6. Simply Gran Canaria

D was first up this morning, so had the one of the unique pleasures of a cruise - opening the curtains and seeing the new port. ‘Does it look nice?’ I enquired. ‘If you like boats and building sites’, was his reply. The view was much better on the starboard side when we went to breakfast, the urban sprawl of Las Palmas has enough creamy white buildings, palm trees and blue sea to look cheerful. Lots of cloud though, with a predicted temperature of only 21 degrees - cooler than the UK - which made D furious. 

Getting off the ship we thought we spotted a sightseeing bus in the distance – hooray – need to rest our feet today. We were relieved to find we were correct; yesterday we headed eagerly in the direction of a little train we had seen in the distance (we love the tourist ‘petit trains’), only to find it was part of a children’s playground. Acted as if we knew that and meant to go there. 

Paid our 50€ and queued for ages, then raced to the open top, ready for 75 minutes of thrilling and informative guided tour. D’s headphones didn’t work, so we shared one, which was OK until one of us moved to take a photo and disconnected the other one.

Las Palmas is the largest city in the Canary Islands and the grey back streets could be in any city anywhere, but we did have the commentary and the lively Spanish music to keep us entertained. An old woman called Anna founded the city when she rescued a Castilian from an attack by a Canarian Aborigine; the Virgin Mary appeared in a pine tree; the church took 300 years to build and Christopher Columbus stopped there to get his rudder mended. In more modern times the city is famous for its carnival in February, which exhibits the ‘true Canarian spirit’ and boasts not just a Carnival Queen, but a Carnival Drag Queen, too.

By now we’d explored the bay area and seen the famous beach Playa del Ingles – the best urban beach in the world - and were heading for higher ground for the views. We passed the Latin Quarter in the old town, which is a world heritage site; a jumble of brightly coloured Brazilian style houses up on the hillside.

It was absolutely perishing on the top deck, due to the cloud cover and the howling wind. Apparently, Las Palmas has Spring temperatures all year round, with averages of 18-26 degrees, but is affected by ‘Elysian Winds’ and those clouds, which the locals call ‘Donkey Belly’. There was plenty of ass belly hanging over our bus – the woman in front of me had bare shoulders and they were blue.

Warmed up in the shopping centre which is right next to the port, then joined the friendly trickle of fellow passengers heading back to the ship. The ship becomes a haven, you feel quite proud and fond of it, seeing it there majestically in the dock, waiting for you to return.  I even called it ‘she’ once and was horrified at myself.

Ventura has been nicely colonised now, so queuing isn’t so long and the horror I felt being squashed in with so many people has abated - because we’ve all spread out. The families (of which there are mercifully few, proportionately), tend to stay on the top decks near the pools and kids’ club. The really ancient sit in the comfy chairs in the Tamarind Lounge (it’s like the Taj Mahal), by the large windows; some people never move from the buffet and many spend their time overlooking the Atrium, watching Chris & Jill teaching people to dance. Add to that those who are in the spa or doing an activity, plus the dissolute in the casino and the pub (D's often there), it leaves enough room for the rest of us to sit down. 

Elton John was great last night; the shows have all been excellent, especially after a good meal and a bottle of wine. Tonight it’s the talented Headliners: 13 young performers who were selected from the thousands who audition every year, paying tribute to ‘some of the best contemporary musicals’. Simply Grand.