at 2,000 feet. This is caused by the cold ocean winds hitting the mountains and creating an inversion. The cloud layer area is about 1,500 vertical feet tall so that once you climb to 3,500 feet you actually drive up and above the ...

One more weekend before I fly back to the UK to spend three weeks with family. On the 19th May, my other half - the driver - motoguzziman joins me in Manchester and then on the 27th we fly to Totonto where the bike is stored. We´ll need two new tyres before we can take her anywhere - but friends are ready to help us sort that out.

... I was turning them back in there were a lot of people asking for new forms because they had completed them wrong. I went to dinner with "my family" on the ship. One of the programs they offer onboard is the extended family program where faculty and life long learners adopt a family for the voyage. It is a really popular program so many times people just have either a mom or day. I have a mom, six sisters, and two brothers. My mom's name is Laurie Beth ...

Las Palmas was the home of Christopher Columbus before he sailed to the New World in 1492. It was an interesting place to walk around for a few hours. Beautiful wooden balconies on many of the buildings, tropical foliage and lovely sunny weather in the middle of January combined for a nice day. Amazingly, I escaped without buying a single pair of Spanish leather shoes (because my luggage was already so full). Next time I visit, I'll bring an extra suitcase to completely fill with shoes.

... of having a plunge in between your sightseeing and shopping. Above all, Las Palmas is an authentic Spanish working city that doesn't warrant its somewhat seedy image. Sure, like any port, there are areas where you wouldn't walk at night with an expensive camera slung round your neck but, overall, you should feel perfectly safe here and the city is well-deserving of at least a couple of days of exploration.

... talk... And then the wind stops completely. The rain start pouring, like hell, a very cold. The hands get icy, a ricard please!! And all of that in one night watch:2 hours, what a craizy world!! It's 10.30 am and cross the line of Essaouira - Marocco, souvenirs are coming back to me, nostalgy and sadness for tonight. We still have almost 300 miles to sail til Las Palmas de gran canaria. And still no wind, bloody hell!! 28th of November:

... if you don´t hear from us by Christmas send out a search party! I´m sure we´ll be fine though as Dad is very experienced (thankfully given Justin and I are still learning the ropes - excuse the pun!). We have 2 life rafts (most boats have one) and 2 emergency containers rather than the usual one - all filled with energy bars and chocolate. Justin is already planning on scoffing the chocolate as soon as we reach Grenada ...

Had a brilliant time and went on a 7 miles beach walk most days from Playa de Ingles to Maspolomas where all the sand dunes are. On the evening went to the yumbo centre where they have all the Drag queen acts which were really funny. Unfortunatly for me I kept getting dragged on stage lol.

I hated this holiday - the apartments were away at the top of the hill, beyond the Europa Centre and they were building a new hotel next door, we were told that it was only remedial work - total nightmare. The were drilling from early in the morning til sunset - but apart from that nothing would entice me back to the same area again!