Very warm and quite windy again this morning. Achilles tendons are both playing up a bit…
Fuerteventura
Corralejo Morning 5k
I thought I’d head out at a reasonable time; it was still very warm indeed…
Bahiazul 5.2k
Out early before it hit the thirties. Quick start; maybe too quick.
Ali Brooks and Miss Pixie
Well I’ve been very slow to update: I’ve missed out on a shoot with Ali Brooks at a top hotel in Wiltshire, a shoot with Miss Pixie and Ali Brooks at my place and a photoshoot holiday on Fuerteventura with Ali Brooks.
Results can be seen in the Art Nude & Lingerie, Artistic, Fashion and Headshots galleries.
And Miss Pixie was nice enough to leave me a lovely reference:
I had a lovely little evening shoot with Richard and Ali Brooks while I was on shooting trip in London.
We worked on some art nude and sexy lingerie images. Richard had some amazing stockings and shoes for me to dress up inÂ
I would highly recommend working with Richard and I’m looking forward to working with him and Ali Brooks again soon for a longer shoot as we had a little too much fun gossiping heheÂ
Thanks for a lovely evening!
Ali Brooks in Fuerteventura
A planned week away in Fuerteventura up in the North of the island meant only one thing: taking Ali Brooks along for a working holiday.
And so it was that we shot from our luxury villa, did a bit of “urbex” in an an abandoned, half-built hotel complex and of course the marvelous sand dunes.
The results can be seen in the Art Nude gallery.
Protected: I Liked It, So I Put A Ring On It…
The Trouble With Fuerteventura…
…is that it gets to you. To the extent that yes, I was back there yet again for a week over Easter with my grown-up kids.
I’d hired my usual premier garden villa at Bahiazul – a three bedroomed villa with its own heated pool, rooftop BBQ area and heated jacuzzi under the stars – for the week and so we set off after an overnight stay at Gatwick.
On arrival on the Wednesday, we checked in and I changed and headed off for a daily 5km run. I did that every day, apart from the second day – the Thursday – when I apparently broke my toe! After that, 600mg Ibuprofen tablets were my friend.
Each day was more or less the same: a large breakfast in the restaurant; a morning around the pool; a midday 5k; afternoon around the pool or the beach; evening at one of the nicer restaurants or my favourite tapas bar (most of them in Corralejo now know me and greet me as an old friend); and then the night at the awesome Rock Island Bar owned by the lovely Mandy and Gary listening to the live acoustic rock being played by mates.
Good times!
Of course, the lovely sun and warmth made such a difference especially given the snow we’d left behind in London.
Tapas … Part One
Tapas … Part Two
Deep Fried Goats’ Cheese Starter
One of the slugs tried to escape…
Looks nice eh?
Shaun Dabrai at RiB
Light Dinner
Desserts
Standard Sky
Put My Foot In It
Tapas!
Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay
Sadly, it was soon back to London, dropping Amy off at Egham and then, the following day, Jack at Stratford for his train up to Norfolk before greeting GT with a home-cooked vegetarian chilli as we were off to Paris the next day…
Hola Fuerteventura!
So here I am in Fuerteventura yet again: it feels like coming home these days.
It all started this time two years ago when I came out here alone having split from someone I cared deeply about but who still felt the need to cheat on me for months and then swear on her daughters’ lives that nothing was going on. We were due to spend a week out here in a lovely villa so I went anyway despite her efforts to cancel the booking out of spite (despite us talking when I was at the airport and me saying she could come out to talk).
And I met a number of really good, genuine people who remain firm friends to this day.
I’ve since been back here on my own again – this time at the fab Gran Hotel Atlantis Bahia Real – and I’ve brought my kids out here another time as well as GT on one visit.
The place and the people are so chilled it’s good for the soul to kick back, breathe a deep sigh and relax.
Maybe I should buy a place out here? The received wisdom is that this place gets to you so you need to leave from time to time or go mad. I can see that. But in the meantime, I’m going to eat well, sleep well and drink well with my kind of people.
Cheers!
Dear Lazyweb…
… I need some help. BlueCo would quite like me to take next week off using my carried-over holidays and frankly, I could do with a break.
Now I would prefer to go to Corralejo yet again and hang out with my friends at the Rock Island Bar but I really want to fly out on Monday and back again on the Friday and sadly flights aren’t looking hopeful for that sort of itinerary.
So I think a city break might be better with flights from London City Airport – a short ride away and a quick and efficient terminal – to either Amsterdam or Barcelona. A nice bit of luxury for my stay, so 5* hotels for a bit of pampering as it won’t add too much to the overall cost.
With Amsterdam, it’s probably the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky as it’s central for all the museums, canals and sights and I’ve heard of it, but where to stay in Barcelona? TimeOut has some suggestions, but which one would be best for a chic, luxurious and cool base? Preferably close to some great restaurants, bars and cafés.
Recommendations?
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