Our Summer Holiday In Gran Canaria

Our first ever resort-style vacation: Gran Canaria.

With its location right off the coast of Morocco, you'd think the island of Gran Canaria was Moroccan. But it's actually part of Spain, and a great place to visit if you need a sunshine-filled getaway.

All summer, I think we had two, maybe three, full days of sun in Dublin. Sure, we'd have some sun every day, but it wouldn't last. The wind here keeps the clouds on the move, and 10 minutes is all it takes to turn a gorgeous morning into a rainy one. So everyday this summer, our forecast was "partly cloudy with a chance of rain." Really.

I was going mental. I couldn't believe it. I thought being a Portlander I could handle this weather here. I have my iGoogle homepage set to show the weather forecast for both Portland and Dublin. And by the time Portland started getting really consistent sun, our forecast was consistently a mix of sun, clouds, and rain. And we'd be going through that cycle at least a few times every day. It was never consistent. I was going crazy. It wasn't so much fun to try and get to a playground if it meant that it was going to be a trip in the rain...

One day we did go to a playground I saw two women laying out in their bikinis!! (Did I already mention that in a previous posting?) And it was only 67 degree F! But of course, it felt warm because that was the one day that the sun was out all day long. Really--two moms laying out in their bikinis while their kids ran up and down the slides. Wow.

Anyhow, I really needed some sun. And Alan was working really hard. Harder than he expected. (He wound up doing a job he didn't actually sign up for. The hours were longer and at an incredibly intense pace.) We all needed a break. I mentioned it. And mentioned it again. And then one Sunday, Alan woke up at 10am and started researching family sun holidays. By 8pm that night, we had our tickets. :)

OK-- so this looks like we're advertising Nicorette. But I included this picture to show you how happy and proud we were that we fit all our stuff into that one big suitcase you see next to the stroller. :)))

It was a 4 hour flight from Dublin direct to Gran Canaria. Alan's co-workers were worried for us: how will the baby do?! But they didn't know that when Connor was that age, we took him from Portland to Dublin, which is a 17 hour trip at best. Four hours was easy! Ronan did have some pain on the takeoffs/landings, but we were ready with bottles of formula or water to help him, and that worked well.

The view from our hotel window.

This was our first hotel vacation. But this wasn't any ol' hotel, this was an all-inclusive vacation. No meals, no restaurant shopping. Everything was at this resort. A kids club, babysitting, a spa, everything. It actually took a lot of getting used to. Of all things, I missed my watch. Can you believe it? I needed my watch. It was because all these wonderful services were scheduled. Meals were available at certain times. The kids' activities were at specific times. Sign ups for activities were designated times. The only constant was the pool. And even that needed some attention because if you weren't up early to reserve your lounge chairs, you wouldn't have a spot to sit in anywhere near the pool.

After a day or two of getting my brain around this and the fact that the whole point of a resort-style vacation was to never leave the resort (?!?!?), I relaxed and really had a good time.

Ronan was up every four hours with tummy pains and who-knows-what-else sleeping problems, but we made it work. Alan would help in the middle of the night, and I'd be up with him at 6am, take him and all our swimming gear down to the pools, reserve our chairs, drink a cup of tea poolside, and rock him in the stroller. Eventually, he'd fall back asleep, and I'd be able to relax in the beautiful weather, sipping my tea, and reading Tina Fey's Bossypants. It's a really good book, actually. I highly recommend it.

Our hotel room. On the other side of that little wall was a single bed for Connor. He did really well with Ronan's crying. At first, he was upset he was getting woken up, and yelled out for us to make it stop. (Can you blame him?) But when I explained that this is just what happens with babies and when we're all sharing a room, and that he had to deal with it and not complain, he figured it out. I offered him earplugs, but he opted for the pillow-over-the-head solution. :)

Sunscreen!

Once I figured out our lounge chair reservation system, we were set. I'd always reserve two chairs in the shaded areas, so Ronan (and us) could be sheltered. Then we realized that if we did want to lay out, we needed at least one chair in the sun. So then I'd reserve a third chair, in the sun. For those 10 minutes that Alan or I would want to soak it up.

All-you-can-eat buffet means really good desserts like fruit and ice cream. Yummy desserts= happy Connor. :) Most of the guests were English. And the resort company staff (babysitters, kids club employees) were English, too. But all the hotel staff were Spanish, so Alan and I got a chance to practice our Spanish. We enjoyed talking with our servers in the restaurants, and I mistakenly forgot to get their pictures. They were always so sweet with us, smiling when we were dashing in late right before they stopped serving, and giving treats to Connor and smiles to Ronan. We came away wanting to get Connor enrolled in Spanish classes, but I haven't found any yet. I must contact the Spanish embassy about that...

On the hottest day of the week, we headed into the main tourist town of Las Palmas. It was nearly 40 degrees Centigrade--that's almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He walked around for a long while, looking for the old-world Spanish town that Alan remembered visiting years back. But all signs of that Las Palmas were gone. They probably all left when the creation of EU made the Canaries the tourist mecca it is today. Restaurants all had English and Spanish servers and the menus were in multiple languages.

We kept Ronan cool by keeping a lightweight blanket over the stoller to keep him shaded. And when we got popsicles, Ronan had some, too.

The beach at Las Palmas. It might be the postcard picture of a European sun holiday, but I was secretly glad not to face that trek everyday. True confession: I never stepped into the ocean on our trip. And I never felt bad about it, either. I was happy with our three pools.

Stopping for lunch in an air-conditioned pub. Ahhhh, better!

Back at the resort, in the kiddie pool.

Ahhh, armbands! I don't know why Americans are so down on armbands. Over here, they are widely used, and a required part of children's swimming lessons. And I must admit, they were fabulous! They let me let go of Connor while he was in the pool, and it meant I got to have some fun along side him instead of constantly worrying about him slipping out of my grasp.

Did I mention that the pools were chlorine-free? Yup! They were saline pools. Ahh, what a difference! I actually swam with open eyes underwater. I think that was the first time I'd done that since I was a kid back in Boston. It was fabulous!! Connor still wanted goggles so he could see better. But can you imagine? We never would have swum for so long if the pools were chlorinated. It was heavenly!

The pools were very crowded, unless it was dinnertime.

I signed Connor up for two soccer workshops while were there. His soccer coach, Stuart, was magnificent! Connor was by far the youngest and most inexperienced. (He had never had a soccer lesson in his life!) Stuart helped him greatly, and made sure the other kids were nice and helpful to him. I could have kissed Stuart! My son came away loving soccer and feeling really good about himself.

Connor's now playing soccer in our neighborhood once a week on Tuesday nights. I must say, he might not have all the skills down yet, but he does get right in there to try and get the ball. I've even seen him do a slide tackle a couple of times. At other times, he's down the field near the goal shouting to his teammates, "Pass!" :)

Sioux City?!?! How did we get to Sioux City?!

Well, Sioux City is in Gran Canaria. I think they filmed a John Wayne movie here. Or maybe it's the set and they moved it here... In any case, it's an actual village from America's Wild West days. We went to the cowboy shootout show they had on the night before we were to leave.

It was a show basically built on the old Hollywood Cowboys vs. Indians theme. Definitely cheesy, with some cool lasso-ing talent, there were more than a handful of moments Alan and I were uncomfortably squirming in our seats. The racist "under" (?) tones combined with a hanging scene (?!?!!!) left us aghast. This was billed as great family entertainment, but if we had known in advance what kind of show it was, I doubt we would have booked tickets.

On the other hand, Connor did get to ride a horse, pretend to be locked up in jail, and make a stew over the hearth in a period-style house.

All in all, I had a great time in Gran Canaria. We had gorgeous weather every day--without mosquitos or yellow jackets. The food was absolutely delicious, especially the local fish that was grilled to order in front of us. Alan ate his fill of papaya, too. With less meat and wheat and more fish and papaya, he basically cured his stomach ailments. It was fabulous to see him so vibrant.

And since we didn't have to grocery shop, cook, or clean, it was a great do-nothing holiday in the sun. Ahhhh!