Gran Canaria!

It's that time of the year when we fly to Gran Canaria for our 3 week holiday in the sun.

As usual, our good friends Maria and Juan visited us at our hotel in Barcelona the evening before our flight.

The following day we arrived at our hotel in Puerto Rico for a relaxing break.

One of the things about the resort is the building of the new funicular due for completion next month, (March). It is due to go one floor higher and the new reception area will be at the very top. It looks good!

As usual we had a full moon during our stay but this one was very special as at 5:12 a.m. on Monday 20th we saw the lunar eclipse...

...which was the Super Blood Wolf Moon.

Margaret wanted a picture of the eclipse with part of the hotel building so here is my Photoshopped version.

The following day the biggest crane in the world, (probably), was being used to lift pieces of the new funicular... 

...from the road below into position. Amazing!

The weather was superb throughout our stay.

One of the nice things about coming to the same resort each year is you meet up with friends made in the previous years.

Because the funicular is still under construction and the hotel is built on the mountainside, the only way to the top, the restaurant and reception area, is up the steep steps. Therefore, a "taxi" service had been provided in the form of this Fiat Panda which could negotiate the very narrow "roads" with seemingly impossible curves driven by a team of 3 expert drivers. Note the "modifications" to the car around the wheel arches!

An improvement since last year is the provision of a chef who makes an omelette of your choice for breakfast each morning. This chef quickly knew me as "Señor jamón y queso" as that was my daily request.

During our stay the sea, the Atlantic Ocean, was remarkably calm.

Added to that, the sky was clear most days...

...which gave photos a great background.

We actually did very little during the 3 weeks - we visited the market in Arguineguin once...

...and our favourite garden of Montecristo on another day. The reason for this can be seen in the photo above where Margaret has a crutch and was still recovering from her foot operation which took place before Christmas.

However, she made it around Montecristo and we had a lovely excursion...

...including some good photo opportunities.

Most of the time was spent on our terrace just watching the world go by.

The photo above shows the current reception area, just inside where Margaret is standing, and the new reception area being built above. Due to the position of the sun it is a bit of a panorama stitch/Photoshop failure as it is quite obvious where the 3 original photos were stitched together. It gives the general idea though.

Finally, back to our hotel near Barcelona airport and the end of a fantastic holiday. Until next time!