Citizens of the World: A Stoic Podcast for Curious Travelers - Gran Canaria: Exploring the Canary Island’s Best Spot for Digital Nomads and Location-Independent Entrepreneurs

Episode Date: December 6, 2019

At this time of year, a lot of Europeans like to fly to Spain's Canary Islands to catch a bit of sun. But they’re not the only ones. Beach-loving digital nomads and location-independent entrepreneurs love Gran Canaria, the main island, especially the island’s capital city Las Palmas for its amazing weather, affordable living, and co-working spots.    Today I’m speaking with  Thorunn Jonsdottir, an Icelandic serial entrepreneur, who now calls the Canary Islands home. Listen in for everything you need to explore while visiting Gran Canaria.    https://postcardacademy.coDo you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

Welcome to the Postcard Academy. I'm your host, Sarah Micatel. And right now I'm speaking to you from Coastal England. It's December. And it's really quite mild. I'm really happy with this weather. I know my family back home in the U.S. are shoveling snow this week. So for me, I love British weather. But at this time of year, a lot of Brits like to take off to the Canary Islands for a week or so to catch up on a bit of sun. But they are not the ones, beach-loving digital nomads and location-independent entrepreneurs, they love Grand Canaria, which is the main island of the Canary Islands, and they especially love that island's capital city Las Pamas for its amazing weather, its affordable living, its co-working spots, it sounds like such a cool place to be. Las Pomas is known as the city of Eternal Spring for its year-round perfect

weather. And as of this recording, you can live there comfortably for about a thousand euros a month, so not bad. Today, I am speaking with Thorne Jan's daughter, an Icelandic serial entrepreneur, who now called Grand Canaria Home, and she is going to share everything that we need to explore while visiting that island. But first, this episode is brought to you by my other podcast, podcasting step by step. Thinking of starting a podcast of your own but don't know where to start, head on over to sarah migatel.com, where I have a ton of free podcasting resources for you. Now into my conversation with Thorne. Welcome with Thorne. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Yeah, thanks for inviting me. You're an Icelander who's now living in Spain's Canary Islands. How did you end up there? In 2016, I went to Cuba on holiday. And I ended up going back there a few months later because I totally fell in love. and then like a month after I got there, I kind of crashed a wedding. Okay, I love this story already. It was kind of a friend that I hadn't known for long that like come with me and, you know, we didn't really ask for permission and I just showed up.

And then I met this really cute guy there, ended up marrying him, got pregnant, a Cuban guy. And then we moved to Iceland when I was five months pregnant. which was like, it all happened in a span of like a year. Okay, I love it. Then when my daughter was born in Iceland in September of 2017, I kind of felt like I just didn't belong in Iceland anymore. I felt it was too stressful. It's a good place to raise kids,

but it's not that great when the kids are young because I only had six months of maternity leave. And like child care is really difficult. to find them until they're two years old if you live in the city. And I was starting a consultancy company with a business partner. And I was kind of stressing out because, you know, I had a baby on my arm all day long and I couldn't work. I was working like I was, I had her in like a sling and then I was typing on the computer while she was sleeping because she really wanted to be close to me all the time. And I was working in the night when she was sleeping.

And I was like, I can't do this anymore. So we thought about going back to Cuba, but my husband wasn't too keen on that because, you know, He hadn't left his whole life. It was the first time that he left Cuba. And then we thought, okay, where can we live? We looked at Spain because they speak Spanish and he's Spanish speaking and I speak Spanish. So, and he has friends and family here in Grand Canaria. So we went here for like three days.

We had never been here before. And we just fell in love. And three months later, we moved here. So I, yeah, I love, I love that spirit. You knew what you wanted. You went after it. You didn't like Heminghaugh for like years. You made it happen. That's so interesting about your husband being from Cuba. I think a lot of people have the idea. Maybe from like the state is that people who are in Cuba are just kind of like stuck there and can't go anywhere. But apparently that is not true. No. I mean, the people are stuck because of economical reasons because they can't afford to take it to get out. But they're like in the Canary Islands. There's a lot of Cuban here.

Cubans here. There's like tens of thousands of Cubans living here. So, I mean, they're all over. There are Cubans in Iceland, you know. Like they, they, they travel a lot. Once they get out, they travel the world, you know. So you're from Iceland. I've been there. It's a beautiful country, very cold. This canary islands are a completely different world. What would you say are the biggest cultural differences between Iceland and life on the Canary Islands. Although Iceland is an island, I don't think that we have like an islander mentality. Like here people are more relaxed. And it's the same in Cuba, also on island. You know, people are more like, ah, let's just go and have wine and go to the beach and, you know, they're

more like relaxed. And Icelanders are more like, maybe it's just modern society that were more stressed all the time in Iceland. And I felt really stressed and anxious living there. So there are actually many similarities between the two cultures that surprised me. Like it's really difficult to make friends here. And I've heard from foreigners moving to Iceland that it's really difficult getting to know Icelandic people. It's like a small village kind of mentality. But it's like, yeah, I feel like here it's more relaxed. For me, it's more quality of life here because I can afford to go out to dinner.

Like, I don't have to count every cent that I have because, you know, food here is not that expensive. Here is more about, like, enjoying with your family. You go out to dinner. You take your kids with you at 9 or 10 o'clock in the evening and it's completely fine. Well, in Iceland, if I took my daughter to a restaurant at 10 o'clock in the evening, people would, like, call the authorities, you know? It would be like, this should not be happy. Right.

People in Iceland, like, decorating their houses and have, like, the newest design. Not everyone, but a lot of people. And here, people don't spend money on interior design. They spend money on, like, experiences and, like, going out and going to the beach. So, yeah. I love that. Do you feel that now that you've been there for a bit, it becomes easier to make friends? Is it like Iceland in that way where it's hard at first, but then once you start meeting people,

you can form good friendships? Yeah. I mean, I think we moved here and we already had family here. So, you know, a lot of Cubans on the island because they're like friends and family of my husband. I made a couple of Icelandic friends. There's a lot of Icelandic people that live here. So, and then I kind of just got stuck in these two groups and I wasn't really searching outside of the groups. And I became a bit frustrated that like when I go to the bakery or like when I,

I walk past the same people every single day, you know, because I live in a small village. And I was like, why aren't they interested about me? You know, why don't they talk to me? And then I thought, okay, maybe I need to talk to them as well and show it to them. So, yeah, I mean, now I'm working on like going outside of my two groups of, you know, Cubans and Icelanders to get to know people. And I find that once I, you know, start talking and show interest in what they're doing, they are more open to getting to know me.

So, but I mean, I guess it's also, it's an island of immigration. There's a lot of people that live here, mostly in the south, and they live here maybe for six months of the year. So maybe that has kind of, how do you say, that has kind of affected how locals look at foreigners. It's like, oh, they just come here to like enjoy the sun and then they go. Yeah, yeah. Fair point, fair point. Yeah, I live, I live in England now, and I know like the Canary Islands, it's like the retirement home for British people. I don't know what will happen post-Brexit with all of that. But how are you able to live and work in the Canary Islands since Iceland's not part of the EU?

Is it an agreement with the EU? Yes. Iceland is part of the European economic area. So as part of that, the EEA has a contract with the EU. And there's a lot of like Spain is parted to that contract. So they look at us as EU citizens, basically. Okay. So my residency is based on me being an EU citizen, although I'm not, but, you know, kind of.

All right. Could you give us a visual snapshot of where you live? Where are the Canary Islands exactly, geographers? exactly geographically. What would the postcard look like? So I live on Grand Canaria, which is the biggest of the eight Canary Islands. We live like, I think it's a 50-minute flight to Morocco. So we're basically in Africa. I live in the mountains of Grand Canaria in sort of the south, no, sorry, southeast, close to the airport. The village that I live in is called Valsequillo.

I think there are around 8,000 people living, not in the village, but in and around the village. It's sort of a big area. It's just beautiful. When I walk outside in the morning, I'm like, wow, I can't believe I live here. It's like there are mountains. They're filled with trees. In February, there are, like, the almond trees are blossoming. So there's, like, these pink.

They kind of look like cherry blossom. They're like light pink flowers on the trees. I can walk everywhere. I walk my daughter to kindergarten. It's five minutes away. There's like a shock here. There are banks here. There's everything I really need is in this village.

Yeah, I never thought about mountains. When I think of Canary Islands, I just think of the beach. Yeah. And that's what I thought before I came here the first time. I was like, when my husband said, let's move to Grand Canary, I was like, no. that's like a beach and it's like filled with retirement people. Like that's not rough.

And then we came here and we went to the mountains because that's where his family lives. And I was like, what is this? You know, it's beautiful. Let's stay here. I didn't want to leave. So it's an island of contrast because like right now here in Balsequillo, it's raining. And it's quite cold. And then I drive for maybe 45 minutes to the south to Maspalomas and the English beach.

And it's like sunny and people are in shores and there's sunbathing. And that's like, you know, less than an hour away. And you can do that all year long, go to the beach there? Yes. That's like the, it's like, yeah, it's like the beach of eternal spring, you know. It's always summer or spring there. That sounds perfect to me. When I think of the Canary Islands, for some reason, even though it's island plural,

I always think of it as one thing. But as you mentioned, there's actually eight. So are there distinct qualities for the different islands or some better for a certain type of people? I haven't, I've only been to Tenerife, apart from Grand Teneria. But I've read a lot about the other islands. And yeah, I mean, each island has their own thing, like Fuerte Ventura, which is like this huge desert. And they filmed like Star Wars and a lot of. big movies there. And they have like this small town that's like a tourist town and outside of that.

I've heard they don't have that much, you know, in terms of culture and people. But the landscapes, I'm told, are beautiful. Lanzarote is another island that's probably very popular with English and Irish people, I know. And they're like, they have their own thing. Tenerife is kind of similar to Gran Canaria, but they have this huge mountain and it snows at the top of the mountain. the mountains called Teide. And then there's like a yerro which is totally sustainable in terms of energy,

beautiful landscapes. There's one island, I can't remember which one it was, where they still have like a whistling language that the goat herders used back in the days and they are still teaching that language in the schools. So they go up on a mountain and they whistle and the person that's like, I don't know how many kilometers away, can actually hear them and understand what they're saying in their whistle.

That's so interesting. Yeah, so each island has like their own thing. What experiences should we have if we're visiting the Canary Islands? I would definitely get out of the touristic areas in the south, like go to the mountains. Like, for example, here in Grand Canaria, I would like go into nature as much as you can go hiking, go to Tejeda, which is in the north, which is a beautiful, one of the most beautiful villages in Spain where they have like beautiful surroundings,

beautiful sightseeing that can do, really good food. You could just walk around kind of and enjoy like it's, when you go there, you feel like you went back in time because the houses are so old and they're like typical canarian houses. And then you can go hiking in the sacred mountains, which are surrounding Tejeda, where the Aboriginal people, like, carved out their caves and lived there and, like, worshipped the gods that they worshipped back in the day and we're studying astrology. And it's got such a rich history. That's so interesting.

How would we get there? One, is there public transport or do we need a car? And, two, like, how would we find these caves? Are there a tour that you would recommend to go on? There are buses that go there. You would just need to look up Wawa's Global, which is like the bus company, and they go from the south.

They go from Las Palmas. They go from most of the big towns. You can also rent a car, and hiring a car here is quite cheap. So you can hire a car for a day and drive up. And the mountains, like driving up the mountains, they're like long and windy. So if people get seasick or car sick,

then they need to prepare for that because a lot of people, especially if you have kids, like prepare them for this. But it's beautiful. Just driving up the mountains. It's just, it's out of this world. So, like, if you're in the Teheva area,

there's another town called Artenara, and they have a museum that shows how people used to live in caves, like modern day people, and some of them still live in, like, cavehouses. So they're basically houses that are carved out of huge rocks. And they kind of put a front, you know, they kind of concrete front, and then they live in the houses. And the cool thing about these houses is that they maintain the same temperature all year round.

So it's never too cold and it's never too hot. So this museum that's about like the cave living is that in a cave itself, the museum? Yeah. It's in sort of this cave house. where people used to live until like 20 years ago or something. You can actually, on Airbnb, you can rent the cavehouse and stay there. Very cool. It reminds me of the sassy houses in Matera in Italy.

I hadn't heard about these cave dwellings, though. So interesting. Where else should we go? I would definitely go to Las Palmas. I feel like Las Palmas is a really underrated city. I can walk out out there like in the evening. I always feel safe. And there's the Las Canteras Beach, which is they have like this walkway throughout the

beach and it's really long. And alongside the beach, there is like a bunch of restaurants and cafes and stuff. So like when I want to relax on a weekend or something, I meet my friends there. We walk. We go to one restaurant, have a bit of tapas, have wine. And then we go and walk to another one. And they also have like, they have. museums, they have music. They really have everything a city needs to have, but it's not like a big

city. It's not like going to New York or something. I really like the atmosphere there and like everything that they have to offer. So I definitely recommend if people go to the south for a vacation, like take a day or two and stay in Las Palmas. Okay. But is that a beach town too, did you say? Yes, they have a beach. But Las Palmas is sort of in the northeast. So, it's not as warm as the south, but they have like a nice temperature all year round. So you don't have to dress up like in winter clothes. Like you have to do some places in like the north and the mountains. But yeah, but they have a nice beach there as well.

All right. So it sounds like maybe it's just a little more laid back, a little less touristy, could be a good beach weekend there on a town. Yeah, definitely. And like a weekend trip, like taking a long weekend, I would definitely recommend Las Palmas. It's a quick flight. from most European cities.

So like going on a Thursday and coming back on a Monday is perfect. And what airport would we fly into? Las Palmas Airport. There's only one. Oh, they have one right there. Okay, great. Yeah. It's not in the city.

It's in Telte, but it's like a 20-minute drive to the city, maybe half an hour, depending on where you're staying. And then if we were going to spend our long weekend at the beaches in the south, where would we be flying into? Same airport. There's only one airport on the island. Okay, okay. Yeah.

Gotcha. Okay. Are there any other hidden gems you want to mention? In the north, there are a lot of natural ocean pools. So you could like take a, I definitely recommend hiring a car if you're able to drive. And driving like to different parts of the island, like, because like going to the north with the nature pools and there are also beaches there and then going to Tejeda and the mountains and then going to the south to the beach. It's like you're in three different countries, you know,

on this tiny island. It takes like a couple of hours driving around it. And it's really, it was such a huge surprise to see the variety of like nature and contrast within the nature that people have here and the temperatures and like the weather, you know. So yeah, I would just recommend like hiring a car and buying a guidebook and just like going around the island, but also going to the other islands. Like going to Tenerife is a 15-minute flight. You can take the ferry as well. And kind of, yeah, like taking one or two days in a different island, I would recommend if people are staying here for a couple of weeks. So we can just take a ferry to the different islands and do island hopping that way? Yes, that's possible. Some islands.

Islands are a bit tricky to get to, like going to Graciosa, which is the eighth island that was recently added as a Canary Island. You have to go to Lanzarote and the airport is somewhere in the south. Then you have to find a taxi that will take you to the north of the island and go there. And then you have to take a ferry to go to Graciosa. So some of them are a bit tricky to get to and others are like a quick flight. You know, so. What are the foods that we need to try in the Canary Islands? So they have a lot of like typical foods.

They have wrinkly potatoes, which are basically just potatoes that are boiled and then dried up. And you put salt in them so they dry up. So that's why they get wrinkly. They're called papas arugadas. There's the Ropa Vieja, which is sort of like a stew of they use like chickpeas and some sort of meat and paprika and it's like really nice and warm. Definitely the fried cheese. You can get that in most of the restaurants here. And then they do like slowly cooked pork on a grill, Certe Basado, which is just if you eat meat, then you need to definitely eat that meat.

And then there are also like in Tejeda they do a lot of almond sweets because they have really like big area of almond trees there. In Malsakeo where I live, you can get really good strawberries. In Galta you can get pineapple. So like each part of the island has their own thing. There's a lot of good food here. Okay. Yeah.

What is the food culture like? Are there a lot of food markets that people are going to? There are a lot of farmers markets. on the weekends. So, like, I go to the market in San Mateo, which is a 20-minute drive from here. It's up in the mountains. And that's probably one of the most popular ones on the island. You can get fresh fruit and vegetables. You can buy cheese. There's a bakery there. You can get, like, local wine. So that's sort of my favorite thing. In terms of food markets, there's just one that recently opened in Maspalomas in Holiday World, which is sort of like the food markets,

you know, like a food hall. Okay. Apart from that one, there aren't really any on the island. Okay. Okay. It sounds like most people are going to sort of enjoy a little beach holiday and then maybe hit their restaurants. Yeah.

Yeah. Definitely. Well, I appreciate you giving us some hidden gems and encouraging us. us to get away from the beach and explore the mountains and that cave museum sounds so interesting. Before I let you go, I would love to do a little lightning round of your favorite places on your island. Can you remind us once again where you are before we get started? Yeah, so I live on Grand Canaria. So to start, what's your favorite bakery?

My favorite bakery is definitely the one on the corner of my street. it's called La Panera and they have like really nice like carrot cakes and like these sweet things that I really like which is probably why I gained weight since I moved here

and they do really nice chia bread that we we were spending like 60 euros a month on bread for a while so that we just stopped and we just do it on the weekends but it's the best break I've been to on the island okay nice

how about coffee shop there aren't really into like the coffee shop culture here. But like in most villages, you're going to find a really nice shop that sells like nice churros in the morning. Okay. So most shops that sell churos have good churos. So yeah. So do you have a favorite churos place? Not really. Just anyone that has it. There's like one in the village that I go to. I can't remember the name of it. But like any place, any coffee shop that you walk into the sales churos, they're going to. it's going to be good. Okay. So if they're not into coffee culture, is there some other culture that

dominates? Is it chiro culture? I mean, in the morning, they go to a coffee shop. They have a quick espresso and then they go about their day. They don't like, it's not, there's like a couple of Starbucks coffee shops here, but they're not like the, like in the UK where you sit at a coffee shop with your computer and you just stay there for like hours or like go there. Yeah. Yeah. That's not what they do here. Okay. Interesting. All right.

What's your favorite restaurant? El Quahara in a town that's called Las Vegas. There's Las Vegas in other countries than the U.S. It's just, it's a 10-minute drive from a village. It's like this really local restaurant that hardly anyone knows about that's not a local. And it's in an old garage and it's like kind of tricky to get there. You need to know where you're going. they have like the best sarto asado,

like the slowly cooked pork that I've ever tried in my life. And it's like a meat restaurant. If you're vegan or vegetarian, don't go there because they're not going to have anything for you. Where can we go? I mean, most restaurants that have like traditional canarian food, you can get like potatoes and stuff, but they're really into meat here.

Yeah, that's what I always find that very, very hard in Spain, to be honest. Do you have any restaurants specifically that you could recommend that might have some vegetarian options? If you're pescatarian, I went to this really good Portuguese restaurant in Las Canteras and Las Palmas the other day. It's called Bon Gosto. And they have some of the best food that I've ever tried.

I had this really nice cot. What else did I have? I think I had a vegetarian option as well. They definitely have something vegetarian. I would say in Las Palmas, you're going to find vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Outside of Las Palmas, you might find something that doesn't have meat on the menu, like potatoes and maybe some like soups, vegetarian soups and things, but they're not like actively trying to have vegetarian or vegan options.

It just happens to be that, you know. Cheese and potatoes, my go-to when insane. Yeah. But I'm sure they are really nice vegan or vegetarian restaurants in Las Palmas. It's just that I don't seek them out, so I don't know where they're on. I understand. Yeah. So you mentioned a food hall before.

So the food hall is in holiday world in Mas Palomas in the south. I haven't been there yet, but they just recently reopened after like a year of refurbishing the whole place. So I was told that it's really nice. And then the farmers markets, if you want to go for like, fresh fruit and vegetables on the weekends. And I get some cheese and some nice wine. There's a really good one in San Mateo. There's a really good one in Terror.

Those are the two, I think, best ones on the island. And they tend to be on Saturdays? On weekends, yes. Saturdays and Sundays. Okay. Yeah. Are there any designer markets? One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to buy like a local piece of art,

like a photo or some sort of design or cup. Are there any design markets? At these farmers markets, there are usually also people selling like handicraft, like, you know, sweaters that they need it and paintings and photos and such. I wouldn't call them designer markets though. Okay, but there's like crafts, crafters. Yes. And there's also in the south. I mean, there is a market in, in, I think, in Puexto de Mogan, which is in the south, they have a farmer's market

and a market that sells all sorts of, like, craft things. If we wanted to buy a souvenir to remember our trip to the Canary Islands, is there any like typical product you could think of that we should take back with us? I mean, the typical products of the Canary Islands in general is our aloeira products, like creams and gels and things. They have a lot of cosmetics that they make out of aloeira. So I would definitely buy some of that. You can get that at the airport or in like aloeira shops.

You can even go to like an aloeira plantation and where you get like a tour of the plantation. They tell you how they make the products and then you can buy some products. Is there a particular plantation that you would recommend? There's one close to Aguimas, which is sort of in the southeast. But you need to get a car, I think, to get a, up there. You need to hire a car. And it's a, my, my brother went there the other day. And he said like the road there was just, it was like, like nothing he'd ever seen. It was like these mountain roads and it was like

there's a cliff, you know, down if you look to the side, there's not a cliff. But he said it was so beautiful. And we got up to the plantation and they just wanted to live there. They said it was just beautiful. So definitely aloeira is one thing. Um, almond treats like they, they make the best element, like, you know, delicious, like treats here, which you can buy all over the island and wine, obviously, if you drink wine. They make really good wine here. Where do you go when you're in the mood for some culture? There are festivals around the island all year long. And sometimes it seems like they're just trying to find an excuse to have a festival. Like in September in my village, they had a three-week-long festival to honor San Miguel, the saint.

And there was like a concert and something going on every weekend. And they love fireworks. They always have fireworks here. So if you want like canarying culture, then I would definitely go to the festivals that are like outside of the tourist areas. Like one weekend I was looking outside my window and people were like setting up like chair. and sitting in the middle of the streets, which they had closed. And they always wear the canarian, like, typical canarian clothes. And then there was, like, a line of people walking with, like, donkeys and cows and carts full of vegetables.

And I don't know what was going on, but it was really interesting to look at it. And it took, like, an hour for, like, people, it was just, like, lines of people walking with their animals and their fruits and vegetables, like throughout the village. What are the typical Canary Island clothes? They have like a, what are you called? Like the canarian costume, like the national costume. So it's like for the women, it's like a dress and an apron. And usually they put this, what do you call it, like the thing on their head to cover their hair?

Like a fishnet stacking? Yeah, I'm not sure what it's called. Like a handkerchief that they put on their head. A handkerchief, okay. Yeah. I don't know why Fishnet Stacking came into my mind, but I guess I'm thinking just like a restaurant. Anyway. Yeah, they will be like really colorful, like red and yellow and like different colors.

And they dress up every occasion they get. And then there's the carnival that's in like February March. And I'm told the one in the South is just the best because it's like people dress up in like costumes, like actual costumes. They prepare for it for months ahead. And groups of people are like really synchronizing what they're going to dress up in,

the locals. And then they go to the South or in Las Palmas, but in the South they also have like a drag competition because the gay culture in the South is like really good and rich. So the gay culture really participates in the carnival every year. So they have

like a drag like pageant and stuff. So that's really cool. So this is for like carnival around like Lent. So do they have like a big parade and stuff then? Yeah, but the parade was, is in the summer, I think. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a different thing.

But then like if you want to go to a concert, there's a lot of concerts in the South and in Las Palmas. Theater I haven't been to yet. There's a really cool outdoor movie theater in Mas Palomas. that's open all year round and you can go and see movies in English because here they dub the movies. So if you go to any ordinary movie theater,

the movies are going to be in Spanish. But in the south, in the moonlight cinema, it's like an outdoor thing. You get your sofa. You can order like service. You can buy like wine and like popcorn or even food. And then you just sit and watch a movie like outdoors.

It's really nice. All right, that's perfect. That's like my favorite summer thing to do in most places because summer's the only time you can do it, but there you can do it all year long. That's so cool. Yeah. Where do you like to hang out at night other than perhaps the movie, outdoor movie? When I go and meet my friends, we would either go to Melanera's Beach in the South, which is sort of like the high-end part of the South, where there's a lot of nice restaurants and bars, and there are like clubs there and the moonlight cinema. Or I would go to Las Palmas and we will just go like to Las Canteras and walk around there.

Or we would go to the area around Mesa and Lopez, which is sort of the center, sit down at a restaurant, you know, have tapas, wine. We kind of do the same thing every time as tapas and wine. That's all you need. That's all you need. Potatos bravas and wine. That's, I'm all set. So how much do we need to tip at a restaurant? or a bar or like a taxi?

Locals here, they would tip maybe 10%. Okay. Usually it's kind of just like whatever you have loose on you, like whatever you have left. I mean, some people here are like, no, I don't tip others, do tip. I always do like 10 or 15%. Final question. What neighborhood should we stay in

if we're coming to visit your island? It depends on what people. are looking for. If you want to be at the beach, and then I would say Mas Palomas. Like any place around Mas Palomas, if that's what you're looking for.

If you want to do like a city, a weekend in the city, I would say Las Canteras in Las Palmas. Maybe if you want to be in the old town, Tiana or Begetta, a really nice neighborhood. is there like the historical part of the city? If you want to stay in the mountains, I would hire a car and I would stay in Tejeda.

Balsequillo, where I live, is actually a really nice spot to stay because it's 20 minutes away from the airport. It's 45 minutes away from the south. It's half an hour from Las Palmas. It's like 45 minutes to go up, like really high up to the mountains. So it's really central. So yeah, like I say, it depends on what you're looking for and what you want to do. So many nice places. Are there any places to avoid?

Unfortunately, there is something in British culture called Stagdews in America. It's Bachelor Party. But they, like that culture is those, these guys will like fly to another country where it's cheaper than England and then just drink themselves silly and act like idiots. Do you have that problem? in the Canary Islands and what spot should we avoid if we don't want to be part of that scene? There is one place that I avoid

on the island and that's the south. The whole south? Not the whole, but like the English beach, Playa del Inglis, I avoid as much as I can. Sometimes I need to go there and it's actually I was there yesterday

because my hairdresser is there and it was nice. I was like, oh, you know, I was overdressed because up here in the mountains, it's cold and then I went there and I was like burning up. But that's where you get that type of culture. There's also just a lot of families that are just there and they're not making any noise and they're just enjoying the sun, you know.

But if you're not into that whole scene, I would not stay on the English beach. That's where you would find that scene. Okay. All right. Well, you've given me some great ideas. I might be there at the beginning of December with my friend Tony catching some sun. So I would definitely love to meet you in person if I end up there. Yeah, definitely.

Be in touch. And I have a car so I can drive down and we'll just meet outside of the English beach. If you're staying there. Perfect. You can show me a much better beach. Yeah. I could even take you like if, depending on how long you're staying, I could just come pick you guys up and like take you to my favorite spots on the island.

Oh my God. That would be a dream. All right. Well, let's definitely keep in touch. Well, thank you so much, Thorne, for this great advice. Is there anything else you wanted to mention before we wrap up? Actually, yeah, one museum that I forgot to mention earlier, which is in Artenara close to the cave museum in the same town.

It's called Centro de Interpretation, and it's sort of like a center that revolves around telling the story of the Aboriginal people that lived here before the Spanish colonized, the islands, where you can learn about their culture, their religion. It was like a matriarchical society. They were really into astrology and the stars. So it's a really interesting museum to go to. It's not very interactive, but like for history buffs is the perfect spot to go. Oh, that sounds so interesting. And actually the Canary Islands remind me a lot of Columbia, to be honest with you, with everything that you're saying, when it comes to just having such different climates in such a small space and the history.

And so, all right, you've got me really excited to visit the Canary Islands. Thank you so much, Thorn. Thank you. All right. So what do you think? Are the Canary Islands on your travel list? Have you been? I would love to get some good vegetarian recommendations for Grand Canaria or anywhere in Spain, really.

And one more thing. Did you listen to the episode on Iceland? And if you did, then you would remember that Icelandic kids are generally named after their father. So my guest today, Thorne, her surname or last name, we say surname here in England. Her surname is Jan's daughter, John's daughter. And I find it so interesting. So she had a baby, as you heard in this episode, with her Cuban husband.

And traditionally in Spain, the baby will get two last names. the mom's last name and then the dad's last name, which I think is really cool that they blend their names like that. But Thorne thought, okay, well, I can't name my baby Jan's daughter because her dad is not Jan. Do you see what I'm saying? They thought that would be weird. And so they decided to just give the baby the surname of Thorne's husband. Anyway, I thought that was an interesting little cultural. fact that you might be interested in hearing about. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are taking some time to rest and connect with the

people around you. That is all for now. Thank you so much for listening and have a beautiful week wherever you are. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarahmicatel.com slash blank no more.