Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo

In the Netherlands the days in December are short, and mostly grey, cold and wet. Not my favourite time of the year. I escaped to the sun and spent last week on a Canarian Isle. Lanzarote was warm, dry and sunny and the days were also (a bit) longer. It's a special sensation for a Dutchman to bike in shorts and to swim in open water only a few days before Christmas!

Of course, on Lanzarote it was also Advent-time with this typical, somewhat quiet, almost contemplative atmosphere. In the touristical centres were palm trees decorated as Christmas trees. Lanzarote is a fantastic place to discover by mountain bike, with endless dirt tracks between lava fields and vulcanos. As "sea kayaker" I was fascinated by the coastline of the island, and felt almost jealous when two seakayaks landed through the surf on the beach of Arrieta.

This was my 4th visit to Spain in a year, by now I should slowly start to understand some Spanish words. For the reader, a free interpretation of the title of this post:

Happy holidays! A good 2012!