Around the Island to Aguimes

Wow. We’ve said that a lot recently, but this time it’s with a little more gusto. We just arrived in Aguimes, having taken a long three-bus journey around the beautiful, almost untouched west side of Gran Canaria, then past the hideous theme-park resorts along the south coast.

The casa rural we’ve rented out for the next week is not what we expected. We were anticipating a room in a shared house along with a couple other folks. Instead we have a beautiful old house entirely to ourselves, complete with a bedroom with huge skylights and decked out with awesome furniture, a bathroom, a full kitchen, a fabulous entryway, and an incredible upstairs sitting room. This for 35 euros a night, less than what we’ve been paying for the cheapest hotel rooms in most of the towns we’ve visited. Amazing. We’re looking forward to exploring various parts of the island we can access from here, mostly the sand dunes of Maspalomas, the mountain town of Tejeda, and scuba diving in the El Cabron Marine Reserve.

The foyer of our palace in Aguimes

The bus ride out here was one of the most picturesque either of us has ever experienced. For the first half, winding in and out of steep canyons, with 1000-foot cliffs dropping down to the coast just off the road. Sitting in the window seat was at times a bit scary. The bus driver was flying, honking his horn as we rounded corners, braking hard when needed, and often clearing obstacles by mere inches. He drove faster in a 40-seat bus than we would have in a sportscar. The man had some serious driving skills. He also made random deliveries along the way – a sack of bread here, newspapers there, magazines. And he was nice enough to stop at a payphone so we could make a quick phone call. People here do amazing things when you ask for help; quite in contrast to the me-first attitude they exhibit much of the time.

Bread deliveries, daily

We got in right around lunch-time (3:00 or so, though it stretches from about 1 until 4), so we went off in search of a restaurant. Lunch is definitely the big meal in Spain, much more substantial in time and in food than dinner. So we were hoping to find something substantial. We ended up at the bus station, where we knew there was a cafeteria. The woman working at the counter said, well, yeah, we could get food there, but we should really go to the restaurant, up the hill past the swimming pool.

Thinking, arrgh, we just want something to eat, we followed her advice. Boy, were we glad we did. The restaurant was fantastic. Everything, from the salads, to the bread, to the main dishes, to the wine, was wonderful. A particular highlight was a delicious lightly-grilled fish. It was a thin white fish (probably sole?), and so delicately grilled and seasoned, ooh, some of the best fish we’ve ever had. And the alioli was scrumptious, served with fresh baked bread but a great dipping sauce for papas (taters) and fish. We left very happy and very full, feeling that it was a great welcome to a new place.

Salt painting in the street in Aguimes, in celebration of first communion