Photographic memory: Alhambra, Spain

Court of the lions, Alhambra, Spain.

I was going through some old photos this week, and found these snapshots I took a long time ago when I visited the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen, and one day I hope I can take my kids there and show it to them.

Arabesques.

Marble, alabaster, and water everywhere. Such a gorgeous place.

The use of water throughout the palace is amazing.

One of the many pools in the palace.

Traveling with my kids: 10 memories of 2011

There are not a lot of days left of 2011, and even though I still have some more traveling to do with my kids before the year is all done, I am feeling kind of reflective. Here are some of my most memorable travel moments from the past year.

1. Spring break in the Canary Islands
Our trip with extended family to the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands was a definite highlight of the year. So many great memories of good food, good beaches, good company, and family time together.

2. Sun & sand
Gran Canaria was a great place for our beach-loving family. Two favorite spots were the dunes near Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles. 

3. Drive on the wild side

One of the best day trips we did while on Gran Canaria was to drive around the island. We saw the wild, steep western coastline, had lunch by the ocean, visited the caves at Cuatro Puertas and had a wonderful time. The winding mountain roads did induce some car sickness, but the scenery was worth it!

4. Pyromaniac roaches
One of my weirdest travel experiences occurred on our last morning in Gran Canaria when I woke up very early and smelled smoke. I got up and found that one of the elements on the stove had somehow turned on by itself and had burned a corner of a lunch bag that had been left on top. Everyone was asleep, but two seconds later I saw a cockroach run over the stove top, very close to the touch-activated controls... Yeah, that was one of the things I learned this year: cockroaches can be a fire hazard!

5. Picking strawberries with the kids
This was not a long trip: it only took about 30 minutes to drive to our place to Westham Island and the U-Pick strawberry farm. But it was definitely a trip worth making. Six months later I am just using up the last of the freezer jam we made from all those berries (and we go through a lot of strawberry jam in this house!).

6. Sheep fun
This even at North Vancouver's Maple Wood Farm was another wonderful close-to-home trip this past year. We got to see all the farm animals, sheep being expertly clipped, and we got to see what happens to the wool once it comes off the sheep: I'll definitely be returning for this event in the future!

After the meltdown. Zzzzz.

7. Traveling with my kids to Sweden
Taking the kids all the way to Sweden by myself was not a relaxing endeavour, but I was so impressed with how travel savvy they were, and how well they handled themselves for the majority of the trip. Yes, there was that major meltdown (both kids at the same time) at Arlanda Airport, but hey, 20 hours of travel time can do that to you... and other than that they were good as gold.

8. Spending time with family in Sweden
The last few years we have spent the first part of summer with my parents in their summer house, and the kids always have a great time. Fishing, boat rides, sleeping in, beach time, picking blueberries, swimming, splashing... It's pretty much unbeatable.

9. Harrison Lake beach & boat fun
We did a few day trips to Harrison Hot Springs this year, but the one when we rented a boat and drove around the lake was the best one. It's such a nice spot: gorgeous scenery, child friendly beach, and a lot of fun on the water as well. Can't wait for summer to arrive again so we can go back for more!

10. Heading up the Sunshine Coast
Taking the ferry from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, heading across to Langdale and then on to Earl's Cover for the ferry to Saltery Bay made for a great weekend trip and a great time with family. It's a real treat to see British Columbia's coastline from the deck of a ferry on a sunny day. And when you get a home-cooked turkey dinner once you arrive, it makes the trip even better!

Photographic memory: the dogs of the Canaries

Location: Plaza de Santa Ana, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.

What we were doing there: We were sitting in a cafe in the Plaza de Santa Ana, just outside the Cathedral of Santa Ana, while the kids ran around the wide open square.

The cathedral is kind of dark and dour in my opinion, but there were lots of beautiful buildings surrounding the plaza: I love those brightly painted houses that seem to be popular all over Gran Canaria.

There were also some bronze statues of dogs that caught my daughter's eye. Since she's dog-deprived at home (the cat would have a heart attack if one was introduced) she has to get her dog-fix where she can.

The dogs of the Canaries: The stories about the Canary Island dogs seem to change depending on what website or guidebook you read. Whatever the story, the dogs are part of the coat of arms for the islands, and there is a breed of dog called Presa Canario, which originated in the Canary Islands.

You can read more about the Canary Islands in my other blog posts about our trip there.

Traveling with kids: Las Palmas airport, Gran Canaria, Spain

On our trip to the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands this year, we traveled through Las Palmas airport (airport code: LPA).

Layout of the airport
LPA is a fairly small airport, and all departures and arrivals come into the same terminal. Instead of different terminal buildings there are three different zones:

• Zone A is for flights within the European Union
• Zone B is for international flights, meaning flights outside the European Union
• Zone C is for flights to other destinations within the Canary Islands

It's fairly straight-forward to navigate the airport and between the zones, since everything is contained in one building. Just follow the signs and whatever your boarding pass tells you.

The staff at the check-in counters (at least Spanair's counter) were also extremely helpful and friendly, so ask for help if you need it!

Sunset in Arguineguin, Gran Canaria.

 Facilities and services
There are several banking machines in the airport. There's also a bank on ground floor.The airport pharmacy is located in Zone A, in the public area, so if you're in need of anything, make sure you go there before you head through security.

The washrooms are plentiful, roomy and very clean: always a plus when you're traveling with kids. There were also diaper change facilities located near the washrooms.

There are lots of restaurants, bars, and cafes in this airport. There's also a Burger King. Which is where we ended up with the kids, not so much because they especially wanted to eat there, but because there was a small play area with slides and climbing equipment right outside. Not a bad spot to sit down and relax if you're traveling with kids.

Odd fact for a Canadian: the Burger King did not serve apple juice, but did serve beer. Got to love those cultural differences.

Getting to your hotel or other island destinations
Las Palmas Airport is actually located about 18 km from Las Palmas. Just outside the airport you can taxi cabs, and also regular buses headed for Las Palmas, Maspalomas, and other destinations. Many of the hotels also have their own bus service, ferrying tourists to and from the airport.

When we arrived, we were not on the "list" for our hotel, so we had to pay cash (no credit cards accepted) for the trip. Since we had no Euros on us, that meant a mad dash to the cash machine inside the airport. So, getting some cash before you head out from the airport is not a bad idea.

If you want to rent a car, there are several rental car companies right at the airport, including Avis and Hertz.

The beach at Maspalomas, Gran Canaria. And yes, I do miss this place!

Shops
Long wait times at airports are made for souvenir shopping, and there are a lot of interesting boutiques and shops at LPA. However, with two restless kids it's not always easy to take your time and look around.

I especially regret not heading into the Productos de Gran Canaria store to buy some local food. Apparently they sell a spice mix you can use to make the lovely, spicy mojo rojo that is very popular in the Canary Islands.

The kids did like the store that featured a gigantic fake shark-head busting through one of the displays. (Not sure what the name of it was.) They had a good selection of somewhat unusual stuffed animals and we ended up with a couple of souvenirs there, both marine creatures: one sea horse and one octopus.

Hotels
There are no hotels at the Las Palmas airport, but several are located close by. JustGranCanaria.com lists some of them on its web page.

10 tips when you're traveling with kids to Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

I loved our recent family holiday on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, but really, anytime you go somewhere for the first time, it's like a trial run. You make some mistakes, you learn a lot about places you liked and didn't like, what worked better and what didn't, and then the next time you go, you have a better idea of what to do and where to go.

Here are 10 tips based on what I learned on our trip to Gran Canaria.

1. Try the local seafood if you're eating out: fish, squid, prawns, octopus... The meat is good too in lots of places, but really, on an island in the Atlantic, fresh seafood is the way to go.

2. If you're shopping for souvenir t-shirts, including for your kids, try the "T-Shirt Palace" in Playa del Ingles. Great selection, nicely presented, and easy to find the sizes you want.

3. Do try the local coffee, at least if you like your coffee strong and smooth and just plain awesome. 

4. If you or your kids like juice when eating out, order orange juice. The OJ was often fresh-squeezed and extremely delicious.

5. Don't bring inflatable toys/rings/balls to the beach: they're very likely to end up blowing away or getting washed away in the waves and currents. Especially if you're going to Playa del Ingles or another beach with nice, biggish waves. Save the inflatables for the pool.

6. Don't assume that going to the public washroom near the beach will be free. It is in some places, but 0.50 euros seemed to be the going rate at Playa del Ingles.

7. Bring sunscreen with you, because even though a lot of things are cheap in the Canary Islands, sunscreen is not one of them.

8. Study maps carefully if you're driving somewhere: road signs don't always show up where you'd like them to, and it's definitely good to know where you're going without relying on signage.

Puerto de las Nieves near Agaete on the west coast.

9. Take the time to head up into the mountains, even if it's just for a half-day drive. It's a very different atmosphere than the busy-busy south coast where most of the tourists stay, and makes for a nice change of pace.

Sunset in Arguineguín.

10. If you're heading out at night or in the early morning, bring a sweater, at least if you're not visiting in the middle of summer. We visited the island in March, and I found that the whole family appreciated having a sweater to put on once the sun started to go down.

Traveling with kids to Gran Canaria: where to eat & what to do

Our recent family vacation in the Canary Islands was a great trip, and included a lot of good food and some fun excursions too.

Catch-of-the-day dinner at Sagitario in Puertolavaca: papas arrugadas with mojo rojo & grilled fish.

The restaurants
We ate some great food in Gran Canaria. The seafood was especially nice, including the fresh fish, squid, and octopus.

My son loved the local grilled prawns, and the local dish "papas arrugadas" or "Canary Island potatoes", which are small potatoes baked with lots of salt. My daughter is in a very picky eater stage right now, but she liked the local steak, and, occasionally, the fish. For one of our restaurant lunches, to my complete amazement, she ate a whole plateful (literally) of grilled fish!

My own favorite dish was the grilled chipirones (squid). I also loved the spicy mojo rojo sauce that was served with a lot of dishes, and the local goat cheese, which was kind of like a softer and less salty feta cheese. 

A note on kid-friendliness:
All the restaurants we visited were very welcoming to families with kids, and all had high chairs available. However, not all of them had kids' menus. The restaurants in the most touristy spots did (and those menus usually included fare like pizza, pasta, burgers, and chicken nuggets), but in other places we had to choose from the regular menu. One tip: look at the tapas/appetizer menu too for kid-choices. The dessert menus usually really tickled my kids' fancy: lots of big, elaborate ice cream dishes!

Here are some of the restaurants we ate at that I definitely want to recommend: 

1. Apolo XI in Arguineguín
This is an excellent place to go for local cuisine. Friendly staff (that took a particular shine to my son, calling him Don Pedro for some reason), nice tapas, and particularly good seafood dishes. Their octopus cooked Galician style was awesome.

We sat outside right across the street from the beach and harbor and got to see the sun set during our first visit. There was no real kids' menu, but my son loved the king prawns, and my daughter did OK with a weird little dish that consisted of rice, french fries, sausages and a fried egg (!). 

2. Canarias I in Arguineguín
This place is located in a residential area, and unfortunately does not offer outdoor seating. Nothing wrong with the food though. The local and Spanish dishes are really nice, and I particularly liked their swordfish with garlic and parsley.

This restaurant serves big portions, and the food is very good. There is a small kids' menu with choices like steak and fries, spaghetti bolognese, fish and chips and more. The service was alright, though the staff did feel a bit inexperienced at times. 

3. Sagitario in Patalavaca
This restaurant sits right on the beach-walk next to the hotels along the beach in Patalavaca. They specialize in fresh fish, and local cuisine with some Danish/German/British stuff thrown in for good measure. The fish was excellent, and so was the wine list: ask for the local, white wine produced in Gran Canaria (it was amazing). I regret not buying a couple of bottles to bring home!

Sagitario does have a kids' menu, and my daughter ate the chicken nuggets and fries (I know, not exactly local cuisine...) while my son had the spaghetti (he loves pasta and will usually go for that option if it's available). It was also a nice place for the kids because they could go for little walks and look at the ocean during dinner, instead of going nuts just sitting still at the table.  

4. Cueva Pirata in Patalavaca
This restaurant is right next to the road between Patalavaca and Arguineguín. It sits up high on a cliff, and has a pirate theme throughout with gangway "bridges", and pirate-y tunnels leading to the bathrooms. (My daughter was so fascinated by the tunnels that she asked to the bathroom about 5 times...)

The food was very good. My husband loved the onion soup and the swordfish was excellent. There is a kids' menu, but no outdoor seating, though there is a nice view view of the ocean from the big windows.

Things to do
Most of our time was spent by the pool at the hotel or on various beaches, but we did go on some great excursions too.

The kids' pool at Aqualand.

Aqualand
I was ready for the usual water park mayhem when we went to this place, but it wasn't busy at all when we arrived. Definitely the most laidback visit I've ever made to a water park! There were lots of available sun-chairs, virtually no lineups for the many (and some very crazy-scary-freaky) water slides, and lots of space for kids in the kids' slide and play area.

There are about 30 different water slides (from kiddie-style to screamingly terrifying), pools, a "river", play areas, and a sea-lion show thrown in for good measure.

The only problem? My kids thought the water was too cold and most of the slides were too scary. They did enjoy playing in the kids' pool, and my daughter liked watching some of the sea lion show, so we did have a good time anyway. And for more adventurous kids and older kids this place would have been heaven.

One caution: Getting to this water park was hard work. We got lost and drove around Maspalomas for a long time before we found our way out of all the roundabouts and one-way streets. If you go, either take a tour bus there (easiest), or have a really good map and study it beforehand AND have someone at your hotel fill in the route on that map. Be aware that there are not a lot of signage in the town of Maspalomas that will guide you towards this attraction.

One of Puerto de Mogan's lazy, well-fed fat cats.

Walking around Puerto de Mogan
This is a popular fishing village on the south coast with beautiful buildings, a marina, lots and lots of restaurants, shops, and a beach.

It is heavily infused with tourists but still managed to feel "real". A nice place to go for a stroll and a meal. The kids enjoyed looking for fish in the (surprisingly) clear water in the harbor, and watching all the stray cats: the fattest strays I think I've seen anywhere.

The church in Mogan.

Mogan
This mountain village, located some kilometers inland from Puerto de Mogan, makes a great destination if you want an easy taste of the mountains of Gran Canaria. You drive up the narrow road heading up the valley, past a multitude of tiny villages and many beautifully, brightly painted houses.

The town of Mogan itself has a beautiful little church and a lot of gorgeous mountain scenery surrounding it. Not a lot for the kids to do in this town, but my daughter was fascinated by the paintings in the small church, especially the one showing the eternally damned. Her comment: "Those people don't look very happy."

View from the cliffs along the west coast of Gran Canaria. We were about 400 m above the ocean!

A drive around the island
On our last week in Gran Canaria we went for an adventurous drive around the island. It is a pretty small island, so this is totally do-able as a day trip.

We headed inland from Puerto de Mogan, past Mogan, and into the real mountains where the roads were so winding (and windy!) that anyone with a propensity for car sickness (me) felt like throwing up for most of it.

Even with the car sickness, it was an amazing tour. The view from the cliffs hundreds of meters above the ocean on the west side of Gran Canaria was breathtaking. For the kids, the highlights were the stops we made along the way to gawk at the scenery and almost get blown off the mountain tops.

We ate lunch in Puerto de las Nieves, the harbor of Agaete, and then kept driving all around the island and back to our hotel in Arguineguín. 

A note on driving: Be advised that while driving on Gran Canaria's well-maintained main roads is easy-peasy, the mountain roads are narrow, and often have dramatic cliffs towering on one side and a sheer drop-off on the other side of the roadside fence. Bring a good map, some motion sickness medication if you're so inclined, and a camera!

The cave site at Cuatro Puertas.

Caves!
There are several cave sites in Gran Canaria, and on our round-the-island drive I had promised the kids we'd go look at some caves. However, we missed the turn-off for the famous "Painted Cave", and instead decided to try to locate the more obscure Cuatro Puertas site.

It took some detailed map-studying, but we did find the site. It's located off an inland road between Telde and Ingenio on the south coast. You make a turnoff from that road, heading up a hill, and then the road just ends. After that, there is no signage, just a rough gravel road up the hillside until you reach the site itself. Once there, there is some signage explaining the history of the caves and the religious rites that may have been performed on the hilltop.

View from the cave site.

The site is called Four Doors, Cuatro Puertas, because the main cave has four big openings. To me, the site was curiously undeveloped for tourists: no entrance fee (good), no signage until you're almost at the caves already (bad), and no real visitor center that might help explain more about the significance of this ancient, archeological site.

it was an extremely windy spot (poor cave men!), but there's an awesome view of the coast, and the kids did like clambering around on the rocks and looking inside the caves.

Kissing the official Canarian dogs outside the cathedral.

Las Palmas
This is the capital of the Canary Islands and it's a big city. We kind of got lost driving around it, and my advice is: have a map, study it before you drive into the city and know exactly where you want to go.

The main event for us was walking by Christopher Columbus' house and visiting the big cathedral in the old part of the city. We took an elevator up to the top of the cathedral and got a great view of the city. However, I think the biggest thrill for the kids though was running around the big square outside the cathedral chasing pigeons, and hugging the statues of the original Canarian dogs.

You can read more about our trip, including tips on places to stay and beaches to go to here.

All photos taken by me, my husband, and my parents. Map thanks to cicar.com.

Traveling with kids to Gran Canaria: places to stay & beaches to visit

Our latest family vacation took us to the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands for two beautiful weeks.

Many of my friends in Canada and the US thought that going to the Canary Islands sounded exotic. For many Europeans however, the Canary Islands is a common-place destination and not really considered all that exciting. Lots of Europeans travel there for beach and sun vacations, especially in the winter months when the countries around the Mediterranean are too cold and rainy to enjoy the beaches and ocean.

After visiting, I think the Canary Islands is a great destination, though there are areas that are tourist traps to the n:th degree. As a family, we definitely had a great time and I would love to go back.

Getting there
For Europeans, including my Swedish family members who joined us in Gran Canaria, going to the Canary Islands means a 3-5 hour flight, depending on where you start out from. For us, coming from Vancouver, Canada, total travel-time to get there was more like 20 hours: Vancouver - Frankfurt, Frankfurt - Madrid, Madrid - Gran Canaria.

And yes, we were definitely wiped out by the time we arrived!

View of the hotel from the kids' pool.

The accommodation
We stayed at Sunwing Resort Arguineguín, which is a large family resort hotel mainly frequented by Scandinavians. The hotel is great for families with kids, with lots of facilities and services like washing machines and dryers, babysitting, on-site restaurants with kids' menus, a small deli/supermarket, a playground, plenty of activities for kids, a gym and a spa (that I never ended up using).

For those traveling with babies, there were strollers and high chairs available to rent for the duration of the stay.

There's buffet-style breakfast, lunch and dinner available at the hotel, and if you take the all-inclusive option, those are the meals that are included. The buffet breakfast was included as part of our stay, and there was a plentiful selection of everything from yogurt, cereal, pancakes, bacon, breads, and eggs. Some local cheese, ham and pastries were also available. It was an impressive spread.

The hotel has a baby pool and a kids' pool, as well as an adult pool. Both the kids' pool and the bigger, deeper pool were salt water pools which was a nice change from chlorine.The baby pool was covered to provide extra shade for little ones too.

View from our part of the hotel, towards the pool area below.

Our room was a "Big Family" room on the 2nd floor. It had a balcony, TV, a couch, lots of closet space, two bedrooms, a full kitchen, and a bathroom with a shower. It was very clean, had great beds and was comfortable and roomy.

The harbor in Arguineguín.

Arguineguín
Arguineguín is not the most touristy town on Gran Canaria, which is a plus in my book. It felt like a genuine town, with a life other than the tourist trade, even though there are certainly lots of hotels there. There were many good restaurants within easy walking distance of the hotel, a nice walkway along the beach, and several good supermarkets.

I'd definitely recommend both Arguineguín and nearby Patalavaca for anyone who is looking at going to Gran Canaria, especially if you're looking for something a little more quiet and laidback. Many other towns we visited were way, way more touristified and frantic. Of all the places we saw, these two towns and Puerto de Mogan, were my favorites.

The beaches

Most beaches in Gran Canaria, at least the ones close to towns and tourist centers, offer beach-chair and umbrella rentals. To claim a seat, just put your stuff down on chairs that look unoccupied and wait.

There's usually a guy walking around between the rows of chairs, ready to take your money and help you set up your umbrella for a few euros per seat, per day. 

Baby beach-tip: If you're bringing a baby to the beach (especially a pre-walking one), having a chair so you're off the sand and have an umbrella for shade is a definite plus!

I would have loved it if there had been a great beach right at the hotel, but that was not the case. True, there was a small, rocky/gravelly beach right next to the hotel, but we never went there.

There was also a small beach in the town center of Arguineguín, and another smallish beach in nearby Patalavaca, but we never went to either, even though they did look OK. They just didn't wow us I guess. 

A special note on beach-wear, or lack thereof: One thing for North Americans to be aware of: topless sunbathing is totally legal and common in Gran Canaria (whether this is a plus or not is a matter of opinion I guess). You will also see a lot of naked children on the beaches. Nudist sunbathing for adults is common, but is restricted to certain out of the way areas, mainly in the area of the sand dunes near Maspalomas.

Gran Canaria does have lots of beautiful beaches, and here are the ones we visited:

Playa del Ingles, looking towards the dunes (way off in the distance, past the masses of sunbathers.)

1. Playa del Ingles
This is a loooooooong stretch of beautiful sandy beach with gorgeous waves rolling in. The waves were probably a little much for really small kids (babies and toddlers), but for kids 3-4 years old and up it was awesome. Great sand to dig in, great water to swim and splash in, and lots of restaurants and shops just off the beach too. We had some really fantastic days on this beach, and when the waves were up even the adults had some serious fun in the surf!

It's a busy beach, but well worth a visit even if you will definitely be part of a biiig crowd.

The town of Playa del Ingles is a serious eye-sore though. It couldn't look more like a tourist-trap if it tried. Highrise hotels squished together, knick-knack souvenir-shops lining the streets, restaurants specializing in anything but local cuisine... all the stuff that makes me itch all over and want to run for the hills. Still, that beach explains why the town is so full of tourists. 

One note on washrooms: there are only a few public washrooms along this long beach. (I would have loved to see some stinky port-a-potties!) And if you find one, be prepared to pay 0.50 euros (cash, per person) to go inside. Have some coins available, and scout out the washrooms when you arrive, just to be ready if you have a "need to go now!" child. You can also use the washrooms at the restaurants when you have a meal, or ask the staff if you can use it even if you're not eating in the restaurant.

Near the dunes at Playa Maspalomas.

2. Playa Maspalomas
This beach is located on the other side of the famous sand dunes from Playa del Ingles. The dunes themselves are a nature reserve and a popular tourist (and nudist) destination. It's a beautiful beach, close by lots of hotels and shops in upscale Maspalomas, and to reach it you have to drive down some narrow streets between hotels and apartment blocks. It's worth the effort though.

Playa Maspalomas.

Beautiful sand, some rocks at the water's edge (not enough to bug anyone though), and some beach shacks where you can buy a small selection of drinks, sandwiches, chips, ice cream and ice-cold beer. I had two divinely cold cans of local Tropical beer here, lounging on my sun-chair while the kids enjoyed the beach.

Playa del Ingles is the better beach, but this was a nice one too.

Anfi del Mar.

3. Anfi del Mar
This is a man-made beach (I can't even imagine the cost and labor involved), consisting of sand apparently imported from the Bahamas! It's a kind of cove beach, protected from the surf and waves by a man-made reef (otherwise all that sand would wash away with the storms I guess).

The sand is beautiful, the water is very calm and clear, and this is a good place if you have very small children: they can play here without any danger from currents or waves. We enjoyed our day here and it was actually possible to walk to this beach from our hotel in Arguineguín (the walk took about 30 minutes) along the seawall promenade.

Set back from the beach there are restaurants and stores and a massive apartment complex called Club Anfi. There were a lot of nice-looking restaurants and bars, and a convenient parking garage with elevators that go right down to the beach.

A highly recommended beach if you're traveling with toddlers or babies.

4. Playa Amadores
This beach is located on the south coast too, just past the town of Puerto Rico (which looked like a Playa del Ingles in miniature). Like Anfi, it's a man-made beach and protected from the open ocean, so no good waves unfortunately. There is ample public, free parking at one end of the beach.

This beach looks gorgeous, but the one detracting factor is that the restaurants and shops are very close to the beach, and that there is a serious sense of tourist-hustle in those shops and restaurants. It was the one place where I felt uncomfortable because restaurant employees were almost physically grabbing us to push us into seats as we passed.

This beach would be really good if you're traveling with very young children, but for a better beach-experience, I'd rather recommend Anfi.

Right outside the hotel, just before sunset.

About the climate
March, when we visited, is still spring time in the Canary Islands, so it was nice and green on the mountain sides, and not blisteringly hot in the daytime (though the sand did get hot enough to scorch my feet!).

In the daytime, temperatures got up to about 25-29 degrees Celsius and it was sunny and gorgeous every day. At night however, and even in the mornings, it did get cool enough to warrant a sweater.

The water was nice too, but not tropically warm: this is the Atlantic after all. Water temperature was probably 19-20 degrees Celsius, and a bit warmer at the man-made beaches like Anfi del Mar and Amadores.

You can read more about places to eat and things to do in Gran Canaria here.

All photos taken by me, my husband, and my parents. Map thanks to cicar.com.

Unexpected vacation hazards: pyromaniac cockroaches

Our hotel accommodation in Gran Canaria, at the Sunwing Resort & Spa Arguineguín, was a really nice, clean (very clean), roomy, comfy, cozy, two bedroom apartment. It was a great hotel and a great room. I did enjoy our stay there a lot. But. The room did have cockroaches in it. Not a big deal, really, until the roaches tried to burn our room down. This is important: roaches CAN start fires. For real.

The roaches seemed to come to visit our room rather than live there. I never saw lots of them, just an occasional one. The first one was perched on the kids' pajamas in the closet one night. Then there was a roach running over the kitchen counter one morning, and then another (the same?) roach running over the counter another morning. I suspect now that they were coming in through the fan above the electric range, but I'm not totally sure.

They were all about 1 1/2 inches in size and beefy-looking. Like they worked out. The funniest thing about the roaches was really my 4-year old daughter's name for them: crotch-roaches. Which kind of fits, really.

Roaches are a fact of life in most countries with a warm climate. Still, they absolutely freak me the heck out. Maybe it's the way they move, or that slick, brown shell, or the way they kind of seem to look at you, though it's probably an illusion. Or so I hope.

Anyway, no big deal right? Sure, I got the cold sweats and my husband got the fun task of kicking one roach out (trying to kill them just gets ugly). But they're just bugs, and it's not like there were tons of them. (That we saw anyway.)

And then they tried to start a fire in our room.

It was our last day in the hotel. I woke up just after 6 am and wondered why it smelled like toast. So I got up and went into the kitchen where, to my great surprise, I saw that one of the elements on the electric range was on full blast. It was one of those touch-control ranges with the smooth glass top, and one element was hot and orange.

We hadn't used the range much, so there were several items sitting on top of the range, including a small lunch bag. That's what smelled like toast: one of its corners was blackened. I removed the bag, turned off the element, and then checked the family: everyone was sleeping. And when I looked into the kitchen again, I saw a cockroach run down the wall and right across that range.

My conclusion? I think a cockroach managed to run across the touch-activated control panel and turn the element on. I can't think of any other explanation for how this happened. No one was awake. And the range default was to turn an element on full when you touched the controls for it. I think the pitter patter of little roach-feet was enough to activate it and almost start a fire.

Scary? Oh yeah. I was just glad that the smell woke me up before anything actually caught fire.

So: be aware. Do not place flammable items on a range with touch-activated controls, even if you're not using it. I know I'll never do that again. And now I also have another reason to be freaked out by those darn crotch-roaches.

13 things I learned on the latest trip with my kids

The sand dunes near Maspalomas, Gran Canaria.

I've spent the last two weeks in the Canary Islands on the island of Gran Canaria. It was a fantastic trip with a lot of family, and I'm still working on shedding the haze of jet-lag. I'll be doing several write-ups on my experience in Gran Canaria (overall it was stellar), but for right now, here's a list of 13 things I learned when traveling with my kids this time:

1. Kids' meals can play hard to get
Even if you really, really try to get your child the kids' meal on board (including phoning the airline ahead of time and reminding the person at check-in), your child might still not get that meal. This happened to us on Lufthansa traveling both from and to Vancouver this time. I was not impressed. No kids' meals at all were available on board. Too bad when one of my kids did not like either pasta with feta cheese and veggies, or spicy chicken stew.

2. My daughter is obsessed with Megamind
It is possible to watch scattered scenes of the movie Megamind, on the screen next to you, with no sound and still actually kind of enjoy the show. My daughter watched this movie on both the way to Frankfurt and the way back to Vancouver, totaling between a dozen and fifty-eleven viewings. The movie is even better once you have the sound on too though.

Lazy kitty in the fishing town of Puerto Mogan.

3. Picky eaters can turn non-picky
Once picky eaters can turn into quite adventurous eaters! My 8 year old son ate beef stew on the airplane (I don't think he ever ate a whole portion of beef stew before), and also enjoyed calamari, Spanish cheese and a whole bunch of other things I'd never seen him eat before. My 4 year old daughter is still stuck in the "it doesn't look/taste/smell exactly-precisely-completely like it does at home"-phase, but I have hope. She did enjoy various kinds of french fries, vegetables, sausages, fish and bread, so she was alright.

4. Family hotels are, surprise!, great for families
This was the first time my family has stayed at a family resort. My verdict: staying at a hotel specifically designed for families does make it a lot easier to feel relaxed as a parent during your stay. A kids' pool, kid-friendly restaurants, and just the fact that most of the other guests have babies, toddlers, preschoolers and older kids really helps you feel more at ease. It also makes for noisy breakfast buffets, but I'll take that.

5. Roaches can start fires
Cockroaches can turn on stoves. I'll have more details on this in a later post, but I would like to warn everyone that if your hotel room has one of those stoves with a touch-activated control panel, do not (NOT!) put any flammable items on the elements.

Toes on Playa del Ingles.

6. There's a reason Playa del Ingles is so busy
Playa del Ingles in Gran Canaria is an awesome beach for kids, at least if they are 3-4 years and up and enjoy some waves and lots of sand. The beach is busy, and the town itself is a tourist trap to end all tourist traps, but that water and that sand are well worth a visit.

7. Squid is good
The seafood in Gran Canaria is fantastic. I ate meat as a main course only once. The rest of the time I ate fish of various kinds, octopus (yummy! especially when prepared "Galician style"), and a lot of grilled "chipirones", small squid that were delicious.

8. Sticker books rule
Sticker books are a fantastic, non-messy, non-noisy airport pastime for my bored kids. And play centers with climbing equipment and slides can also be fantastic (thank you Burger King at the Gran Canaria airport!).

Walking from our hotel into the town of Arguinegin to have dinner.

9. Beach is my kind of dress code
Spending two weeks dressed in bathing suits, sandals, shorts, tank tops and an occasional loose-fitting dress is the way to live.

10. Café con leche for the win
Spanish coffee with milk (café con leche) rules. No need to find a big coffee-chain, just a regular restaurant or small corner coffee-shop will do the trick.

11. There's only one problem with airport hotels
The problem with hotels close to the airport is that, well, they're close to the airport. This means airplanes fly overhead. A lot.

Kissing one of the original, Canary Island dogs in Las Palmas.

12. Snacks and naps are important
Remembering to bring regular snacks (that your child will actually eat) and providing time for naps (for jetlagged kids) can avoid messy meltdowns when you're out and about a lot while on vacation. Simple things like pretzels, an ice cream, a bag of chips, fresh fruit and a power nap on a sun-chair can do wonders for everyone's mood.

13. Outdoor eating is better in a lot of ways
Eating at outdoor restaurants makes restless, somewhat tired (still jet-lagged) kids a lot easier to deal with. They can run off and look at the ocean, go for a little walk while everyone's waiting for the main course, or just do an impromptu dance on the beach walkway. It just helps make things easier than if you're indoors and the children have to sit still in their chairs. And yes, being in a warm climate obviously helps with the whole "sitting outside" thing...