Our day off

The Scandicshop cafe'

We woke up at eleven this morning and we decided to go to Scandicshop and have our breakfast there. They have got really lovely prawn sandwiches.
After the meal we went back home but I started a zig-zag walk on Calle Suecia where it is a lot of shops.
I didn't find much but they have got some new stuff that struck my fancy.

Tonight we are going for dinner to Las Americas. We'll maybe need a nap before to not be so tired when we woke up so early.
I need my eight hours of sleep to stay happy and smiling.

Buy the way, we had a group of people at Lewinski yesterday who have been traveling by Sterling Airlines to Tenerife. They have had a good luck and have been able to buy new return tickets with an other company and will leave on Sunday.
The passengers that travel buy Sterling Airlines will not get their money back.
If you have booked a flight further on and payed with a credit card you can cancel the payment and get the money back.

I bought this black handbag today.
I would like to have one with a lot of fringes
but will use this one until I can find one.


I also bought this necklace.


I have been missing a watch in brass for a long time.
I need one to use together with my other brass jeweleries
and today I decided to buy this one from Stradivarius.


I also bought this ring, made of tin, from Stradivarius.
It fits well with one of my bracelet.
Oh, Clas is already in the bed. I need to go now...
I will put up some photos from our dinner in Las Americas later.

Stearling Airlines went bankruptcy

I wonder how many times we will face tourists being left here on the island this coming winter when the air companies run out of money and have to quit.

Some weeks ago (Sept 15) a company called XL Airline crashed and some of our guests didn't get back home to England.

One lady was offered a new return ticket for £700 and decided to stay for one more week when it would help to get down the price.
Some of our guests at Lewinski also arrived later than planned when they had to find new tickets to get here.

XL-Airlines had 21 flights per week going to Tenerife south from England, and it causes a fall in the amount of the tourists here now, even when some people have bought new tickets from other air companies.
They also had many flights every week from Scotland.

Now it has happened again! The Scandinavian Sterling Airlines gave up last night.
This company has flights to Tenerife in the winter time but we don't know if they had started the season yet.
However we haven't met any stranded passengers of Sterling here so far.

It looks like it's can be a tough winter for the tourism here on the island, because the experts say they expect 25 more airline liquidations before the new year.

Hummer Limousine

It's very popular now to hire a Hummer Limousine among the celebrities of Stockholm when they go to different parties.
I think it's the most ugly car in the world, but the interior looks nice.
We have got at least one Hummer here in Los Cristianos but it's a normal car and not a limousine.
It looks like a monster on the street and I'm sure the owner feels like "The king of the road" when he drives it.

Lewinski last night

We had a lovely night yesterday at Lewinski.
A group of line dancers from Denmark visited us and we were about 30 line dancers all together and a lot of other dancers too.
The dance floor was crowded the whole night through and the teacher of the Danish group teach us a beginners line dance called "The First Step".

Please, click on the arrow to watch the Danish group dancing.

I Love Russia

St Petersburg, Russia.

I have been many times in Russia and I love the Russian people.
The first time was 1995 when I went there with humanitarian help. Stuff that had been collected from the Finish people by a TV-program I was hosting and producing.

My last visit was 2002.
Clas didn't like me to go there any more when we every time got a lot of problem with the customs and there was a risk we wouldn't be let out from the country.
The same happened with my friend Ljuba who was doing the interpreting. Her husband didn't like her to go either so we had to quit.
But I have got lovely memories from our humanitarian convoys and today I laugh at the problems when think about all what happened. It was really adventures of a life time!

The Russian customs is quite corrupted and it's not easy to get in with help to the people that have got less in the society.
They are very inventive and like to make up different tricks to earn money "under the table".
Probably a remnant since the communism, but at that time they were satisfied with some packages of coffee, a loaf of Marlboro or maybe silk stockings or chewing gum.

There's a lot of things that can take place at the Russian customs.
They many times like to keep the stuff you bring and lock it up in a storage and charge you a rent for the space you use.

Sometimes they like to have some kind of special certificates or stamps that they for sure know you haven't got.
One time they asked for a certificate that prove what kind of detergent has been used when the donates have been cleaning the clothes before they have been giving them away for charity. Were can you get a certificate like that? It's impossible!

When you get back with the certificate (you can probably write one yourself and put a stamp on it and they are satisfied), more problems appear.
Then they start telling you that you are a smuggler by showing perfume bottles they have found among the clothes. You have written clothes and shoes in the import form and then you are not allowed to bring perfume.
They have of course put the perfume bottles there themselves but you have to pay what they ask to get the problem solved or end up in the courthouse.

I can't start telling you all the tricks they do but I will tell one more.
They can write different expire dates on the visas for the vehicle and the person driving it.
The numbers are written with Russian letters and it's not easy to discover.
When you are ready to leave the country they tell you the vehicle has been in the country without permission.
Then you again have to pay, let's say, a couple of thousand Euros to not have to go to the courthouse.

You have to collect stamps from all the hospitals, children shelters, prisons etc. that you visit to prove the stuff you bring has reached the right receiver.
I heard once about a man who had a lack of a stamp (he forgot to ask for it) and he had to stay 21 days in the customs house waiting for the right stamp when his visa did expire.
They didn't let him out from or back into the country and the relatives had to work hard to get food over the border to bring him something to eat, and to bring him an new visa that was valid so that he could leave the country.

Let's say I don't like the way of which the Russian customs operate but I have a big heart for the people in the country.
This happened many years ago and I don't know how the Russian customs operate today.

Putin is a hero for me, like he is for many Russians. He has made a great job and many Russians who lived in poverty before have now got money and have become rich.
Some of the old people in Russia like the system of the communism more and mean they had food on the table before. But the new regime that came after the perestroyka allows the people to own companies and to do business. Before everything was owned by the state.

I think it was the best way to get the country out of the extreme poverty that was holding the people in great suspense.
Of course, everyone can't handle the new system and there are still many poor people who need help to survive, but they are not in majority anymore like before.
Today the Russian tourism is growing avalanche-like on Tenerife.

Questions & Answers

Vladimir Putin is a master of judo.

White or Black? Black when it looks more festive.
Pants or Skirt? Skirts are more feminine.
High or Low heels? High heels are more comfortable.

Wine or Beer? Wine, I don't like beer.
Pork or Chicken? Chicken is my favorite.
Fish or Meat? Fish without bones.

Morning or Night? Night. Hate to have to get up in the morning.
Party-night or Cuddle-night? Cuddle -night.
Self-possessed or Temperamental? Temperamental
Give or Receive? It's more blessed to give.

Beckham or Pitt? Brad Pitt. I don't like football (soccer).
Massa or Hamilton? Massa. But Räikkönen is the best one.
US or EU? US think big and have got a better political system than EU.
Bush or Putin? Putin is more sexy and could protect me from all kind of dangers as a former KGB agent.

Town or Country? Town when it's too quiet in the country.
Apartment or House? Apartment. Other people take care of the lawn.
Pool or Beach? Neither. They both contains fat sun oils from sweaty bodies and wee-wee.

Beauty shopping

I made a trip to Parfumeria Mego yesterday because my face cleaning milk was running to an end.
It was not a long trip when we have got a Mego shop in our neighborhood, which is very nice.
I buy the most of my cosmetics from them and the girls many times give me different testers and gifts.
I got a tester of a Lancome eye cream some weeks ago and I like the product and decided to buy more of it.

It's called Lancome Renergie Morpholift Yeux and it's lifting, firming and anti-wrinkle in the same time. (49€ on Tenerife, for 15ml, 0,5oz.)

It says; " Immediately, thousands of micro-tensing actions leave the skin feeling lifted and smoother. After four weeks, puffiness appears diminished, dark circles are less visible, and wrinkles appear reduced". Sounds nice. Doesn't it?
I have used Lancome High Resolution Yeux before but will try a tin of this one now.

I also bought Helena Rubenstein Nail Lacquer remover and tried it about ten minutes ago, before I started making this post. I think it's gentle and effective. (19,70€ for 100ml, 3,3oz.)

The brown thing that looks like a book is a perfume tester of Flower by Kenzo that I got today.
I had that perfume about two years ago. It smells nice after 10-15 minutes.
The smell is really strong first when you put it on but after a while it's lovely.

Winter time

Did you remember to adjust the time to winter time?

The northern light of Lapland, Finland.
Aurora Borealis.

VIP on Finnair

The crown princess of Sweden, Victoria, did make a state visit to India last week.
On her way back to Sweden the people at the airport took her to the wrong terminal and she didn't get in time to the plane.
The plane was waiting, of course, but when she finally entered the aircraft she was booed out by the other passengers.
It's told she had to carry over ten bags herself while she was hurring to the right terminal.
Normal passengers can only have one carry on in the cabin, but when you are a VIP you can still have many like it seams.

This reminds me of our travel when we moved back home to Finland from the US.
A lady we know, who works as a travel agent at Finnair, arranged some kind of VIP tickets for us when we needed open tickets during our one year stay.
I don't know how it's now but at that time (1996) you had to have an open flight ticket during you Visa stay in America so that they could send you home directly if you did something criminal and had to be deported.

I called Finnair at the Miami international airport some days before our departure back to Finland, to check out if we could get all the luggage with us on the flight. We had a luggage of 165 kg (364 Lbs).
They said it was alright but we will have to pay about 400 dollars extra.

We were quite dressed up the day we were about to travel home. Clas in black pants, white shirt, tie and red business suit and I had a nice skirt and a blouse with a nice red jacket, model posh, on the top of it.

The lady at the check in desk looked at our tickets and then she made an excuse and went over to an other lady who seamed to be her boss.
The boss lady came over to us and started doing the check in.
It was a lot of suitcases and we even had a big American trunk that was so heavy that you almost couldn't get it moved. It was really out of size, when you think about the measures that are allowed at the check in, but everything went so smoothly and we finally only had to pay 80 dollars for the luggage. Why the price was reduced to such a low fare we don't know.
Are the fares different for VIP people? Or can you have more luggage as a VIP?

The flight was delayed by an hour and we sat down to wait in the terminal.
After a while some of the passengers were told to go on board first. We checked our seat numbers and discovered we were the ones they were talking about.
The aircraft was a big new MD11, and we got really big seats with a lot of space for the legs, in the front of the plane where the first class department is. We even had a telephone each at the seat and the service was excellent the whole travel.

When we arrived in Helsinki we were still delayed and we directly run up to the first Finnair desk we saw to tell them we are booked on the next flight up to Vasa. It was only about ten fifteen minutes left and the plane would leave.
They asked for our tickets and when they saw them they called and told the plane to wait.

Oh, what a mess! We had to hurry over to the domestic flight department and it was not easy when we had a hand luggage of about 60 kg (132 Lbs).
They allowed us to take some of the stuff as hand luggage in Miami when we wouldn't like to loose it or thought it would probably be destroyed if it was put among the main luggage.
I had among other things two big pictures in wooden frames, collectible dolls, silver cutleries for twelve people, a lot of jeweleries etc.

When we finally got to the plane, about half an hour too late, the next problem appeared.
They almost started screaming at us when they saw our hand luggage.
We had too much hand luggage and there was no space for it inside the aircraft.
The plane going up to Vasa was in a smaller model and they had to open up the luggage space for the second time which caused the flight to be even more delayed. They had already got our check in luggage on board and had closed the luggage door thinking it was done.
Oh, I felt so put on shame and thought it's typical us to mess everything up.

We were told to go into the aircraft.
The plane was really packed and it was a lot of men in suites sitting there. Maybe they were going to the big factories in Vasa and now they would be too late to their appointments only because of us?
If the looks would have been able to kill we would have died. They were so angry.
They didn't boo, because Finish people are very reserved, but I'm sure there wasn't one single smile in the whole plane and the atmosphere felt real threatening.
The worse thing was that there was no free seats left and Clas had to sit the whole flight with his face turned toward the other passengers in the front of the plane. What a shame!

When we finally got to Vasa there was like a "welcome committee" of friends waiting at the airport.
When we got out from the costumers check they were standing there singing welcome songs getting the music from a stereo.
We were probably cursed by some of the other passengers, but we were happy we didn't miss the flight when our friends would then have been standing there in vain, waiting for us.

I don't know why, but many times when we fly somewhere we have been messing up everything at the airport.
We have forgot bags on the luggage band, been so late many times that the staff has been screaming at us telling us to run to the aircraft. We have been sitting waiting at the wrong gate almost missing the plane, many times we have got too much hand luggage and have had to repack some of it and check it in instead etc.
Don't plan to go on a vacation together with us! It will probably be like a nightmare at the airport! We are ourselves so used to it that we have become toughened.

But a good thing is that many times when we have been traveling by scheduled flights we have been upgraded to the first class even when we have booked economy class. We are so used to it that we almost expect it to happen every time.
We think it's because we always dress up when we travel.
It seams like the first class seats seldom are sold out and when they have to place some of the economy people to sit there instead they probably choose people that are dressed up instead of people in daily clothes.
Dress up if you like to get better dinner on the scheduled flights and sometimes even more space for the legs. With a good luck on a big aircraft you'll make it!

Oh sorry! This post turned out to be the longest one ever.

If you like to read the post about our
terrible journey back home from Greece 2002, click here.

After gig

We went to one of the restaurants in Valde Center

after the gig last night to have a night snack.

Yes, I know this is unhealthy and a lot of calories
but it was like getting cotton into my stomach.


Clas didn't like to show what he had
but I tell you; - It was much worse!

Lewinski 25.10.2008

Please, click on the arrow to watch the video clip
from last night at Lewinski.

Chicken Boycott

Pamela is not only a sex icon.
She is now into a campaign calling on consumers to "Kick the Bucket" and boycott KFC until the company agrees to make some simple improvements in the way it treats animals.

Would you like to see what it's all about? Click here.

Warning! The video clip may not be suitable for everyone!
It contain photos of birds who have had their wings and legs broken, their throats slit, and their bodies dunked into tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still alive and able to feel pain!
It's really terrible!

How many of the chickens we eat have been treated in this way?
Is this only about the KFC chickens or is it the same with other chickens?

Our night out

We have had a really lovely night together with our friends
Eidi and Harry from Finland.

First we went for dinner to restaurant Kiki Riki in Los Cristianos.
We had their famous Cream spinach as a starter and
the famous Kiki Riki chicken meal with papas arrugadas
and the four sauces as the second plate.
It's a lovely dinner and I recommend you to have it
if you come to Los Cristianos.
The restaurant is in Apollo Center close to the bus station.

After the dinner we went by taxi to Las Americas.
A cowboy called Marcelo is playing Country and western music
at restaurant Hyde Park Corner and we went in there to listen to him.


Harry and Eidi are good dancers.
Please, click on the arrow and watch the video clip.

Me and our dear friend Pepe from Italy,
who works as PR at Hyde Park Corner.
He is a really nice guy and we like him so much.


After some dances and a couple of drinks we went
over to restaurant Banana Garden.
I like the interior of the Banana Garden and think it's
one of the most beautiful in the south of Tenerife.

In this restaurant you feel you are in Spain.
The music has got an influence of salsa and Latino
and it's a nice place where to dance if you like this type of music.

Our day off

It's Friday again and our day off.
I try to not do so much on the days off. I just relax and enjoy the day and try to make it different from the working days.
Everybody need to chill out and recharge the batteries. So even the musicians!
I have only been doing strength training so far today and thats almost like a therapy.
You feel so satisfied after and I like to feel a little of the muscular pain that comes afterwards too.

Some people can't understand that we have a lot to do in the daytime.
They seam to think we have got all the time in the world to just be lazy, but it's not like that when you live and work here.
We can't live the lazy life of the tourists and the pensioners. Believe it or not!

I'm not going to tell you all what we do, because I'm so tired of telling everybody about it all the time.
Sometimes it really feels like we have to explain everything we do to just prove we are not lazy.
We know in our hearts that we are not lazy and if somebody believe something else it's their problem!

Sometimes people also become jealous of "our luxury life" (as they see it) and they can't handle it.
We (Clas and I) have decided to just do what we like to do, to buy what we like, and to enjoy life as much as we can.
It's not about being lazy or posh! The most of the days we like to do a lot of boring stuff, because we like to have a nice and clean apartment, we like to have everything in order, and we both like to make individual developments and enjoy learning new things etc.
We like to make our own decisions and to be free to follow the intuition of our hearts.
That's life for us and I wish more people could do the same.

When you are born and grown up in the culture of the `Scandinavian jante law´ it's easy to just start living a life of pleasing everybody to be accepted. But we got to taste the freedom while we lived in the US and since that we resist the spirit of control that it's all about.

Tonight we are going out for dinner with Mr and Mrs Paro from Finland.
I will put up some photos later.
Have a nice weekend!

Our secret appointment

We had an appointment in Torviscas, Las Americas today like I told you.

Then we met this two business men.
What it's all about I will tell you later... Let's say after a couple of weeks...?

On the way back to Los Cristianos we stopped at Hooters
and we had a lunch there with Anders.
He is the owner of the Scandinavian Media group here on the Island.
It has been a really lovely day and I'm so excited!
Can't hardly wait to get to tell you the secret.

Yesterday

Clas was out buying the new internet for us yesterday.
He bought a prepaid internet connection that we can use every time our normal internet doesn't work. It's like a "dongle" that we just connect to the computer and we can use it wherever in the town, which means I can even blog directly from, as an example, a restaurant if I just bring the laptop with me.
If we would have knew about this kind of connection before we would have bought it a long time ago, but this is quite a new thing here on Tenerife now.
I think it's a good choice for people who come here for a longer vacation too.
The "dongle" costs only 60Euros and you can buy 1GB traffic for 60 Euros.

I decided to go out shopping yesterday and you can see a couple of shirts that I bought on the photos below.

I also had my lunch out in town and decided to visit restaurant Tandoori Dream on the street of Karl XXIII here in Los Cristianos.
This restaurant changed owner a month ago and the meal I had was really nice.
If you like Indian cuisine I recommend you to pay a visit here.

I will use this shirt together with the suede vest I bought last week.

This sweater I will use in the spare time with a black skirt + leggings that I bought last week.
Nice shopping outfit when the temperature goes down to + 20-22 in December.
It will fit really nice to my new suede boots.

This was my lunch starter; Papadrums.
I like this Indian bread.

Then I had the mildest meal I could order to be kind to my stomach.
I had rice and Chicken Tikka with a sauce made of cream and coconut milk.
It was very delicious.

Internet is working again

I am sorry I haven't been blogging for a long time.
Our internet hasn't been working again and now we have got a new provider, Vodafone.
Hopefully this will work better now. I'm so tired of not having any internet.
It's really a must when you once have become used to have it.
I will blog more later, because right now I have to hurry when we have an appointment in Las Americas 1 o'clock.
Have a nice day!

Lewinski 16.10.2008

Every now and then partner line dancers show up on the terrace of Lewinski.
These partner line dancers from England did visit us the last week.
They know many different dances and it has been a pleasure to see them on the dance floor.

It feels sad to know you are leaving Tenerife today. We hope seeing you again soon.
Thank you for the dances, for your happy smiles, for your encouragement and for telling us about some of the popular partner dances etc.

Please, click on the arrow and watch the video clip from last night.

Very busy

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately.
I have been out shopping two days and bought among other things a really nice vest with a lot of long fringes. I don't know yet what to wear with it but will figure it out as soon as I get time.

Today I have a day of cleaning.
I have cleaned the restroom extra carefully and even changed the inner shower curtains from blue to yellow. I think it looks nice.
The color gives you a sense of the spring and the Easter now when we soon have Christmas coming up, but we will survive.

Now I have to start loading the laptop with some popular partner dances for tonight.
It´s gonna be a lot of dancing tonight and we will try to arrange an extra big dance floor.

Our new yellow shower curtains.
Sorry, I forgot to arrange them before I took the photo!

My new suede vest from Sara.
He,he! The vest is also hanging sloppy!
I think it's because I'm so busy and try to make
a lot of things in the same time.

Hair extension

I will do one more post and then I have to hurry to bed.
I have an appointment with James (my hair dresser) tomorrow.
He's going to color my hair again and cut it.

I have been thinking about making a hair extension soon and will talk to him about it tomorrow.
It would be so fun to have the hair going almost down to the waist for a while.
We'll see what he thinks about it... Good Night!
Which style is best; curly or straight?

BEFORE:

AFTER:


I also like this style
STRAIGHT:

What a beautiful day

It's really nice weather here on Tenerife now.

I will show you a couple of photos from yesterday.

We went by taxi to Las Americas and had a lunch at Hooters.
They have got the best chicken wings on the island!
The taste is like in America and you get celery sticks to dip in
a blue cheese dip like it has to be.
The meal really reminded us of the `Dogs R us wings´
that we had in Florida before when we lived there.
If you like chicken wings I recommend you to pay a visit to
Hooters in Las Americas.

Big mighty waves were rolling into the seashore.
And there were a lot of surfers in the water.

New beauty treatments for the face

This former TV-editorial from Sweden is now

testing the new "Skin science cream" for her face.
A cream that's made of sperm. Urk!
The sperm is said to be manufactured in an artificial way (?)
and it contains a lot of vitamin E that makes the skin soft.

In New York the ladies start using poo-poo

from birds and pay about 100Euros for one treatment.
You can have the "Geisha Facial" cure at the Shizuka spa in New York.
This world is really going crazy! Isn't it?

I read some years ago that there was researching going on
to figure out how they can use aborted foetus to produce good anti wrinkle creams.
Maybe that explains why some of the luxury creams in the Us
has a lack of a content description today?

7000 visitors!

Who is gonna be the 7000th visitor?

Our day off

I have just been resting today not doing much at all.
In the night Clas liked me to teach him how to make a salmon in the oven.
It was his first time ever, preparing a fish meal, and it turn out very delicious.
After the dinner we both became so stuffed and tired that we had to take a nap on the bed and we slept for about one and half an hour.

It's really lovely to have one night off every week without any appointments or must do's and we can live a normal family life.
We need it to get power to carry on even when we both like our job.
It's also biblical to rest one day a week and if you don't do it you probably will grow weary.
God who has created us knows what is the best and I think if you follow his instructions you will be protected from a lot of misery.

Now I'm going to surf into the line dancers magazine.
I will look for nice popular 32 count dances that we could start playing in the nights.
Many of the new dances we have been playing now have got 64 counts and they are sometimes a little bit difficult to remember and nobody like to be first on the floor.
Of course we will continue playing these dances like My Veronica, Rebel Amor, Oklahoma Wind, A Cowboy and a dancer, Hero, Fire cracker (56 counts), Catch the rain, Amor de hielo etc.
But I would now like to take in some more 32 count dances.
What about Rollin' with the flow, Inside out, and She believes?
We have had the music for a long time but have you learned how to dance them yet?
We tried to play them about two weeks ago but the most of the dancers didn't know the steps.
Maybe they are dances that will not stay with a long run?
Duck Soup is one that hopefully will become popular. It's a beginners dance, easy to learn and fun to dance. I will definitely learn it.

Last night a few couples, doing partner line dances, visited us.
It looks so romantic and beautiful when they dance and I would like to learn more about what songs they prefer.
What's popular now in the partner line dancing?

The Ostrich

Clas many times says that I am like a butterfly flying back and forth and up and down in the air while he himself is more like a wet log laying in the water and that just move slowly in a straight direction if you kick on it.

He is right, but I also think he is like a ostrich that bury it's head down in the sand waiting for the storm to fade out. He is very caring in the daily life but when something less fun happens he just bury his head and is not available. Then I have to take care of the problem myself to get it solved.

I was really chocked one night when I was blogging after we came home from Lewinski.
Only about a couple of feet from where I sat I suddenly saw two long antennas moving slowly back and forth sticking out behind a shelf.
I jumped up from the chair and run out to Clas on the balcony and told him there's a big cockroach in the studio and asked him to come and kill it.
No reaction! He was just sitting there puffing in peace on his cigar like nothing had happened.

I understood it will just be a waist of time to try to get him into action, but tried one more time to beg him to come and help me using the most kindly voice I could bring up.
But he just blew out the smoke in a long squirt and told me to just take the spray and kill it.

Sometimes I wish he would be more like a cowboy riding in high speed on his horse coming to help me when I'm in danger. *sigh*

I went into the kitchen and got the spray bottle and walked quickly back to the studio hoping it hasn't disappeared. Knowing there's a cockroach somewhere in the house would cause me a sleepless night.

Good luck! It was walking on the floor and I spayed on it two times and run out and shut the door. I was so scared that I had difficulty in breathing and decided to go to bed.

After a while Clas also went to bed and I felt lucky when I really needed his presence when I was so scared.
It took about 2-3 minutes then he already was sleeping! He was breathing deeply and slowly like nothing has happened, far away in sweet dreams. He was totally unmoved by the incident!

I had to lay awake for hours because I was so afraid and thought all the time that there is a cockroach walking up onto the bed and onto my pillow.
It's terrible to have this kind of phobia.

Many years ago I had phobia about lifts. I was very scared to use a lift and as soon as it stopped and the door went open I screamed and jumped out and many times I walked the stairs instead.
It started when I was about ten years old and had been watching a movie about a burning skyscraper. I was too young and wouldn't have been watching it. It gave me nightmares.
I am healed from that now and I always use the lifts today without any problems.
Hopefully I one day will be healed from the phobia about insects too.

Nice fringe bag

I like fringe bags.
Right now I use a white one that I have bought here on Tenerife.
Isn't this Gerard Darel Fringe bag that has been a favorite of both Eva Longoria and Jessica Alba beautiful?

A "red sock"

Last night I used my new red boots for the first time.
Oh, dear! I felt like a "red sock" the whole night!
In Sweden they call the feminists "red socks". I don't know what's the matter but I suddenly started feeling selfish and proud like I have got all the answers of all the matters in the world.
And I felt like my nose was held up high the whole night through so that I had to try to keep it down all the time.
He,he! I banter a little bit but it was a crazy night!
My red boots stole the concentration.

Maybe it sounds stupid but sometimes clothes can disturb your personality and you will be a little bit distracted while you use them. Or is it only me who is filled with prejudice?

If I wear a skirt that is quite short I feel like a prostitute the whole night and I only think about the time when I can go home and get ride of it.
I think some of the ladies are looking at me in a degrading way and I believe their men are staring at my legs and I have to keep up the discipline to not start acting like a silly woman in protest.

But I have learned where the limit of the skirt length goes now and I don't buy very short skirts anymore. The time of prostitution has passed and I'm so lucky for that.
Thanks to the criticizing women and to the cheering men!
But to be honest; I never were striving for the cheep look! The whole thing was made up by some of the guests that were little bit more pious than me!
Maybe you can call it a culture shock? *smile*
The people tend to put their limits on different levels. That's the problem!

Today when I wear a skirt in a model of short I avoid to pick up anything from the floor and ask Clas to help me instead. Everything to not seam to be too simple.
The years pass too, and I start more and more feeling like a woman which means the skirts get longer even when I still prefer the short ones.

What about the future of my red boots?
I have got an idea now that I ought to use them with white jeans. Then some of the red color will be hided under the trousers legs. Maybe a clever idea? We'll see!

My new shoes

At last I have found shoes with block heals. Block heals are my favorites but it hasn't been possible to find them here on Tenerife for many years. They have been out of fashion.
Maybe it would have been possible to find a pair if you would be satisfied with aunt shoes, but this is exactly the model I have been dreaming about. The heal is colossal. Bigger than I ever have had before, but that's in' now and I like when there is a band with a buckle over the foot.

I really wonder how it's going to be to line dance in them. Hopefully the heals aren't too clumsy.
If they are I can start using them as shopping shoes when they are very comfortable.
Oh, I can't wait to start using them!

I found these shoes at Carolina Boix yesterday and I was almost seized with dread when I had to decide the color.
They have got red, brown and black ones and I finally choose the brown ones when I think I probably will get the most use of that color.
I have already got a pair of black shoes that I like very much and they are in the same model but have got wedge heals and because of that I picked the brown ones.

Carolina Boix always have nice prices.
Don't miss out to visit them while you are on Tenerife.
There's one shop in Los Cristianos on Calle Suecia and one shop is in the Commercial Center opposite the hotel Medditerania in Las Americas.

I only payed 34.90Euro for these shoes! Very nice price!

Lewinski 05.10.2008

We got this video clip from Mick Lindsay last night.
Many of our guests are leaving the island today when it's a big change over day for the tourists.
It's the same every Tuesday and Friday and when we asked last night who is gonna leave, about 80% reached up their hands. *sigh* It's so sad when people must go home.
We hope seeing you all on Tenerife again.
Merry Christmas!... and Happy New Year!...and Happy Easter!...and...

Shopping problem

Oh what a relief! It's not only Clas and I who can't find any food to shop in the markets here on Tenerife! Many people seam to have got the same problem.
I blogged about my shopping tour to the Trebol the other day and after that people started telling me they have got the same problem.

The shelfs are, of course, filled with stuff in all the markets but it's a lot of "trash-food" that you don't like to have.
If you come to Tenerife for one or two weeks you'll make it, but when you start living here you will soon face the problem.

The charcuterie counter is filled with a lot of artificial hams and sausages and they all look to just taste pork. You don't find the salt smoked beaf steaks and the smoked turkey or classic smoked ham that are my favorites in Finland. The smoked turkey ham looks more like a sausage here and so do the hams. Some salami sausages taste lamb or goat. Urk!

Many of the cheeses are tasting goatmilk and I almost start vomiting when I think about it.
But you can find nice cheeses! Buy a cheese that is made of "leche de Vaca" which is cow milk. Or do you like the taste of goat?

The bread is maybe the worse problem. There's a lot of white bread here but my stomach swells up when I eat it.
You don't find any healthy wholemeal bred of the type we have in Finland. There is a similar bread from Germany but it tastes terrible and lasts for months!

The yoghurts are eatable but they are quite sickly-sweet and some of the milks are very sweet. Buy the fresh milk, if you can find it, and you get the best one!

The meat is, of course, normal but many times there is a lot of bone chips in it.

The fruits and vegetables are lovely but here in the center of Los Cristianos we buy them from one single shop (the one opposite Valde Center) . Many of the other markets some times sell second class fruits or rubbish vegetables and charge full price.
If you find small round yellow mangos don't hesitate to buy them! They taste like a sweet dream and are my favorite fruits here on Tenerife. You can find them in the autumn.

Prawns and fishes you can buy at Mercadona if you like to have the good ones. If you buy prawns in an other shop you probably only will find the gray ones or the ones that look transparent or the small frozen ones.

If you see Cream Fraishe somewhere...Buy as many as you think you are going to need before the date gets too old. That's how I do. There can be weeks without any cream fraishe in the markets. Specially at the Christmas time and the Easter but even during other times.
You don't find fresh cream either but have to buy the one that lasts for weeks.

Oh! This is how it is to live on a small island out in the Atlantic Ocean!
But I don't complain when there are so many other things that are much better than in any other countries. Just think about the weather!
And I'm sure we will survive even when the food isn't the best. We are not on a desert island!

We will soon take a trip to an English supermarket, Iceland, here in the south.
Hopefully I can give you a nice food report then. They are my hope now.
Anybody knows about nice products to buy there? I haven't been there before.

The barbecue

Clas knows how to make a nice dinner on the grill.
This is the meal he made tonight. It was lovely!
Need to go to bed now...Good Night!

Greetings to Janet and Judith in England!
Thanx a lot for the nice wine you gave us! It was excellent!

Our day off

It's Friday again and we are off tonight.
I haven't been doing much today when I planned from the beginning to just relax and chill out.
In the afternoon I started trying out new outfits for the next week and found out I have a lack of a small black jacket or cardigan. I thought about it all the time and finally I hurried to put on a makeup and run out shopping.

Clas is now preparing a barbecue and when we have had the dinner I will probably continue planning the outfits. We don't have any plans for tonight for ones and many times he ends up in the front of the TV watching a movie which I'm not so interested in.
I have got so much new clothes again that I almost can't wait to start trying them on and see which pieces goes with which pieces. To plan outfits is a creative job and I like it so much.

I bought this cardigan with short balloon sleeves.
It's very soft and comfortable to wear.

This shirt is little bit special when it has got a zipper all the way along the back.
It will means job for Clas when I need help to get it closed but he never complain.
I also like the sleeves that have got a lot of cuff links.

The shops are now filled with new boots for the winter and
there are so many I like to have.
I did look for red boots already last winter without any results and
felt so happy today when I finally found these.

These lacquer shoes are on fashion now and I like them so much.
They are very comfortable and I just can't wait to start using them.

I also bought these suede boots today.
I will combine them with an Indian dress and a fur vest that I have bought before.
These kind of boots are really on fashion this winter and you found hundreds of different models of them here on Tenerife.
I would like to have one more pair with a lot of fringes but haven't found them yet.

Have a nice Friday night!