Fuerteventura

Hallooo my dears.
I've returned from my fab vacation in Fuerteventura. And I have lots to write about!
Where to start?
Fuerteventura is one of the seven islands that constitute the Canary Islands. It is in the Atlantic ocean, off the coast of Africa. I thought the word Fuerteventura meant something like "big adventure" but my dad later informed me that Fuerteventura, in old Spanish, actually means "strong wind" (is it immature of me that now that I know this, all I can think of is strong farts?).
So that's one thing about Fuerteventura. It's windy. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing! It kept us cool throughout the warm, sunny days. The temperature, in fact, was perfect. Hot enough to be in shorts and tan all day long but not hot to the point of being uncomfortable.

Our resort had two big swimming pools where my brother enjoyed water fights with a friend that he made during the trip, while I mostly sat on a chaise-longue reading through New Yorkers and several books (one of them was Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews, a novel which was popular in the 70's and that I just could not put down).
The resort also proposed great exercise classes throughout the day: I did yoga or stretching in the mornings, and either weight lifting or step aerobics in the afternoons (the funnest!). I grew attached to the animators who not only raced from one physical activity to the next all day (there must have been five different activities back to back each day) but also held a different show every night!

 

Some mornings I went running with my mom on a walkway beside the beautiful coast, with the natural music of waves whooshing against volcanic rocks.

We spent most of our time at the resort but managed escaping for a couple of days on an excursion to the other beautiful beaches and dunes of the island:

 

Dunes

 

My brother


 

Me

 

 

We ate at this little restaurant called "La Vaca Azul" (The Blue Cow) where I had a scrumptious lunch of stuffed avocados and a vegetable tarte tatin (I really want to replicate this menu at home!)

.

 

Vegetable tarte tatin

On several occasions I got to try the "mojo" sauces, typical of the Canary Islands. They usually accompany "papas arrugadas" (wrinkly potatoes, also typical of the islands) or bread:

 

One morning we visited the "Salinas del Carmen" salt mines ...and because Carmen's my name I had to pose in front of it, obviously ;)

 

 

 

 

And here comes the best part of our stay in the resort: the buffet! My parents were expecting the food to be of low quality, but on the contrary, it was delicious! It was so much fun to heap our plates at dinner with lots of different vegetables, pastas, pizzas, salads... there was SO MUCH CHOICE! And it changed every day.

 

In this buffet my dream came true.... Yes, it's a *REAL CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN*!!!

 

 

At breakfast was served the usual (toast, eggs, yogurt, cereal...), as well as pancakes and ever-changing pastries! What I enjoyed the most out of all of this was the wide range of fruits (so FRESH) and the smoothie bar. There was actually a woman blending up fruits before everybody's eyes at the smoothie counter all morning!

 

 This vacation was extremely fun and very relaxing. It's been so long since I could just sit and read with absolutely nothing on my mind of what needs to be taken care of.  It did me a lot of good to be in the sun, especially for my vitamin D deficiency. The turquoise sea was a little chilly but just watching the surfers go inside was enough!

I enjoyed the weather so much it didn't even occur to me that it might be cold back here in Lyon when we got back. I stepped out of the airplane wearing just a t-shirt and shorts and was so disappointed to feel the cold air bite my cheeks and raindrops trickle down my nose!