One thing I didn't mention earlier is that the water in the ocean at this time of year was quite cold. If you wanted to go to the beach and go into the water, you'd need to be brave and plunge right in or do as I did and ease into it until the water felt somewhat warm. The air and sun were deliciously warm for the first few days, and you would feel refreshed and alive after coming out of the water and drying off on the beach. We had wanted to use our last full day Gran Canaria as a beach day, but it was so windy, and the temperatures dropped just a few degrees, so we couldn't imagine going in cold water and then being blasted by nippy wind afterward; we decided it would be better to visit the capital city instead. Indeed, almost no one else was on the beach that day either.
There are small cities or towns all over the island, but the capital city is Las Palmas. Having taken the bus the day before from the sand dunes, we realised it would be easy to get to Las Palmas on the bus and not have to rent a car again. While the terrain would be easy to drive, we wouldn't know where to park or anything, so taking the bus was just easier.
I should include a bit of a note about the buses: they are really nice. They have small TV screens to tell you which stop is coming up, and they show the news and other advertisements. The seats are solid and comfortable, padded, and covered with leather or vinyl upholstery, and you feel like you're more on a Greyhound-type bus than anything. They even have storage underneath where suitcases would go, but it's great for people with strollers and buggies for their children. That's how we learned there was storage there was when someone took their stroller out from underneath. We figure the tourist industry has really helped to provide cash for good infrastructure there. The buses are some of the best ones I've used anywhere.
The main area I planned to see in the city was the Plaza de Santa Ana, mainly to see the cathedral there. However, we got quite sidetracked, initially by some loud music we heard. We saw flashing police lights and thought maybe there was a protest (because that would be the most common thing to see in London), but we were way off. It was actually a small parade for El Día de los Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day), which in English speaking countries is celebrated as Epiphany in some churches. There were people all dressed up in about 3 vehicles following a large bus that was playing this children's song called La Gallina Co-Co-Ua (The Hen and the sound it makes - co-co-wa) and had a number of people dressed in costumes such as Peppa Pig, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Stitch (from Lilo & Stitch). The translation of the writing on the bus says "The tin soldier as Little Red Riding Hood." I've included a video that my husband took on my videos page, which you can link to in the menu at the top. It was quite fun, and it was such great timing for us to arrive at the moment it began. At first we didn't know what it was for, but at one point, I saw a truck with the word reyes on it, and I remembered from when I lived in Mexico that there was this day celebrating the magi from the Christmas story. (As an aside, our hotel served roque de reyes, a traditional ring-shaped cake with a cream layer and bright green and red edible decorations on top, perhaps to resemble jewels, with breakfast the following morning.)
Once that was done, we headed off to get a bite to eat and to do some shopping. We then made our way to Plaza de Santa Ana. Aside from the Catedral de Santa Ana, I'll admit that the square was a little disappointing since none of the buildings there were labelled, so we weren't really sure what the significance of the square or the buildings was. The street leading up to the church had a former monastery and a bust of the founding friar outside as well as a bust of a well-known local religious sculptor who designed some parts of the church. We couldn't go into the cathedral to see anything either, but at least we could get a nice photo of the exterior of it. And I also appreciated the nod to the canines with a bunch of sculptures across from the church, since, if you remember from my day 1 post, the island doesn't refer to canary birds but may be named after canines, so, Island of Dogs. Despite not being chilled in the water or on the beach, we were still cold. It was a fairly grey day and windy in the capital as well, and we weren't dressed for the weather. We stopped quickly for a coffee to warm up and then found our way to the bus stop to return to the hotel. Though we didn't do much sightseeing, we were glad we saw the city to round out our experiences of different terrains and sights on our trip.
Gran Canaria was definitely a bright spot for us. We came home to the UK's winter chill and rainy grey, and it made us all the more thankful for a week of relaxation in the sunshine. We loved it so much, we might even go back again!
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