Blogs from Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain, Europe - page 8

Well we’ve arrived…….the sun is shining and it’s a balmy 26 degrees, but that’s about all the positive I have to share so far. What we’ve seen of Maspalomas and its surrounding area leaves much to be desired. Yes its clean and the sun shines daily, but what do people do round here other than lie by the pool and wait to get accosted by some irritating person selling timeshares…… We’ve had some conversations with the locals and its not looking good for finding work to top up our dwindling finances either. Mmmmhh we’re only 8 days into our 6 weeks stay but so far its yawn all the way. Oh by the, the Jaimster is writing a blow by blow account of our time here in his blog (search for ‘Aber’ under Bloggers Nicknames), his ... read more

Following on with the dream recitation, last nights contained a fruit shop, a hairdressers and my ex colleague and friend Bob. I also had a bad dream at one point which made me wake bolt upright but I don’t quite recall what that was. Today we decide that enough is enough and we are going to splash some cash and escape up the coast to Puerto de Mogan where there is a weekly market. So we are up early and off to the bus stop. The bus comes quickly but its not cheap at 5.80 Euros, still we need a break so its worth it. As we wind our way up the coast we pass a number of other resorts all of which look preferable to our own. Part of it is that the resorts we ... read more

How long is a week? I’m not so sure but we have now been here a week today and if I was here on holiday I’d probably be about ready to go home right now. I woke at 5.30am after another fitful nights sleep, last night I dreamed of a girl I used to know called Linda, I’d been at some sort of reunion and there was something about falling in a lake, I wonder if it was a sign? Dee was tired after our long and tiring yesterday and since I didn’t want to wake her up by clattering around, I lay staring at the ceiling until the sun came up. We once again walked to Playa del Ingles and braved the busier today but still grim Yumbo Centre and visited the Tourist Information hoping ... read more

Before leaving the UK I signed on for Job Seekers allowance and it turned out that because I was receiving contributory allowance (i.e. from taxes I’d paid in) I could transfer this to Gran Canaria for up to three months. The only stipulation being that I had to register at the local job centre within a week of arriving. So today we set off on a quest to find the job centre. I had an address I’d gotten from the web before we arrived, but despite consulting the map the exact location remained elusive and it could have been in the centre of Play del Ingles or in the provincial capital 20 miles to the North. Luckily before setting off we checked with the receptionist and he kindly pointed us to an entirely different location in ... read more

Ah yes another day in paradise. I wake after a fitful nights sleep tossing and turning dreaming of vampire hordes and Vietnamese prison camps. The beds here are some of the most uncomfortable I have ever slept on and have these horrible rubberised incontinence pants mattress protectors on them which squeak and rustle every time you move. What’s even worse on mine is the fact that the elastic holding the pad in place has decayed and so it just ruffles up and wraps itself around you. I seem to be a restless sleeper and so unlike Dee whose bed is completely as perfectly made in the morning as it was the night before, mine is a mass of twisted bedding. The pillows also are enormous thin width ways but very high and as solid as a ... read more