The Bean in Gran Canaria

The weather in Las Vegas has been consistent: rain, rain and more rain. However, we have Caitlin (with the Bean Bump) and Beany Daddy (aka Bob) with us, which is some compensation. Also, we can be pretty sure that if we drive down the mountain to the coast and south a ways, we’ll find much better weather. Karen and I have already taken this escape route twice. 

On the Friday, Caitlin and Bob’s first day here, we rose late. Bob and I went for a brief, chilly jog around the village after breakfast. It was a lung buster because so much of it was uphill. I can’t believe how much fitness I’ve lost in a little over a week. We lounged the rest of the morning away, then jumped in the car and drove to San Agustin, a resort town just this side of the Maspalomas/Playa del Ingles mess.

San Agustin, Gran Canaria

We quite liked it. For starters, the sun was shining and it was warm, especially out of the breeze. The town is built against a cliff – presumably volcanic in origin – that comes almost to the water's edge. There are hotels and condominiums built up the cliff. It’s quite a bit smaller and quieter than Maspalomas or Playa del Ingles. In fact it seemed almost dead. There are few of the tacky bars, restaurants and tourist shops that line the promenade at Playa del Ingles. We saw quite decent-looking self-catering bungalows just above the seaside promenade, quite private. Damn. Why didn’t we book here?

Balcon de San Agustin

We headed first for a restaurant recommended in our guide book, the Balcon de San Agustin. It’s the name of both a hotel and the restaurant. We entered the hotel from a street at the top of the cliff and made our way down to the bottom where the restaurant is. The hotel looked a bit tired, but the restaurant is in a fabulous location, on a terrace right on the seaside promenade, overlooking the ocean, with the beach a couple of hundred meters to the south. The service was a tad brusque, but the food decent, the beer also, and portions of both very generous. We sat over lunch for over an hour, then went for a walk along the promenade. It looks as if it goes all the way to Maspalomas. We stopped at the next beach, Playa El Burrero, where the path is blocked for a couple of hundred feet for repairs, and retraced our steps.

Bean and parents on beach at San Agustin GC

We stopped for sweets and booze on the way home. Caitlin, in pregnancy, has developed a sweet tooth. She's replaced cava with peach-flavoured ice tea. It seems a poor substitute to us, but she loves it – almost to the point of obsession – and drinks it by the litre. She was able to find her preferred brand and flavour here. The evening was whiled away with chatting and feeling for baby kicks. Caitlin is having a very happy, healthy pregnancy.

Today, Saturday, was much the same in Las Vegas as every other day: low cloud, brief sunny breaks, hard rain – repeat until humans go mad. The plan today was much the same as for yesterday, except this time we would drive a little further south, to Puerto de Mogán, a place Shelley B suggested we check out. It’s at the end of the GC1, the expressway that runs along the east coast from Las Palmas. It took us about an hour to get there. The drive was through mountainous, desert landscape. The highway is an engineering marvel, with long tunnels under the headlands.

Puerto de Mogán

Puerto de Mogán is a fairly recent development, with a small beach, marina and smaller commercial fishing port. It was built to look like Venice, with canals and vaguely Italianate architecture.  It is unfortunately a very popular place. Parking was at a premium. We ended up in an underground lot. The town is not un-pretty, but there are way too many souvenir and beach shops, and bars and restaurants, most of them full this day. 

Bean and parents, Puerto de Mogán

But the sun was shining. One pixel board said it was 29C, which was probably an exaggeration. We moseyed about the town for an hour or so and then settled in a little bistro at the marina. It appeared to be run by Germans. The food was fine. We meandered back to the parking lot, picking up ice cream cones on the way, and drove home. No traffic jams on the GC1 – bonus!