We packed our bags and we were ready to go.....
To Gran Canaria!
It was a long flight, 4 hours. The kids got bored I think and were too excited to sleep, they have been talking about this trip for months but of course, I fell asleep. We landed and were welcomed by the open arms of palm trees and desert mountains. I had no idea it was so much of a desert there! We landed in Las Palmas and found our bags and Nina's stepmom, Bea who was escorted by a very friendly police officer. He helped us all the way to the car and we drove to Maspalomas, the southern part of the island where we were staying and where Bea and Bodo live. We got settled into the cute little bungalow they have down the street from Bodo's office. He runs a practice as somewhat of a plastic surgeon but he also has dental certificates and some other things. Basically he's a medical badass.
The bungalow had 2 bedrooms, one for Nina and Florian and one for the kids and I, a small kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a little living room, a wonderful kind of porch and grill area, a pretty rooftop and a pool down the way that was shared by all the bungalows in that division.
Prost, Livvy!
This is the porch where we sat for breakfast and the couple dinners we made at the bungalow.
We spent a lot of time at Bea and Bodo's beautiful house, just 5 minutes walk. They have a pool as well that is shared with 3 other houses but we rarely ever saw anyone else so it was like having our own private pool.
View of the kids playing in the pool from Bodo's terasse.
View of the back of Bodo's house and terasse from the pool area.
We immediately went to Bodo's pool to swim as the kids were so excited about it.
We spent a lot of time just hanging out by the pool. One of the first nights Nina and the kids and I walked down to the beach to check it out, about 20 minutes walking.
It's a nice walk along what would be a river called the baranko but it was completely dried up!
The beach was so nice, it felt great to dig my toes into the sand and step into the chilly salt water.
Bennet was shocked the wave came and got his pants wet.
We spent an afternoon at the beach playing in the sand, enjoying the sun and building sand castles.
It was Liv's masterpiece by the end of the day although we all worked very hard on it. Teamwork was the name of the game.
Liv also got to be a mermaid while Bennet just transformed himself into a sand monster.
The morning of the beach day we drove about 30 minutes to the south west part of the island to the port of Mogan. It was my favorite part of the island and I wish we could have spent more time there. It was so beautiful and picturesque with white and blue buildings lined with beautiful flowers flowing from balconies and windows. There is also one of the bigger harbors of Gran Canaria there so there were lots of sailboats for me to look at :)
Street in Mogan
Livvy and I in Mogan
Flowers in the street there.
The next day, there was supposed to be a surprise for the kids, Florian accidentally ruined it haha. The surprise was that Opa Bodo was taking us to a race track to do some go cart racing! Bennet loved it and Florian did just as much. Of course I was a little scared and spun out more than anyone else and came in dead last but it was a fun day. I think it was helping me to get over my fear of rolling a car because the go carts could only spin out, not roll. This was scary for me at first but then when I was doing it on almost every curve, it became more fun than scary.
The kids by the track
That night we went out to have pizza on a beautiful boardwalk. We sat literally on the boardwalk and were able to look out to the ocean as we ate and watch the sun go down. It was so nice. I got the chance to sit by Bea and chat with her. She has had the coolest life and has traveled all over the world. She worked with cruise lines and was a cruise director for a long time doing cruises all over the place. One of my favorite questions to ask other travelers is 'where is your favorite place you've been?' Her answer was, "whereever I am" which is probably the coolest answer I've gotten. She couldn't just pick one or two places because she has been all over the place. She is excited about her upcoming trip or wherever she happens to be. I really enjoyed our conversation.
Bea, Nina, Bodo, Liv, Florian. Bennet was off being a photographer on the beach behind me.
Me at dinner.
During the days we usually started by going over and hanging out at Bodo and Bea's playing in the pool and enjoying the sun. As I said before, their house is beautiful...
This is the gorgeous Swarovski chandelier hanging in their dining room. 
Liv and Moritz, their dog, in the dining room.
The living room looking into the dining room. I loved all the artwork in their house.
The living room from the dining room.
Outside dining room looking out onto the terasse and pool.
Outside kitchen.
Pool looking to the house.
The outside sitting area.
The rest of the terasse
Our wonderful breakfast one morning which was followed by a bottle of Moet.
One night we went to a delicious Argentinean steak house that was one of the best steaks I've ever had. We got to get all dressed up and look nice. Liv was very excited to get to wear her new gray dress.
The next day we did a day trip driving north to the center of the island on one of the scariest roads Ive ever seen. It was in the mountains, very twisty and very crazy in the big car we were in. I was glad not to be driving....
This is the dunes and Maspalomas from one stop we made.
In Fataga.
In the desert mountains north of Maspalomas.
We made a stop in a small town called Fataga to visit the gallery of the artist who did most of the beautiful paintings in Bodo and Bea's house. It had cute narrow streets and it was perfectly tucked into the mountains so there were great views.
We stopped a little further up the road for lunch at a very pretty restaurant attached to a resort.
Then we stopped at a museum about aboriginal Canarians. It was interesting and built into the top of one of the mountains so it was also a good place to just look at the rest of the island. They had reconstructed what the aboriginal houses and basically their entire 'town' would have looked like based on the research and knowledge they have of their lives.
Bennet had a great time making fun of the creepy looking mannequins of the aboriginals.
That night we made a great dinner with some fresh things we bought at the market sort of tapas style. I made fresh guacamole :)
And I was told I had to drink from a liter beer....
This is the moon from the rooftop of our bungalow.
The nights were very nice, we sat out on the porch and drank wine and chatted. Bodo would usually come over after work and drop off fresh mangoes for us from a friend's garden and hang with us.
My last day there, we got to do something the kids had been talking about for 3 months. We got to ride camels! It was pretty silly and camels are really weird animals. We had a lot of fun and it was very interesting for me to be so close to a camel! We got to go on a 30 minute ride through the dunes so it was very cool.
Bennet, Liv, Roberto (our camel) and I.
After the ride with Roberto.
My last night we spent hanging out at Bodos, enjoying some delicious wine on the terasse and the kids and I had fun playing with Moritz.
It was such a nice week relaxing in the sun and enjoying time with the Schüles as well as getting to know Nina's dad and Bea. I am so lucky that I got to go with them and I was sad to say bye to head off to my next adventure but I think they also enjoyed time having just the family there as well.
Now off to Scotland!
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