Win a Villa Holiday in Lanzarote

March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

With Lanzarote Guidebook & Lanzarote1

by Nick Ball

The Spring edition of Lanzarote Guidebook, the in-depth island information guide, is out now, and to mark the occasion readers can enter a competition to win a villa holiday on Lanzarote, worth over £650, courtesy of the island holiday specialists www.lanzarote1.com.

Guidebook Cover - Spring 2010
©LanzaroteGuidebook.com

Lanzarote Guidebook is the comprehensive guide to the popular holiday island of Lanzarote. The small Canary Island that is a hot favourite with British and Irish tourists who last year collectively accounted for over 50% of the islands 1.37 million foreign tourist arrivals.

The Spring 2010 edition is packed with all of the information tourists need to make the most of their holiday on the Island of Fire, encompassing in depth guides to all of Lanzarote’s resorts, beaches, museums and attractions, island maps, an introduction to the work of the famous local artist César Manrique and a handy Essentials section covering all of the holiday basics, such as shop and bank opening hours and emergency telephone numbers.

Copies of the Spring edition of Lanzarote Guidebook can be downloaded free of charge by visiting www.lanzaroteguidebook.com. Whilst a further 10,000 copies are distributed direct to holidaymakers on the island entirely free of charge via car hire companies, private villas, hotels and official tourist information offices.

This indispensable, 96 page guide is published quarterly so all of the information is up to date and is researched and written by locals, so providing tourists with the inside track to the real Lanzarote. Featuring some fantastic pictures of the islands dramatic scenery courtesy of photographer James Mitchell.

The Spring edition also offers readers the chance to win a fantastic holiday at Villa Mirador in Matagorda – a prize provided by the island villa specialists Lanzarote1, who offer a range of top quality rental properties in key locations across the island, such as the most popular resort of Puerto del Carmen.

The competition can also be entered online by visiting the Lanzarote Guidebook website where visitors will find a wealth of information about the island, interactive maps, the latest weather reports and a wide array of flight, car hire and accommodation options.

Please visit the Lanzarote Guidebook website for the competition terms and conditions.

Filed Under: Books, Lanzarote Tagged With: , , ,

Introducing the “KinderCone”

March 13, 2010 By 2 Comments

When my daughter started school in Germany, she was given a traditional Schultüte – a cone which is filled with useful things like stationary and books, and also some less useful things like sweets.

Time seems to have flown by since then, as that was 200 days ago!

When I first blogged about this particular tradition, I received a comment from a company called KinderCone in the USA that sells the same type of cones there – bringing the tradition to America.

Renewing the contact a few weeks ago, I found out that the cone is not just delivered empty (as in Germany), but also contains amongst other things a KinderJournal called “Me, Myself and First Grade”, and Vivian from KinderCone was kind enough to send my a copy to look at.

"Me, Myself and First Grade" Cover (Courtesy of www.kindercone.com)“Me, Myself and First Grade” is a journal of a child’s first year at school.  It starts by introducing Karli the Cat, who accompanies the child through the book.

Each page contains an activity for the child to do, which in turn documents that precious first year.  The text is kept simple, and there is a mixture of spaces to write in, boxes to tick and pictures to draw.  I particularly liked the idea of the space for writing your name – one box for the beginning of the year, and one for the end so that you can compare how the handwriting has improved.

So not only does a child practise writing in a book that will be special for the rest of their life, but it also gets them to think about their time at school: what are they good at?  What do they like best at school?  Everything that they read and do is positive.  There is even a special page to celebrate the first 100 days of school.

It’s the sort of book that I would like to see available in Germany, except that I’ve never seen anything like it here.

A word of warning to British readers: the book is obviously written for the US market, so expect words like “grade”, “recess” and “candy” (for school year, break and sweets).  I would also point out that the story about how the Schultüte came into being is not something that everyone in Germany agrees on, and the book – understandably – only gives one version of the story.

But all of that probably doesn’t matter to the children.  For them it is a nice surprise on their first day of school, and it’s nice to see a local tradition spreading to another part of the World.

Remember, the book is included when you buy a KinderCone, so if you want one you’ll have to go to the KinderCone shop.

Filed Under: Books, School Tagged With: , ,

Mike’s “Living in Lanzarote”

September 27, 2009 By 6 Comments
Living in Lanzarote Cover

This weekend I have been reading “Living in Lanzarote” – a book from Mike Cliffe-Jones who not only lives on the island, but also blogs about it on his site Mike’s Life.

His book starts with a family holiday to Lanzarote, and how the idea to move there permanently developed – something many ex-pats on the island will no doubt be familiar with.  From this point on it is a tale of making plans, selling up in the UK, and starting a new life in the sun.

He continues by describing how he and his wife Julie went about finding somewhere to live, buying a car and starting their own business.  Indeed, much of the second half of the book revolves around the business and how much it developed and adapted over several years, dropping some ideas and picking up new ones – something I can certainly relate to!

Having watched Mike’s videos before reading the book was definitely an advantage for me, as it I could visualise him telling me his story in his own words.  Being reasonably familiar with Lanzarote also helped, as the places he talks about were not completely unknown to me.

I think that if you are considering following in Mike’s footsteps and moving to Lanzarote then the book is definitely worth reading, but be aware that it will not replace a lot of other research necessary, as it is a personal account of the family’s experiences, and not a reference book on “how to do it” or of the Lanzarotean way of life.  If, having read the book, you are still convinced that your future lies in the Canary Islands, you might want to consider applying for the ¡Estupendo! Relocation Pack – another of Mike’s productions.

To buy your copy of “Living in Lanzarote”, visit Amazon.co.uk.

Filed Under: Books, Lanzarote Tagged With: , ,

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