Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

The next morning we woke before the sun, 4:30AM to be exact, packed up our belongings and tiptoed out of Avi and Kayla’s house. We applaud their apartment facility for having an excellent coffee machine in the lobby, because without it there is no way we would have made the early morning drive to Sacramento. Two hours and a few McGriddles later we found ourselves in Elk Grove, where we picked up Travis, Kyle’s very good childhood friend from Indiana, and his amazing fiancé Megan. The four of us headed off with the Jeep packed up with water bottles, sandwiches and healthy snacks, Tahoe bound on a beautiful Labor Day weekend Sunday.

When we got to the lake reality set in – it was Labor Day weekend, meaning people had off work, which translates to traffic! We waited and waited for a place to pull off and park but even during the lull no one seemed the slightest bit upset. The stunning views of pine trees, backed by a crystal clear bright blue lake kept all our spirits high. After securing a parking spot we began our hike down to the water, laughing and talking, the boys reminiscing on old times and the Megan’s (who had just met for the first time) found many things to connect on. Everything was perfect - until we stumbled upon a nude beach! Hikers beware, the East side of the lake has many nude beaches and sunbathers are not of the Candice Swanepoel caliber, instead imagine saggy gravity stricken grandparents with bad sunburns!

We searched the shoreline for a place to stop and enjoy our lunch but unfortunately we had no luck. Every rocky cove and sandy beach had people on it, so we left to see what the rest of the lake had to offer... what we found was the beautiful Emerald Bay. Of course we had to battle traffic once again, but the scenery of the South Side of the lake can only be described by one word: Breathtaking. We were all very anxious to get out and explore the trails around the Bay. Travis and Megan showed us up as they glided alone the trails without being winded – take note, this is a very fit “running” couple and Megan has completed a marathon or two in her day (did we also mention this other fabulous Megan is a Doctor, as in MD)! Noticing the lack of stamina on our part, TITM’s Megan decided she would do what her counterpart Megan has done and take up running – even to the point of entering the LA Marathon in March!

As the day came to a close we headed back to Elk Grove as the orange harvest-moon ushered us home as it took over the night sky. We were thankful that the wonderful couple put us up for the night. The plan for the following day was to put our winery finding skills to work and have a tour of Napa Valley. It was another night of early to bed, early to rise as we dozed off before midnight while visions of wine grapes danced in our heads!

Xo,
M&K

Last Tuesday was the Festival of the Embarkation of the Virgen del Carmen, part of the Fiestas de Julio. Here in Puerto Cruz they have a whole month dedicated to celebrating life, and happiness by the sea! If you’ve been following for awhile you may remember Megan mentioning this as one of the major things she wanted to experience...(Why Tenerife) glad to say neither or us were let down!

During the Fiestas de Julio the city gets crazy in the days leading up the Tuesday Embarkation. There are celebrations, parades, and a sardine festival in the town square, all to honor the Virgen del Carmen, the Patron Saint of fishermen and the sea. People stayed up and partying until five in the morning the weekend before Tuesday's Embarkation. It is common to hear fireworks going off all night long – and sometimes, even during the day. Every evening we were treated to multiple firework displays set off near the town square. There was a show every hour from dusk until one or two in the morning. We happily watched from our seventh story balcony, pleased to be having July 7 - 10 fireworks to make up for missing our own tradition of July 4th.

We've both read and heard from the locals that the Embarkation Festival is a day that shouldn’t be missed. Tuesday morning we woke up extra early and went to the local cafe for coffee and Internet access. By 10am the street outside the cafe and neighboring Supermercado were packed with teenagers in their swimsuits! We witnessed kids - who couldn't have been over sixteen years old mixing rum and Coca Cola into emptied six-liter water jugs. People were walking in droves towards the marina, so we quickly changed into our bathing suits and followed in their footsteps.

Walking through the town square to the marina was easier said than done. It is estimated that each year over 35,000 people cram into the areas surrounding the marina to take part in the festival. Everywhere we looked people had on t-shirts with images depicting the Virgen, which we found out were being sold nearby - so we splurged €3 apiece and each bought one! One of the best parts of the festival was the traditional Canarian food and drink that was being sold by the street vendors. For just a few Euros we got fresh fish and shrimp on a skewer, a loaf of crusty bread, potatoes con mojo and a Mocaña (traditional Canarian cocktail made with sugarcane juice).

After we indulged in our lunch we grabbed a seat on the stone wall surrounding the marina. With our legs dangling over the water, we proceeded to watch the "spectacle" take place around us. This included a collection of Zodiac boats floating in the water with drunken Canarios dancing and swimming around, young kids leaping, fully clothed, off the pier and into the water, and drunken teenagers stumbling around and laughing. We heard that the image of the Virgen typically "embarks" to sea around 6pm, and is accompanied by some of the town’s sailors. Unfortunately the ocean breeze was very cold that day, and the Virgen didn't appear until after 8 - but as she did the atmosphere at the marina changed dramatically. The masses of people began singing in unison; imagine 35,000 people crowded around a traditional Canarian boat singing! Many tears were shed as the throne of the Virgen was placed on the boat and led out to sea.

Experiencing a traditional, and very emotional ceremony in another country is enlightening. The festival showcases the Canarian dedication to Spain and their devotion to the Catholic religion. We're both very pleased that we got to witness and in our own way, be a part of such an amazing day.

Xo,
M&K

Throwback Thursday!

Spending any holiday without the company of friends and family is always a little disheartening. In America we have a few "big" holidays where it is customary to come together and celebrate: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and the Fourth of July to name a few. This is the second "Fourth of July" we have spent together abroad - it also seems to be one of the most awkward holidays to celebrate from another country, because it's exclusively an American holiday. Now that have a few "Fourth of July's" abroad under our belt, we feel qualified to discuss what to do as an American overseas for this occasion!

For those of you who do not know, July 4th is our Independence Day in the United States. We celebrate by having BBQs or picnics, waving Old Glory (our flag), and wearing red, white, and blue. In the evening we watch firework displays around the city, on TV, or set off our own! Of course outside of United States, July 4th is just another day on the calendar.

Two years ago we were in London when July the 4th rolled around. For some reason, Megan seems to think not celebrating this holiday is devastating... probably because she has a degree in American History. Either way, to satisfy our patriotic obsession we Googled "4th of July events" that were happening in London. Ironically there are a lot of festivities planned for Americans to celebrate in the UK. We ended up finding a group of University of Texas Alumni who was planning on meeting in Regent's Park to picnic.

Walking through a local Sainsbury's, we grabbed the quintessential 4th of July goodies - any "American" food and drink we could get our hands on! We settled on Budweiser's, Oreo's and Doritos, then grabbed hot dogs and hamburgers from a nearby food truck. Google had informed us that the group of Texans was meeting somewhere in the park, but anyone who’s ever been to Regent's Park knows that it's not a small place; so we walked around scanning the horizon for our fellow patriots. After about twenty-five minutes of searching Megan spotted a backwards Texas hat... GAME ON!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the park listening to Country music, eating, drinking and tossing around the old pigskin, a "real" American FOOTBALL! If you know your world History, the irony in all of this is that we were celebrating our independence from England, in the heart of central London! Although we didn't have fireworks, we have some great pictures and memories of our first, Fourth abroad.

As you all know we are in Tenerife right now, so yesterday was another fabulous Fourth away from the USA. Once again we did our research, looking and hoping to find a group of Americans meeting up somewhere on the island. Unfortunately we came up empty handed, and haven't been able to locate a single American in the eight days we've been here.

We decided the best way to celebrate our lonely 4th of July in Tenerife was to take some traditional American food down to the beach. Pacing the Supermercado in search of true "American" food was not easy - we once again found American beer, this time MGD's and Budweiser's, we also scored with a big juicy watermelon, Doritos, sunflower seeds, and the traditional BBQ foods - hot dogs and hamburgers! When we got back home we realized we had no access to a grill, so we made the hamburgers and hotdogs on our electric stovetop, packed up a picnic and headed to the beach. Soaking up the sunshine and munching on our American food brought big smiles to our faces. Despite being 5,300 miles from home we still managed to have a fantastic Fourth of July!

Xo,
M&K