Man goes to Gran Can for five-day span after travel ban. The plan? Get tan, ride catamaran

Photo of three palm trees against a clear blue sky

Nearly six years after my previous visit, it was time to reacquaint myself with Gran Canaria. When my friend Andrew used his impressive travel booking skills to obtain cheap flights and a bargain self-catering apartment, I was only too happy to accompany him, and escape rainy Brexit UK for a few days.

And then, as the departure date approached, I felt a little twinge of fear. Omicron COVID was still very much a thing. Gran Canaria was at Alert Level 4 (the highest level in Spain). I did not want our holiday be spoiled by the faff and inconvenience of COVID restrictions, necessary as they may be. Matters weren’t helped when the Spain Travel Health website kept giving cryptic errors as I tried to upload my vaccination certificate.

Even as I packed my T-shirts and shorts the night before, I had to ask the question: was going at this time a good idea?

As it turns out… the answer was absolutely (I speak Spanish now).

Continue reading “Man goes to Gran Can for five-day span after travel ban. The plan? Get tan, ride catamaran”

A Gran Week Out

Photo of sign reading Maspalomas 25C

I remember vaguely promising, at the end of the old blog, that I would continue writing my travel blogs. For various reasons, that didn’t actually happen. So this is another catch up post, from April 2016.

It started, as so many things do, in a Wetherspoons.

September, 2015. I was in the Metropolitan Bar in Baker Street, London, in the company of my friends Mark and Peter. As I scoffed a greasy burger, the conversation turned to holidays. Mark mentioned that they were heading to Gran Canaria in April next year, that it was a fun place to visit, and I should come with them.

I made a vague statement of agreement, then came home and promptly forgot about it, until a few weeks later when I. Next thing I knew, the hotel was booked and I had bought train tickets to Gatwick Airport.

Continue reading “A Gran Week Out”