Island Lock Down, Hotel Lock Up.

I wasn't planning on making this blog about Gran Canaria because I have so many of them with a total of about 1 million photos.  By now, you must all have a very good idea about what Gran Canaria looks like.  But then, my good friends Lars and Nasko said they could hardly wait to see my new blog.

So now the pressure is on.  I thought to myself - another Gran Canaria blog?  How could I possibly do one more Canarian blog and keep you interested.  I have so much to bitch about.  But I need to stop the bitching and try to find a positive way to tell a this story.

Also, I can't really bitch, whine and cry about poor me, as I have come to learn that while I was on my vacation drinking Apersol with Champaign, my good and supportive friend, John, was brought to the Emergency Room in the hospital for something much worse than what we had to deal with.  

So thanks John, for making my situation look like child's play.  After I came home from GC, I've come to lean the seriousness of Johns condition.   And because of this, I want to dedicate this blog to John and his continuing recovery and rehabilitation.

If you have been following my blog, then you have already met John back in my November 2014 blog. <-- click there.

As most of you know by now, I have serious and permanent damage to my hearing due to all the stress I have been under during the last several years of dealing with Jens' parkinson's.  (Notice how I suddenly turned the story back to poor Eddie)  (my auto correct insists that parkinson's is spelled with a capital P but I won't give that damn disease the dignity).

Stress, hearing aids, appointments, shrinks, insurance forms, employment meeting, senior healthcare facilities, etc. etc. etc.; it was all too much. Waaaay too much. The weather was horrible for months and months here in DK and I was depressed from everything.  I needed a break.  I wanted and needed to go south and get some sun.

Jens' niece and her family went to very sunny Japan for Christmas. My work colleague, Brian and his family went to sunny Tenerife to celebrate the New Year.  My very friendly neighbors, Niels and Jette on the first floor went to Malaga for a sunny break during the boring Danish winter weather, Jesper and Gitte, my very supportive neighbors in the next stairwell on the first floor, saved my life (really) by letting me use their apartment guest room to sleep in for a whole month while they were getting sun and breathing smoke in Australia, and my very supportive neighbors on the ground floor, Lotte and Carsten, also went to sunny Tenerife in late February. Oh how I wanted to go to Spain for a few days to get some warmth and sunshine.

I didn't want to go too far away for too long, so Malaga would have been a smart choice.  But I didn't didn't want to go alone and besides that, I didn't have any more vacation time to take off anyway.  Plus, if I did have vacation time, I would have spent it going to California as I haven't seen my parents since February 2019 - a whole year ago and I am missing them very much.

In early February, Lars & Nasko said that they found a great deal to Gran Canaria and asked if I would I be interested in joining them.  They have asked me again and again and again and again if I would like to join them on the last several travels that they have been on.  I was surprised that they asked me yet again.  I always have the same excuse: "Of course I am interested in going, but because of Jens' parkinson's, it will have to be some other time."  "Plus," I said, "I don't have any vacation time to take off."

Unfortunately, we have lost one of our biggest customers at our cargo warehouse where I work in the airport. Our work load was becoming too little for the many cargo handlers.  I started to think that I should actually go in and talk with the Vacation Planner to see just how many, if any, vacation days I have left to go.  I was very sure that I didn't have any.  And I did something very unusual this year, I converted one week of vacation into retirement pay.  At least that is what the Vacation Planner told me.  I just couldn't believe that I would do that.  Why in the world would I give up free time when I so desperately need it?  But then she pulled out the paper with my request and my signature on it showing that, that was exactly what I did - I gave up a vacation week for retirement pay.

I guess I did that because Jens and I practically never go on vacation anymore and it was getting close to the end of vacation year.  In the past several years, it has always been difficult to take vacation in the month of April which is the last month of the vacation year.  However, even though I gave up a week's worth of vacation, to my surprise, I still had a few days left.  That's what the Vacation Planner told me.

Our work schedule is so that every 16th week, we get a free week.  It's not vacation, it's more like a very long weekend.  I was/am scheduled to have my next free week right around the corner, from March 30 to April 5.  When I found out that I still had 4 days more to go, I asked the Vacation Planner what my chances are for taking off the week after my free week.  It's the month of April so I knew my chances were slim, plus it's Easter week - which I was not yet aware of when I aksed - and most young guys there, want Easter off, to be with their families.  I was sure the Planner was going to say no way.  But without even skipping a beat, she said - sure, no problem.  So, it was one free week + 4 vacation days + 4 "weekend" days + 1 day without pay = 16 days off.  Wow!  What luck!  Now I was able to plan a nice travel to California and see my family and friends and get some sun. I was so thrilled about that.

I took a big gamble and asked the Vacation Planner the next big question, "What are my chances of getting off March 11 - 18?"  "Sure", she said, "but you won't get pay for 3 of the days."  I just couldn't believe it.  So lucky.  Usually we have to asks weeks, if not months, in advance to be sure to get time off.  But it is only possible because we lost that big customer and me taking off so much time without pay is actually a big help for the company.

I was so excited to now have the time off to go not only to California but also to Gran Canaria with my friends Lars and Nasko.  I would rather have gone to the south of Spain for just 5 days in the month of February but it would mean going alone and I am not stable enough yet to be alone for so long.  The south of Spain would be a much shorter trip and Jens wouldn't have to stay so long in the senior healthcare facility.   But since I didn't want to travel alone, I decided to go ahead and make the arrangements with Lars and Nasko.

Then all hell broke out in Tenerife.  As I mentioned earlier at the start of this story; my neighbors Lotte and Carsten on the ground-floor were in Tenerife, where the island got socked in with a sand storm for several days and then on the news we just couldn't believe that the corona virus was breaking out and hitting hard.  The island was shut down due to not only a major sand storm but the corona virus as well.  Lotte told me that they were stuck in their hotel room for 4 days because of the amount of sand in the air.  They only new about the problems with the viruses, by being on-line watching the Danish news, which was reporting about the virus and the sand storm.  I felt so badly for my neighbors who have been so excited about going there for their first time and then they had to deal with all of this.

Time went by.  The sand storm ended.  And no more news about the virus on Tenerife.  It was the only island of the 7 Canary Islands mentioned.   The next thing we know, the virus was hitting hard in northern Italy. Lucky for us, we were going to Gran Canaria and not Tenerife nor Italy.

On Wednesday, Lars & Nasko and I met at the check-in machine in the check-in hall at terminal 2 in the morning.  We checked-in, dropped off our luggage, made our way through security, and found something to eat for breakfast.  We were in good time.  No rushing.  We made our way to gate A15 and the next thing we know, 5½ hours later we land in sunny Gran Canaria.

We departed from the flight, grabbed our bags, picked up our rental car and drove out to our hotel in Costa Meloneras.  We checked-in, paid the €16 a day parking fee, ouch, made our way to our rooms, un-packed, put on our strapless G-strings and found a chaise lounge under the sun, under a parasol and alongside one of the 5 swimming pools that the hotel has to offer.  Huge place and you have seen many pictures of it before, here on my blog.  So no need to re-hash the hotel and waste your time with more hotel photos.  But the following photo shows the corner of one pool that we spent most or our time at.

Of the 5 pools at the hotel, 1 is a gigantic infinity pool but it wasn't overflowing because they built a bar with a stage on the back side of the fall and it makes too much noise for the performers to compete with the cascading sound of the waterfall.  And one is this river-like pool that attracted our attention and where we laid out most of the time.  I tried something new and filmed it while swimming the full length of the pool.  I made a 10 minute swim into a few seconds.

This was Lars & Nasko's 2nd time here on Gran Canaria.  Only Nasko has a drivers licens but they are not big into driving, so they have only seen the hotel where they stayed last time (which is the hotel across the street from where we stayed this time and it's now my 3rd time here in this hotel) and on their last visit they just took public transportation to the capital city, Las Palmas.   So, they were thrilled when I said I wanted to rent a car and show them the island.  I know it better than most.  I had planned for 3 driving tours that I want to take the guys on;
1) a full day trip over the middle of the island.
2) a ½ day trip to Porto Mogan, a beautiful village with canals on the south-eastern most point of the island.
3) a ½ day trip to the Guayadeque Ravine, a beautiful deep gorge etched into the surface of the earth between the center of the island and surprisingly, the airport.

I asked the guys how they wanted to do it.  I suggested we take the first full day by the pool, and on day 2 we do a car trip then relax by the pool on day 3, a drive on day 4, pool on day 5, drive on day 6, pool again on day 7.  We all agreed.  I let them choose if they wanted a ½ day first or the full day first.   They suggested to do the full day trip over the island as the first trip.

The first stop is a look out point over the southern coast line.  It was kind of hazy but only 15 minutes away from the hotel.  I figured we can always take a quick drive in our fancy rental car and come up again when the sky is totally clear.

When we started out, it was only slightly hazy.  I was crossing my fingers that it would dissipate.  What we didn't know, is that this was going to be the most cloudy and cold day of the entire 8-day vacation.  But the guys loved it.

Next stop - Fataga, a cute little village where several artist live and bike riders take a break from a wild steep mountain climb.

Eventually Lars and Nasko were getting motion sickness from all the windy mountain curves and my driving with gassing up on the stretches and braking on the curves, wasn't helping with the motion sickness.  I was not even aware that I was driving like that until Lars practically threw up in my lap.  We needed to stop and stretch our legs and eat to combat the motion sickness.  We ended up at lunch time at one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants.  Literally a hole in the wall.  And by wall, I mean a mountain wall.  To get to the restaurant, you have to walk through the mountain, When you come out through the other side, you are high up on a mountain ledge where there sits a delicious restaurant called La Cilla.

I ordered grilled peppers, Nasko ordered traditional Canarian papas con mojo and Lars ordered ash.

After lunch we continued on our tour. The next stop is Cruz de Tejeda, one of the highest points on the island.  It is in this area where it changes from semi-desert to semi-tropic.  Little by little, the brown hues turn green.

From this point on, the rest of the tour is down hill.  Our next destination was the very cute and quaint town called Teror.  Many of the buildings have a fancy balcony made of pinewood.  But shortly before we arrived, my phone started to ring while I was driving.  I pulled over to answer it.  It was Gitte, Jens' sister.  She told us that the Prime Minister of Denmark was on tv and recommended that because of the virus, all Danes abroad ought to get home ASAP.   Denmark was closing its borders.  We hung up and continued to drive to Teror.  We were very confused by the call.  What did this mean?  How can we just come home?  What is happening?  

We couldn't just turn around.  We were in the middle of the island and we had to continue forward.  We would stop at Teror, get out of the car, stretch our legs, take a look at the village, grab a coffee and then cut the trip short and head back to the hotel.  Our GPS lead us the way back.  There was so much more I wanted to show the guys but we felt confused and that getting back to the hotel would be the safest thing to do.  If you google Teror, Gran Canaria, you will get some beautiful, colorful photo.  But it was cold and gray so this is what I have.

This was one of the two shops that were open.

By now the cloud coverage was heavy and the temps were so cool that we went back to the car to put on our long pants, Lars and Nasko in their jackets and me wishing that I had brought something heavier than my winter sweater.   It was Friday afternoon.  The village should be hopping with natives and tourists, thumping with Spanish music coming from shops and bars.  But the village was totally dead.  All the shops except for 2, were open.  2 side-by-side cafés were open.  4 people at one, none at the other.  We went to the other.  Ordered a coffee and began to talk among us about the virus situation and what it means for us.  It was only our full 2nd day on the island - how would we get home now?

I don't remember exactly now all that happened and in which order it happened.  What I do remember is that it was all too strange.  Unreal.  Surreal.  Scary.

Upon returning to the hotel, we pulled into the parking lot and went to our rooms to get ready for dinner.  The guys were always waiting for me.  I always needed just 5 more minutes.  I have fewer teeth and less hair but it always takes me longer to get ready.  Jens had called.  I don't remember exactly what we talked about but it was about the Prime Minister's speech and about coming home.  I met Lars and Nasko at the hotel dining room.  Antiseptic hand soap dispensers were put out.  Hey - what's going on here?  It was all too weird.

There were 2 dining areas to choose from. Both have indoor / outdoor dining.  I really didn't want hotel food but this is what the guys ordered so of course I had to order it too.  I was going there with Lars and Nasko so that I didn't have to eat alone.  Later during the week I would become so thankful for the half board arrangement as eventually all the restaurants, cafés and bars would close.

The next day we spent out at the pool as was our plan.  I told the guys that maybe I would walk into town later on.  But I had such a good time with Lars and Nasko, that I just hung out with them the whole day.  We talked about the virus situation as more news was starting to pour in.  Later that day Lars and Nasko got a message from their travel agent.  It read, "We are doing everything we can to get you home as soon and as safely as possible."  I didn't book with their travel agent. I booked directly with the airline for my flight and googled searched a travel agent in Germany for a deal at the same hotel.  And I found a great deal - for booking so late.  Not right away, but eventually I received a long e-mail in German and then much later a text message from the airline that was half advertisement and half notice that they are doing everything they can to get me back home as safe and as quick as possible.  Also - "don't hesitate to rebook for an earlier return flight home at twice the price."

Within the next few days, Lars and Nasko received several messages from their agent, reassuring them that there was nothing to worry about.  I heard nothing from the airline.  I was nervous.  I went back to read the text message from the airline.  Very clearly it says that they will keep me up to date.  I kept waiting for a message that never came.

Later that night there was a message slipped in under the hotel room door saying that the roads were close or something like that.  The following day after breakfast we planned to lay out by the pool but the chaise lounges and umbrellas were stacked into piles and tied off with red and white plastic band.  The pool area was closed.

So, we decided to take a walk along the beach promenade instead of laying out.  I told the guys that we could take that long walk that I usually take and I could show them more of the city and some of the coastal sites.  We walked through the hotel garden towards that back exit which leads to the beach promenade.  But when we got there, to our surprise, the gate was locked.

So we turned around and walked to the front door via the lobby.  When we got to the front of the hotel, there was a guard who told us, you can't leave the hotel except to go to the market or the pharmacy.  Wow, Lars was fast and he said to the guard, "Funny you should mention that, we are actually on our way to pick up some medicine from the pharmacy." Which was a total lie.  The guard said, "Ok, but it takes only one person to pick up medicine.  One of you can go and the other 2 must stay here."

We just couldn't believe it.  So we turned around with towels in hand and walked to the garden.  Then it made sense why there were so many people just sitting around the lobby fountains.

All we could do was look for a spot on the hotel garden lawn.  We laid out for a while, soaking up the sun.  What were we going to do now for the rest of the vacation and with an expensive rental car in an expensive parking lot?

We watched more Danish news on Lars' iPad.  We got word that airlines were starting to close down, borders starting to lock up.  Get home now was the message.  But it was always with fine print: "according to your travel agent / airline."    So that was what we went by: the messages from the travel agent / airline.   I didn't get messages, as I was expecting from the airline and as they told me, at the beginning of the week.  But I felt somewhat safe as long as Lars and Nasko kept getting messages saying: we are working on it.  We were, after all, on the same flight.

I ended up snapping pictures of the empty beach promenade and the restaurants that are always packed with tourist.  Here in the photos you can see that the chairs are even stacked away.

We were scheduled to fly back at 14:20 on the 18th.   At 14:00 on the 17th, I went into a major panic.  Why?  Because the messages that I have been waiting to hear from the airlines, finally came in and it said:  Dear Mr. Edward Moris, Welcome on board flight D83123, March 17th., 14:20.   WTF !!!!! Did the airline mess up my flight?  Did they reschedule my flight without telling me?  Did I funk up and click onto the 17th instead of the 18th when I made my reservation?   It wouldn't have been the first time I've pulled that number.  No! No! Nooooo!  It can't be.  I quickly went through my mails and receipts.  Yes, I booked for the 18th.  Why is the airline welcoming me on board now?  Lars! Lars! I panicked.  Take a look at the message I got.  There would be no way I could get to the airport in 20 minutes.  First of all, even if I could, the gate closes in 10 minutes.  Second, I would have to pack, return the car, stand in line to check-in and then security check.  It wasn't even remotely possible.  I knew that I couldn't call the airline because all though the week, every time I looked at their website it said, "We are experiencing a lot of phone calls at the moment.  If your flight is within the next 3 days and you want to rebook, then you can do so by going to our website.  But if your flight is in 4 days or more, please call at another time."  So, I knew that if I was going to try to call them and ask if they had switched my flight home to today, by the time they answer my call, the flight would be already over France or Germany.

"Take it easy," Lars said and then continued, "Just open up the app and check your reservation.  "App? App?  What app?"  If I had any hair to fall out, it would have.  "Don't you have the airline app on your phone," Lars asked me.  "I didn't even know there was an app," I said to Lars.  Ok he said very calmly.  Go to your app store and download the airline app and then check your reservation on the app.  So I down loaded the app, opened it, typed in my name and reservation number.  OMG, I am sweating as I re-tell this story.  I pressed the enter button and then......I sighed a deep breath of relief as the info that came onto my telephone screen said:  Moris, flight D-bla bla bla, March 18.   Oh thank god.  I could almost kiss Lars for saving my mind - but you know - keep a safe distance.

But then my brain got active again - what if the flight was changed but it was incorrect in the app?   Then I caught myself and told myself that I was just going to have to trust the app - there was nothing more that I could do.  However, I did look onto the airline webpage just to see if there was an open seat on the flight in case they tell me at the check-in counter that I should have been on the flight yesterday.

Eventually we got bored and climbed one of the several towers to snap photos and shoot videos.

The lighthouse is the southern most point.  It is here where Christopher Columbus hung a right to discover the back door to India but found America instead.

Still bored, we took even more pix of each other hanging off the balcony.

My room was right next to theirs.

and this is the view from my room......

  

And these are the fountains that welcomes guest.  I shot this when it was still virus free.

Well as it turned out, all the flights were full with one exception.  There was the possibility that I could get a seat on the flight with a stop in London, making the 5½ hour flight into 15 hours and it only cost just over double up one-way for what I over paid round trip already.  And not only that but it was the only flight that had space.

While trump was in denial, claiming that the virus would just miraculously disappear when it gets warmer, the Danish queen got on tv to announced the seriousness of the situation.  She's never on tv except in documentaries and then live on Dec 31st, to wish all the Danes a happy new year.   So, I knew then the situation had gotten so bad and so out of hand that I was very nervous if we really were going to be able to get back home.

Eventually the front desk was roped off.

Updated info could be found here - good luck trying to reach it.

 

The bar was roped off too but waiters were abound to come take your money

 from you sitting at your chair/sofa.

Another message that was slipped in under the door.  There were a total of 3 messages.  Each one expressing less and less opportunity.

Eventually laying on the lawn would break our backs.  There was nothing to do and we really were ready to go home.  All we could do was sit around at the lobby and order cocktails.  While that may sound exciting, it sure got old fast.  We just wanted to get home.  

 I ordered 2 house specials - it was so awful, Lars ended up sending them back.

Twice earlier in the week and earlier in this blog, I ordered 3 Apersol cocktails.  Did you notice that I misspelled it? On the first day, the waiter asked me, "What would you like in it?"  "I don't know," I said, "What do most people order?"  He rattled off something but all I could under stand was "Piña Colada."  So I said, "Ok, Piña Colada"  He whipped up 3 Apersol cocktails and I said, "Ok, Muchas Grassy Ass" and I started to walk away.   "Uno momento, Senior, don't forget your Piña Colada."  We were obviously both confused.  I ordered 3 cocktails but got 4 - and yes, I paid for 4.  The following day, I ordered again, 3 Apersol.  The woman waitress said, ¿Que?  I repeated with 3 fingers in the air so that I didn't have to pay for a 4th cocktail.  Again, ¿Que? She didn't have a clue as to what I was asking for.  Lars, standing next to me, corrected me and I learned it's not Apersol, it's Aperol.  Well excuse me!  It's a 4 star hotel with solament international guest - each with their own accent.  For goodness sakes, figure it out!  It's not like I was asking for Gin, Vodka or Rum.  And besides, it should be called Apersol because sun in Spanish is sol and this is the cocktail that one always orders in sunny conditions.  

What's that you say?  Aperol is not Spanish?  ¡Correcto!  It is an Italian bitter apéritif and sun in Italian is solo - so Apersol or Apersolo is what it should be called. 

There was absolutely nothing to do on our last 2 days that we just ended up trying out different chairs and sofas.  One day the fountains were on and my ears couldn't take it.  This is our last full day and the fountains were turned off.

There came messages on Lars and Nasko's phone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  "Why didn't I get those messages," I asked.  "Are you on the Danish Travel List", Lars asked me.  What list?  It turns out there is a list that you apply to when you travel so that the Danish government can contact you in case of an emergency.  Lars showed me how to do that too.   Then the messages started to pour in.  They basically said the same thing:  Get home now.

Our 2nd to the last dinner at the out door dinning area.

It would be the next night that they passed out masks to put over our face.

It was so creepy and sad.

Alright - going to have to wrap up this story now.  The 18th came around. I had already packed my suitcase with my selection of day-glo g-strings with matching sandals and beach bags the day before.  I was very ready to go home.  We went down to eat breakfast and then we checked out, packed up the car and drove out to the airport.  Hardly a car on the road and not a soul on the sidewalks.

Little by little the hotel was slowly emptying out.  Here you can see at our last breakfast, there are more empty tables than filled.  Normally every table would be filled with happy guests and with even more guest standing in line to get a table.
It's a vid and there is an arrow to click play if you didn't notice it.

We delivered the car and walked to the check-in hall.  We just could not believe the hundreds of thousands of people that were trying to check-in.  Luckily the lines moved fairly fast.  Security was pretty fast too.  I think the airport staff wanted to move the people out as soon as they could.  Once we got past security, we were surprised to see that every single shop was closed.  We needed food and we needed water and the only way to get it was to stand in a long line for the vending machines.  The machines moved very slowly and you could only buy one item at a time.  I pushed A17 and then I pushed A17 again and then again A17 for 3 bottles of water.  Then C16 for chips and C23 for crackers and so on.  One machine for water and soda and one machine for water and snacks.  There were several vending machines throughout the airport and all of them had lines.   

While we tried to find the stairs to the out-door roof-top smoking area, we passed the one and only shop that was open. Lars went for a smoke and Nasko trailed with.  While they were upstairs, I waited in line.  It was a very long line to get into the shop and they were letting in only 1 person at a time with a total of 10 shoppers in the boutique.  When one came out, one could go in.  It took a very long time and we could only accomplish the waiting time because our gate just happened to be, and luckily, the closest gate to the shop.  I bought 3 sandwiches, water and sodas, chips and gum.  When I came out, the gate was open and people were already in line with passports open and boarding pass ready to be scanned.  

We made it.  We got on the bus and the bus drove to the plane and then we got out of the bus and found our way to our seats.  We buckled up and rolled out to the take-off lane.  Just then the captain came on the speaker and said that we were going to have to wait 40 minutes because of air traffic.

Eventually we were airborne.  Then the flight crew came by, selling water.  It seems like it ought to have been giving out for free since it is only water, but this was basically the only money the airline was making.  They landed with empty flights and I was so thankful that they came to pick us up.

As the water was being served, people started to open their carry-ons and whip out their sandwiches, snacks and /or liquids.  The elderly couple sitting next to me, had homemade sandwiches and started eating.  I waited a moment before digging into my jamón y queso croissant.  The woman sitting next to me sneezed and coughed non-stop all the way back to Copenhagen.  I hated it but what could I do? Halfway through her sandwich she kindly handed me a tissue to use as a napkin.  I thanked her and grabbed it and dried my mouth with it and then it hit me - OMG i'm gonna die! i'm gonna die!  

With snot and virus all over her stubby little suntan fingers, I grabbed the tissues from her which surely had covid-19 all over them and I put it to my mouth.  I tried not to beat myself up over it but I am hoping to god that I clear the last few days of my 2-week quarantine.

When the plane landed, I was just about ready to get into the passport line and use my brand-new temporary passport when suddenly my phone rang.  It was my boss.  He knew which flight I was on and he must have been watching the landing list from his office.  I picked up the phone and said Hello?  "Hi Eddie, don't come in tomorrow.  Stay home and I'll contact you soon," my boss said to me.  

I had to laugh because I had actually written to my boss and my union representative on the 17th saying I was in Gran Canaria and I was scheduled to come in on the 19th - what do I do?  Only my union rep wrote back and said: contact your boss.  On the morning of the 18th, I called the boss on duty who is not my direct boss. He is the newest boss of the 4 bosses there.  He told me to come in on the 19th saying that I will probably be sent home along with the entire shift.  I said ok but was surprised because on the Danish news, they just said that anyone coming back to DK will have to go into 2 weeks quarantine.  But when I landed, my direct boss called and said very clearly, "DON'T COME IN !!!"

So now I sit and wait.  The sad thing is, Jens is in the senior healthcare facilities waiting for me.  He will be there a total of 3 weeks and he is totally bored out of his mind.  I walked into our apartment at about 10:30 at night.  The following morning, I called Jens as we had agreed that I would pick him up that day.  He was packed and ready to go and waiting for me since 7 in the morning.  I was disappointed and sad that he would have to stay 2 weeks more.  I feel so badly for him.  I hope he can hang on just a few more days.  We call every day, several times a day just to say hello.  I take my temperature 3 times a day every day.  Normal.  No coughing and no runny nose.  I have sneezed a few times but only a few and I feel fine.  Symptoms can still show up within the next 4 days but so far...……. knock on wood.

So, at the beginning of this story, I wrote that I wanted to dedicate this blog to John.  Jens and I talked or texted each other a few times every day while I was in Gran Canaria.  He mentioned very briefly that John had to be taken to the hospital.  Jens didn't say why and I didn't ask and when he told me about Johbn, the news was just breaking that the borders were being closed.  I was worried for my own sorry ass.  While it may sound nice to be stuck in Gran Canaria, it isn't, because the entire town was closed down and the hotel is closing this Sunday.  

2 days after I got home, Gitte called.  We chatted a bit and we started to talk about John.  I just assumed it was back problems.  John has had (still has) a serious back problem.  But then Gitte said John had a stroke.  Oh, how I felt so darn awful for John.  He is only a few years older than I. I thought I was having problems until I heard what happened to John.  I'm glad I got home.  I'm sorry that our vacation had a lousy twist and that we were locked up in the hotel for 4 days with nothing to do.  But the island will always be there.  I can always go back.  This is something John will have to work really hard with to make his life go on.  You can do it John!  You can do it!  It will take lots of hard work but you can do it.  You have to do it - for yourself and for your own good. I'm praying for you buddy.