3 weeks in Gran Canaria.

Barcelona, Terminal 1, is one of our favourite airports. It is large but quiet despite being very busy.

Yes, it does snow in Africa and here you can see snow covered peaks of the Toubkal range in Morocco which we flew near to.

And now we hope you enjoy the photos we took in Gran Canaria.

The sunsets over the Atlantic ocean were amazing!

On one of our excursions we saw possibly the largest bougainvillea on the island.

Only a few kilometres from the beach towards the centre of the island and you are into mountainous countryside.

Clouds would come from the centre of the island behind us but rarely obliterated the sun.

The western and northern coasts have waves crashing in whereas further south, where we were staying, the sea was calm every day.

And the western coast was much cloudier.

Pigeons on our terrace.

A view of the beach parasols from our terrace, with Instagram effects,...

...and the same view without 'zoom'.

A sunset view with Instagram effects.

Sunrise.

Lunchtime.

Thank goodness for the funicular! 

Our apartment was on this level and the restaurant was at the top!

The weather was glorious but the beach wasn't exactly what you would call crowded.

And we shall probably be going back there next year!

Los Tres Reyes Magos

Three Kings, or Los Tres Reyes Magos, is a very important celebration all over Spain as well as in other parts of the world and occurs on the 6th January. However, it is on the eve of Three Kings day when the real festivities take place and the Kings arrive in the village with their pages following the star, in our case riding on a trailer pulled by a tractor rather than the traditional camels.

Everyone follows the three kings in a procession carrying flaming torches.

The kings go to the church where they pose for photos as the tractor turns around... 

...and then they are taken to the hall next to the village bar to distribute presents to all the children.

It is also traditional to have a Roscón de Reyes, shown in the photo above. Hidden inside the cake is a small figurine which represents Jesus who was hidden away from Herod. 

The cake is delicious!