England

The one feature of leaving these shores for a week is that it gives one a fresh perspective on life in general. Having just spent a week in a bungalow with only Sky News and Euro Sport for company it gave me a lot of time for reflection. For a news junkie like me the morning trip to the local Supermercado for the newspaper was probably the best part of the day although reading it in shorts and T-shirt in 26 degrees also had its advantages.

Gran Canaria seems to be home to more Germans than British, certainly at this time of year and my years in the former West Germany often pays dividends because there is little doubt at times that the Germans are better thought of than the British. To be honest I can understand why. Many of the elderly are of course respectable and well behaved but we are cursed with the ignorant,foul-mouthed, chain smoking, overweight, heavily tattoed yobs and that is just the women. Throw in the beer bellies, shaven heads and the out of control children then the overall picture is far from pretty! It therefore often pays to initiate the conversation in German and then let them discover gently that you are kidding them on.

Apart from that Gran Canaria is most of what England is not. It is clean and tidy, public services operate efficiently, the people are generally obliging (restaurant staff invariably speak three languages) and apart from sidestreets the roads are well maintained.

Having said all that I am always pleased to come home particularly when we are met by my grandchildren and their mummy who always has that little extra welcome for us.
I am sat here freezing as the house warms up but there are lots of little home comforts that I have missed. So much has happened in this week that I began to regret being so far from the blog. I will soon catch up though...now then where is that recipe for green custard?