If you know me, then you know I love the beach. I was getting a little sad, not having had a beach vacation this summer {or at all this year}, so when Michelle mentioned she had a week off from her grad program, we immediately went to work to find a beach that would still be warm in October. When we found cheap, direct flights to Gran Canaria, our decision was made...a week in the sun and at the beach. The Canary Islands are just off the coast of Morocco/Western Sahara, and we didn't really know what to expect other than that it's a well known beach destination for Europeans. Definitely one of the most relaxing vacations we've had in Europe.
Landing in Gran Canaria, we were treated to beautiful weather, crystal blue waters, and the surprising realization that this island is much more mountainous and arid than we all expected. Not much of a "tropical" feeling, more desert-like. We were also surprised that although the islands are part of Spain, tons of Germans and Scandinavians seems to vacation here. Almost every restaurant has menus in these languages, and many even servers who speak those languages. While English is spoken, it's definitely not fluent.
Our week was pretty lazy and relaxing, with really no plans to speak of. Given the fact that our typical "vacations" while living in Europe have been less of vacations and more like jam-packed long weekends {you know, where you come back exhausted, but I'm certainly not complaining}, this was a welcome change-up. Other than Sunday, the weather was perfect: warm and sunny. It worked out okay that Sunday was raining, as Michelle and I spent most of the day trying to sleep off sickness {pretty sure I had the flu with a 102*+ temp}. A typical day usually went as follows: sleep in, make some breakfast--sometimes accompanied by mimosas, beach/swim, dinner, games/drinks/good conversation, sleep. Repeat times 6. Not a bad way to spend a week.
Our apartment made it pretty easy to adapt to this schedule. With stunning views of the beach and ocean from our balcony, and a private access directly onto the beach, there really was no need to venture far from where we were staying. Add the fact that the apartment was stunning, and fully equipped, and we were content. From our walks and runs up and down the beach, we feel we definitely had the best set-up of any other apartment and hotel we saw. We never had to worry about "planning" out our day, or coordinating our schedules, because we could come and go from the beach as we pleased. I will definitely be seeking out beach front rentals for any beach vacations in the future!
 |
| We spent a lot of time on our balcony! |
While the beach {and many of the beaches on this island} may not be the turquoise blue water and white beaches we so often associate with the "best" beaches, the sand here was black in color and probably some of the finest, softest sand I've been on. The water was extremely clear once you got it, and warm, which made it easy to play in the waves. One day there were extremely large waves, which gave us an excuse to bring out our inner kid, riding the waves to shore. {Although, if we're being honest, our inner kid selves come out a lot when the four of us get together!} Michelle and I also rented paddle boards one day, which is much harder than it looks, especially in the waves. We were so focused on not falling that we never got close enough to shore for Nick to take a good photo of us together!
We did have a few "outings" throughout the week. The first was on Monday afternoon, when we decided to take a one hour drive to a lookout on the west side of the island, which was highly rated in a guidebook. The first 20 minutes of the drive were great, we were eager to see some of the mountainous terrain {created by volcanoes} and some of the small villages of the island. However, what the guidebook and Google maps failed to mention, was that the majority of this trip would be weaving back and forth through sharp switchbacks in the road.
By the time we finally arrived at the look out, we were all a bit woozy and expecting a pretty phenomenal view given the drive we just endured. The lookout was pretty, and on a clear day, we probably could have seen the neighboring island of Tenerife, but the whole time we were there, we just kept thinking about our drive back the way we came. Needless to say, our plan for a hike in the center of the island later in the week was nixed when we realized we would have to drive another hour on curvy roads each way, just to get to a starting point to hike {and we realized all the mountainous areas look pretty much the same on this island}.
A much more successful outing was the day we were to Playa de Amadores, which was about 20 minutes farther west on the southern coast from where we were staying. This beach was much more touristy than the one in front of our apartment, but also had the typical turquoise water and white sand beach. We spent the day lounging on chairs, swimming, enjoying a taco lunch, and some intense retirement planning conversation for the guys. I could get used to this life! :)
Despite our sicknesses, we did attempt a few runs throughout the week. The first was met with a coughing fit for me, the second heat exhaustion, near the point of collapse for Skee & Michelle (it was 90+ by 9am some days), and the third in the exploration of the Maspalomas dunes for Nick & I. We seem to be making it a habit to visit dunes on trips with Skee & Michelle--we're 3 for 3 on trips with dunes now, although they didn't actually run with us this day. Not as tall as some of the other dunes we've seen, but they were still larger than I thought they might be, and they take up a huge area of land.
 |
| Moving while using the HDR feature on the iphone doesn't work so well... |
I don't know why islands always seem to have the best sunsets, but it was definitely no exception here. Every night it seemed like the sky was on fire, and I think we went a bit overboard with the photos. {Actually our good camera was used pretty much exclusively on this trip for sunset and sunrise photos. iPhone was the choice for the beach.}
And what blog post is complete without mention of the food...we ate a few dinners out, including Greek, seafood paella, and tapas. By far, the tapas restaurant was the best--delicious food, yummy sangria, and the nicest servers you've ever met. Despite the fact that it's in one of the weird shopping mall things they have going on on this island {full of bars, crappy restaurants, and souvenir shops}, this is definitely one of the best restaurants in the area, thanks tripadvisor! Of course, the benefit of it being in a weird shopping mall, is that you'll naturally be drawn to check out the drag show afterward because it's next door. The free entrance probably should have tipped us off that this wasn't going to be very good, but we held out hope. But, alas, no, pretty much the worst thing we've ever seen. Less of a show, and more of drags lip syncing to songs.
The majority of the nights we had family dinners at our apartment. We had some delicious meals, including Mexican night. Yum! Skee did a lot of the cooking, even when we started coming down with a cold too, and Michelle and I joke that we didn't do much for ourselves on the trip. Skee cooking dinner, Nick cooking breakfast, and they usually made us some fruity drinks when we wanted too. What a life!
One morning we did wake up early enough to catch the sunrise over the water. {It helps that sunrise was at 8am.} So beautiful. I don't think there's anything better than watching the sun rise or set over the ocean, just listening to the waves. The ocean is definitely one of my favorite places on earth!
 |
| Notice there's no silhouette of Skee...he's still sleeping! |
All in all a pretty fantastic week. Couldn't have asked for better people to spend the week with, either. Once again, we feel so grateful for this friendship. Whether it's laughing to the point of tears, or discussing future plans {Guldbender, anyone?}, we feel so lucky to have found life-long friends. I was quite sad to leave, and could have easily stayed another week. Arriving back in Paris to a weekend of rain and dreariness, where I promptly made chili, was even more depressing. But, in the words of the {worst} song we heard on the radio repeatedly throughout the
week: "Comprende. It's over, it's over." Indeed, it's over... {well, at least until I can plan another beach vacation :)}
Tips: Highly recommend Las Barcas apartment right on the beach. We really feel like it made our trip. Wapa Tapa for sure for a dinner out. If you rent a car, take your hubcaps off and put them in your trunk for the duration of your stay. Trust us on this...if you don't want to have to plan an elaborate heist to replace one you've had stolen {not that we would know anything about this...} , take them all off to begin with. We later noticed many cars with missing or no hubcaps, and several with little pieces of the hubcap painted--we think to deter theft!
No comments:
Post a Comment