Gran Canaria
Posted: 13 June 2008 05:35 PM  
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Hey all,
I’m heading down to Gran Canaria tomorrow morning and, never having been there, wondered if anyone had any tips or advice.

What’s the best way to get to my hotel without renting a car, taxi? I looked at Google Maps of Gran Canaria and the airport looks pretty far away from Las Palmas.

Any good restaurants?

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Posted: 13 June 2008 06:21 PM   [ # 1 ]  
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well Twenty kilometres from the airport,  According to the Bureau of Tourism of Gran Canaria some 400,000 people live here of many nationalities, making it a real melting-pot of cultures and cuisines. Triana district, from the beginning, was an area for traders, shopkeepers and businesses. Its main street is lined with historical buildings and these are now protected, having been declared an historical monument. It is now pedestrianised and is one of the main shopping areas of the city and tapas bars
there good nite life in Las Palmas.
jurdy

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Posted: 13 June 2008 07:51 PM   [ # 2 ]  
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Thanks Jurdy!

Anyone know about buses vs. taxis from the airport?

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Posted: 13 June 2008 08:39 PM   [ # 3 ]  
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here the airport web site http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?Language=ES_ES&pagename=subHome&MO=1&SMO=1&SiteName=LPA&c=Page&cid=1048858940196
y Informaci?n tur?stica , http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?Language=ES_ES&cid=1132835420082&pagename=subHome&SMO=1&SiteName=LPA&c=Page&MO=6
jurdy

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Posted: 19 June 2008 07:11 PM   [ # 4 ]  
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Just to follow up having got back from my trip yesterday:

1. The buses are quite well labeled. You take the #60 to go back and forth between Las Palmas at the airport. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Las Palmas, about 40 to get back to the airport. It’s around 2-3? for your ticket.

2. Las Palmas and the Canaries are cheap like borscht by comparison to Barcelona (and Sevilla - my two most recent experiences). Smokes are only 1.25 per pack! Menus del Dia are still to be found for 6.50 and bocadillos can be had for 1.50? (though I’d stick to the 2? bocadillos personally). The south of the island - Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles - are much more expensive but certainly not where an expat might live (I’d hope), so I’ll ignore them for now.

3. Jurdy: you’re right about it being a melting pot. It was quite remarkable. Very harmonious.

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Posted: 19 June 2008 09:17 PM   [ # 5 ]  
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The south of the island - Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles - are much more expensive but certainly not where an expat might live (I?d hope), so I?ll ignore them for now. so you riped off my the spanish that own all the irish bars .... and did you go to the the Yumbo Center shopping center. it the Gay area with the drag shows LOL

3. Jurdy: you?re right about it being a melting pot. It was quite remarkable. Very harmonious. i am all was right , most time lol

The Expatriator what dose the dogs at the airport have to do with the island ? think off it befor you post it up
jurdy

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Posted: 19 June 2008 09:25 PM   [ # 6 ]  
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Didn’t make it into the Yumbo center because I lost my rental car which cost me 2 hours! Found it though, but it killed my afternoon down there.

Dogs at the airport? Dunno, there’s a ton of drugs down there though. Very relaxed about it in general. Talked to one dealer who said prices were about 1/3 that of northern europe and easy to get. Not that I’m into that stuff at all of course! This guy was the bar tender at a bar I was at.

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Posted: 19 June 2008 10:51 PM   [ # 7 ]  
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The name “Islas Canarias” is likely derived from the Latin term Insula Canaria, meaning Island of the Dogs, a name applied originally only to Gran Canaria. The dense population of an endemic breed of large and fierce dogs, similar to the Canary Mastiff (in Spanish, el Presa Canario), may have been the characteristic that most struck the few ancient Romans who established contact with the islands by the sea.

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