The week in Glasgow Gallivanting: 5th-11th February 2024

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Spring is on its way

The weather this week has been dreadful, but there are finally signs of Spring. Although I’ve been out and about quite a lot I find I have very few pictures, so it’s just as well that the other half of the team has been gallivanting abroad! More of that in a minute.

I did gallivant as far as Edinburgh where a friend and I went on  a women’s history tour with Ruth Boreham Tours. It was interesting to see how someone else goes about this and I can report that Ruth is very, very good and I highly recommend her if a) you visit Edinburgh and b) this is the sort of thing you might fine interesting. My only complaint is that our feet were very cold by the end but we didn’t blame Ruth for the horrible Edinburgh rain.

I don’t have much else to offer. The littlest penguin got carried away with balloons. The red door of St Silas’s Church caught my eye, as did the Templeton’s building at dusk as I made my way to a meeting at the Women’s Library. I liked the swirly reflections round the swan, and the tree surgeon shown is behind our house removing one of the trees we were worried might get blown down in recent storms. I had a grandstand view from the study window and I rather wish I hadn’t. Scary stuff!

Too many ballons
Red door
Templeton’s at dusk
Swan and swirly reflection
Rather him than me!

So after my rather pitiful little gallery, let me take you onto John’s. I mentioned last week that he had gone with friends on a cycling holiday to Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands which although off the north coast of Africa are part of Spain. Its landscape is volcanic, but it also has beautiful seascapes and pretty white villages. John had a great time there, and enjoyed temperatures in the low twenties, though sometimes the winds were rather strong. Below are some of my favourite pictures that he sent back.

The group’s base was the resort of Costa Teguise. The village of Teguise itself was further inland and looks lovely, the sort of place I would like to explore.

Teguise
Teguise
Teguise

Other pretty villages were Haria and Tinajo.

Haria
Haria
Tinajo

You can see how bleak and almost black the landscape can be.

Wind turbines
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape
Volcanic landscape

And yet, despite this, there are vineyards! Not much showing at the moment, but it’s still winter.

Vineyard
Vineyard
Vineyard

My conclusion is that, although I wouldn’t want to cycle, I might quite like a week of winter sun in Lanzarote. There are those lovely villages to explore, and plenty of scope for a walking holiday. So John might be back sooner than he expects. In the meantime, another wet Glasgow week beckons. Can’t have everything!

Canary Islands, Scotland, Spain, UK , ,

62 Comments »

  3. John seems to have had a wonderful time in the Canary Islands; Teguise looks quite charming. I like the little treasures you found: the balloons carrying the penguin, the swirls around the swan. Maybe next time he goes on a cycling trip you can go along and just explore on your own?

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  4. It must be nice to see spring making an appearance already. And it certainly looks like John had a wonderful trip. You should definitely go for a visit yourself. Here life continues to be busy. No sooner was I home from the birthday cruise than I was off to Brisbane with another friend for a few days. We saw a marvellous production of Jersey Boys, went to a gorgeous exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) called Fairy Tale, full of lovely art works and costumes on the theme, and went to see Kevin McCloud’s new show which was very entertaining. I’m home again and looking forward to a few quiet days.

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  8. Hi Anabel – thank goodness for spring a-springing. That red door of St Silas’ church is pretty magnificent. Yes – a week away from this atrociously dull, gloomy weather would be bliss. I hope you get that week … cheers Hilary

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  10. We had such a glorious weekend I was feeling hopeful spring was on the way, but then back to the grey and wet today. Does kind of put a damper on the walking doesn’t it. Glad though you have found some cheer amongst it all, and didn’t John have a fabulous time

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  12. I’m a little surprised you didn’t go to Lanzarote, even if you weren’t cycling. I think that swan photo is awesome; might be fun to see it cropped without the shore section. I’d love to see some sort of women’s history tour develop here, too. Might have to be a project for me…someday.

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  13. A red door and playful penguins with balloons are bright and cheerful. Not sure about the cycling terrain though I suppose that was only a small part of the journey? I think painting houses white may have a financial component to it, as white paint is cheaper and easy to touch up than paint that’s been tinted. Ever tried to find the right tint that was brought a few years to do a touch up?.

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  15. I love seeing snowdrops when I’m out and about, it’s a nice reminder that spring isn’t too far away. Warm Lanzarote looks very tempting right now. The craters in the desolate volcanic landscape look otherworldly.

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  16. We stayed at the bottom end of the island, at Playa Blanca, and I really enjoyed it, Anabel. It’s not huge so it was easy to get around the island. I especially liked Cesar Manrique’s Cactus Garden and the boat trip across to Fuerteventura. Happy days!

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  17. Poor John, having to spend a week cycling in warm, desolate Lanzarote. I definitely think you should go to the Canaries some time (Easter is too late, the weather gets unsettled then), although my preference is the north side of Tenerife – there are some lovely walks there (and its more local than tourist heaven).
    And my copy of Su-a Lee’s music arrived, and I love it 🙂 Thank you for recommending it!

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  18. Just think you saw beautiful snowdrops and have the promise of colourful crocus and other spring flowers to look forward to …much better than a week of sunshine looking at volcanic terrain! If we visit Edinburgh again I’ll definitely look up Ruth’s tours they cover an amazing range of toopics…all very interesting.

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  19. If I were you, Anabel, I would be very jealous of John right now. Who wouldn’t prefer blue skies and nice temperatures over the Glasgow weather at the moment? Speaking of volcanic terrain, that’s where we are camped for the night. But in chilly Northern Chile, not Lanzarote. I just love the creativity with the balloon penguin!

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  21. There’s always plenty to see in Edinburgh. Good photos of Lanzarote. John might like Surfnslide’s blog -(down side bar linked to mine) for extra info as he currently has been exploring the Canary Islands with his family for the past few years on holiday. Looks an impressive place.

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  22. Oh, I do hope the little penguin makes it back to earth!

    John definitely had the right idea getting away from our weather for a week. What is it about white-washed villages that look so attractive? Contrast with the blue sky? I once lived in a community where all the houses had to be painted white. (Cape Town). Here I think they’d probably seem cold. We need vibrant colours in our northern light.

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