Traveling: Gran Canaria

Thursday, 2 September 2010

Gran Canaria 2004 - Part 1

Our Hotel And The Beach

This was our first vacation together as a couple. Claudia and I chose Gran Canaria, which is part of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. After I finished my summer work, we spent one week on the sunny island and had a fantastic time there.

Our Hotel

We picked a small hotel, called Solymar, near the beach. It was fine, but definitely not the best hotel we have stayed so far, but it served its purpose. The hotel offered a pool and breakfast was served for an extra fee in a nearby restaurant. Since our room had a coffee machine, we prepared breakfast on our own.

Hotel Solymar

The Beach

We spent most of the time at the beach, because we just wanted to relax and enjoy the sun and the sea. Our hotel was in Playa del Ingles, one of the biggest tourist spots in Gran Canaria, and just a few minutes away from the wonderful sandy beach.

Playa del Ingles

In the evening we always went out for dinner and some drinks. One of our favorite restaurants was the El Gaucho restaurant, a steakhouse. Back then we still ate meat. The restaurant was located on top of a small shopping center, which are very common at Playa del Ingles and had an open roof. The food was really good and we had a great time there. After dinner we usually did some shopping and spent the rest of the evening in some bars on the promenade and enjoyed a glass of sangria or a cocktail.

El Gaucho Restaurant

Playa del Ingles

Cocktails

Playa del Ingles Shopping Mall

Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Gran Canaria 2004 - Part 2

Las Palmas And Water Park

Las Palmas

The capital city of Gran Canaria is Las Palmas and we made two trips there. The first time all shops were closed due to a federal holiday and so we had to return the next day. Las Palmas is a beautiful town with many old buildings and it is also the biggest city of the Canary Islands. Playa del Ingles and Las Palmas were connected by a public bus transport system and it took approximately 45 minutes to get there.

Las Palmas

After we arrived, we did some shopping in the Triana district before we visited the old town, called Vegueta, with the Santa Ana Cathedral and the Museo Canario. The museum has many archeological artefacts found on the Canary Islands on display and it was definitely worth a visit. In the afternoon we spent some time in a huge shopping center named El Cortes Ingles. After we returned to Playa del Ingles, we had a nice dinner at our favorite Spanish restaurant near our hotel. We liked that restaurant a lot, because it served traditional Spanish food and delicious cocktails.

Calle Mayor de Triana

Las Palmas

Santa Ana Cathedral

Museo Canario

Vegueta - Old Town

El Corte Ingles

Dinner

Aqualand Water Park

Near Playa del Ingles was the Aqualand Maspalomas water park and we decided to go there. After breakfast a we were picked up by a bus and we thought that the bus would bring us back to the hotel as well. Unfortunately the bus didn't run anymore in the evening and so we had to use a taxi back home. The park was okay, but nothing special. It featured a lazy river, some bigger and some smaller slides and several pools. We spent the whole day there and enjoyed our time in the park.