Holiday in Gran Canaria

12^th - 19^th March 2012

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I just decided I needed some sun, so I went to Gran Canaria for a week. I've never been before, despite it being so near to home. The hotel was OK, but the food was lousy and there was a strange self-serve system for drinks, including cocktails. The mojito was grim, it gripped you by the back of the throat and wouldn't let go!

I laid by the pool for the first couple of days, then went on a pair of trips and the final two days were again spent sunbathing, one on the beach the other by the pool. The weather was warm, it was 25 at midnight on my last night, but almost always breezy. A couple of days were quite overcast, although the sun shone through eventually.

My first excursion was billed as a Wine Tour, but as soon as we got on board the coach, we were informed that it was a misnomer! It was actually a short tour of the the south central part of the island, ending up at a winery. We visited an old town called Fataga, famous for its bakery, Tunte and San Bartolomé de Tirajana, where the winery was. There were many American oak barrels there and each cost between €1,000 and €1,200 each!

The second excursion was an island tour, in a convoy of eight seater minibuses, which were the right size to cope with the windy roads. We travelled right into the centre of island, stopping at a couple of viewing points to see a reservoir and Roque Bentaiga. We then travelled into Artenara, the highest village in Gran Canaria where we had a stop at a restaurant built into a cave. Later we had a good lunch and then on to Teror where we saw the Basilica and finally into the capital Las Palmas before a straight run home.

I went into the Yumbo Centre on a few evenings and really enjoyed the night life there. Coming home worst the wear on a couple of occasions, which I blame on the two lads I met in the hotel, leading me off the straight and narrow. That and the shots, they insisted on giving us in some of the bars. I had a good time, lazed in the sun and came back refreshed