Post 7 (11/11/25) TUESDAY IN MASPALOMAS

Since I had gotten a tad more sun than I wanted walking back from the beach on Monday, I decided to take a day off the beach sunning. One thing this made me miss was the German Carnaval celebration on the beach. I had friends who were there who sent pictures, and it looked crazy and fun. Really wild costumes galore. People kind of went all out for it like in New Orleans and Rio. But I was glad to not push the sun thing for myself, and I was better off sticking close to home anyway. Here is a pic of my new Italian friend Dino (on the right, in blue - of course!) and his group:

With no need to rush off to the beach early, I slept in a bit, which was nice. My first order of the day was to hit the gym for the FIRST TIME IN 7 YEARS!!! This was a quite welcome endeavor and I felt accomplished and on the right track for my health in so doing. It's a fairly simple gym here at the hotel, but actually rather large and just enough basic equipment to do a decent workout.

After my exercises, I wanted to get something healthy (which became ironic unfortunately). I went to the Two Gay Expats recommended "The Bistro" right at the end of my street. They have this smoothie menu sign out front, which is exactly what I was after. It turns out you don't need a juice or smoothie shop here, as many cafes have these smoothie menus (with different combos). 

I went for the Green Boost and a cappuccino. The smoothies are pretty cool. They put the exact ingredients listed in a blender, whirl, and voila! Check it out:

I got very deep in this soliloquy after breakfast, so you'll have to listen for 5 minutes to understand it all:

So crazy thing, I got back to the hotel after breakfast and started to feel crampy in the tummy (ironic considering I did the healthy stuff like working out and smoothie breakfast). It was a bit of a bummer, as one never wants to feel sickly on a trip and drag down the pace a bit. Fortunately, this is also a resting trip, so it has worked out ok so far. I stayed "home" for a while, wrote yesterday's blog entry (hopefully you read that entry first - about the beach day). I also edited some more of the 14 music videos that Ronald helped me make in Madrid (only 2 more to go now). So I felt accomplished, yet a bit punk (good thing I'm a punk too!). I got the wild idea that maybe I could eat away my stomach ache (bright idea, right?). I had been craving a pizza since late the night before, and was thwarted by the place closing 15 minutes after I considered going there. So it had been calling me like a siren, so I did decide to go for it. So I got dressed up rather cute (if I do say so, but you be your own judge):

On the way out I asked Itommy at reception about booking a massage, and he sent me into the massage area to book directly with the therapist, who hangs around a reception table when not working on anyone. He was very sweet and we had a nice chat. Turns out he's from Qatar. It's funny to start every conversation in Spanish only to learn people are from all over the world, certainly not Spanish speaking countries. haha So I booked with him (Hamsa) for Thursday at noon, which is forecasted to be a major rainstorm. So I am planning another gym workout, smoothie, then the massage. Will let you know how that goes.

I walked to the top of our block, and Isolito's, the pizza place about which the Two Gay Expats raved, is located two doors down from The Bistro. There was a very sweet girl working there, a Spaniard this time. I decided on a veggie ("white") pizza to be a bit more healthy, get some actual veggies, and avoid the acidic tomato sauce in consideration of my cramped midsection. I also got a bubbly water to flush myself out with effervescence. See for yourself. 

Isn't that a gorgeous pie?!?! Tasted amazing too! Two Gay Expats were right again (see why I trust their recommendations?)

And can I just say how cool it is when the glass bottle of water exactly matches your new sunglasses...

I ate all but three slices of the pizza, and it did not make me feel any better nor (fortunately) any worse either. 

After lunch I decided to visit the Yumbo. Since so many people were coming from the beach in costume, I decided to get a little bit done up for it in sequined hat and lei (although my lei was blowing all over the place due to that darn wind):

Not to be TMI here, but I have to share this crazy anecdote cause I am so into synchronicities. I'm walking down our street to Yumbo, and see this random pair of underwear on a bench! haha What's SO crazy is that they are the EXACT style and color that Ramon was wearing the night we met! I actually snapped this pic to send to him, but couldn't help sharing it here. It just seemed too perfect to be a coincidence:

In the Yumbo, the entire Winter Pride schedule is posted on a huge marquis:

As you can read, there was a show on the main stage for the Carnaval Heroes After Party as I was there. It wasn't very crowded as you can see from this little vid:

I also got a little video overview from upstairs, capturing the German performer introducing himself (to share with Ronald actually):

While I was over there I got word from the adorable Dino that he was going to come visit me soon, so obviously I darted back towards my hotel to meet him at the entrance. While waiting for him there, some people passed by and I wasn't sure how to greet them, a recurring theme I have experienced while here. I describe it here:

And then HE showed up. I realize I'm like one in 10 million who are attracted to guys this old (he's only 75! haha), but to me, THIS is the most gorgeous Italian man!!! I asked if we could take a pic in front of the mural along the hotel parking lot with all the scantily dressed studs and he obliged (and I want to acknowledge that he is not photogenic - I'd give him a 7 in this pic and a 9.5 in real life!):

We went up stairs and got to kissing right away, and I did notice that he was hot, sweaty, and unshaven; I'm guessing in from the beach and not yet cleaned up for the evening. He fairly quickly admitted that he was only there for a brief visit, perhaps a chemistry check, to see exactly where I am staying, or perhaps just had an opportunity to quickly sneak away from the group. He only stayed maybe 15 minutes or so, but promised to come back as soon as he could after dinner. I am so into him, I invited him to spend the night, to which he gave me sort of a maybe. Not to be pushy, I accepted that and hoped for the best.

I went back to Yumbo for a walk around, and made a realization best described in a video, which I will capture right now really quickly...

It just seems odd that in a sexy, flirty resort destination you'd come with a lover, friend, or group and cock-block yourself. It's why I was sure to come solo, free, and available to the older guys who are here hoping to score (them and me!)...

So I headed back towards the hotel, and stopped at the store for a big bottle of water (trying to drink a lot to solve this stomach issue), and also grabbed a tiny single serving cup of Ben & Jerry's. I actually consider it a blessing that it was all crystalized, indicating of course that it had melted and re-frozen. So after literally two tiny bites, I tossed it, which is all for the best as I really didn't need it anyway. 

Back at the hotel, I awaited my after-dinner visit from Dino. At 10pm I got a (bit snarky) message from Clemens telling me that I should have at least sent a message if I wasn't going to come at 9pm as he had invited me to do the day before. Oooooops! I sort of didn't realize that I was telling him that I would definitely be there and that this was a date (confirmed as I re-read my previous response). We weren't in touch at all since the day before and I figured I would have heard from him. To be honest I was hedging my bets a bit and holding out for the far superior Dino. Of course I felt quite badly and groveled out apologies in translated German. I offered to work on a get-together for the next day or the one after, but requested that we keep in contact and make sure we'd arrive at a definite plan before he had a genuine expectation of my arrival.

And then I began to wonder about Dino. What a waste it would be to hold out for him, and then not have either date if he didn't make it. I guess karmically it would serve me right, but as fate would have it, that was not in its sights for me! One thing about Dino is when he's going to come over, I don't get much notice. Luckily I was home and didn't have to rush back from Yumbo or anything, even if it is only a less than 10 minute walk from here. So he showed up at 11pm, as evidenced by this pic I took upon his arrival and landing on my living room sofa. I don't know if my expression conveys quite how pleased and excited I was. I am SO hot for this man, and the more I learned about him, the more I loved him.

I don't know if you noticed, but at this point he was all cleaned up, shaven, and smelling of cologne and the evening's wine! Yum!! I learned a bunch of things about him, which I relayed to my friend Jimmy in bullet point form in a text I will copy here (save for a couple gory details one only tells their closest gay friends - teehee).

A) Absolutely 100% gorgeous on every inch of his body

B) Retired as a lieutenant in the office of the minister of the department of defense

C) Married to a woman 

D) Lives with his wife, their daughter, her husband, and a granddaughter

E) His home is in San Giovani Reatino (one hour north of Rome - he led me right to his home on Google Maps, and I dropped a pin on it. He invited me to come there and I could stay with a friend of his)

F) He can't spend the night with me because a couple of the guys in his group talk a lot, and it might get back to his wife and/or family that he slept over with some random guy in Gran Canaria

So my big question for him, which I intend to ask when I next see him is how none of his family suspect anything about him being gay when he is:

A) At a gay resort during Gay Pride week

B) With a group of obviously gay guys

C) Wearing a bikini that says Love is Love on the beach

D) Dressing up in outlandish costumes with the gay boys for Carnaval on the beach

E) Wearing a rainbow shirt (as seen in the pics above)

Can you guess how this adds up? I have seldom been so baffled in my life! haha

So he stayed until about 1am, and slipped out into the night. I chatted with Jimmy and then had a call with him for a while after he got off of a call with him mom. It was fun to share the excitement with someone who fully gets it, supports it, and has been there himself.

And that is where my night obviously ends. My stomach was still iffy, and I wanted to sleep it off before getting up to hit the beach by 10:15 or so on Wednesday. But wait! I decided just before going to sleep that Clemens was probably right to skip the beach on Wednesday on account of the weather forecast calling for extremely windy conditions. So I slept in, as you will learn in the next post...