After a long return trip we arrived back on the boat just before Christmas time. The first few days were spent unloading and re-discovering all the things we had bought back for the boat – more spares, some more tools, etc. There was very little that we’d bought back for us (apart for some more clothes for Angelika). Ah…we also brought marzipan (LOTS of [Luebecker] marzipan) as it is a favourite treat at Christmas for Angelika’s parents.
For Christmas we had dinner with Angelika’s parents – the Germans celebrate Christmas on the 24th December, which for me is Christmas Eve – the day before Christmas.
We had a meat fondue which was fine, but the spirit used in the burner part of the fondue didn’t seem to burn so hot. Stuff took ages to cook, which meant more time for wine. We also played “Monopoly” which I haven’t played for many years. It was the German version so familiar places such as “Fenchurch Street Station” and “Pal Mal” became “Nordbahnhof” and “Theaterstrasse”, etc. Other than that the rules are identical. Oh, it’s also played using “Deutsche Mark” (DM) which was a novelty! It was an interesting evening…
Christmas Day was spent with some Dutch friends who were also staying in the marina. We had to be careful not to exceed the Corona virus restrictions as far as the number of people on the boat and everything had to be finished before 0100. The local government had given a short extension to the curfew time for Christmas.
Earlier discussions between the three boats involved had created the following Christmas menu (Name of the responsible boat in “[]”).
Everything was delicious and the whole lot was eased along with Gin & Tonic and copious amounts of wine and beer! The Dutch people seem to be able to drink without any ill effects – pah!
This was also a splendid evening and we finished on time for the Corona restrictions.
(Unfortunately it was such a good evening that no-one thought to take pictures – probably it’s better that way!)
The Canary Islands are still in the grips of Corona restrictions which meant that New Year would also have to be celebrated privately. Luckily another neighbour couple have a rather splendid house at a place called La Punta. They invited us, along with another German couple, for a New Year (or “Silvester”) “party”.
Angelika made “Gravlax” similar to the one we had at Christmas and the other couple made a large salad – no good for me as I don’t like salad 🙁 The hosts (well the wife) made a huge amount of Sushi. They had both lived for some time in Asia and so knew how to make good Sushi.
Once again it was all lubricated with copious amounts of wine. Midnight came and we were rewarded with a very clear sky and moon. It was cold though and after some dancing we had to retire inside for after party drinks.
To prevent problems with Corona restrictions we all stayed overnight at the house. It has a lovely wood stove and was very comfortable indeed.
The following morning the hosts served a splendid breakfast with fresh bread, jam, ham and other goodies. I let the English side down by having a migraine and being completely unable to eat a thing.
(…again it was such a good evening that no-one thought to take pictures)
