Puerto de Mogán

Today we began to spread our wings, thanks to hiring a car (a VW Polo, at a remarkably reasonable rate of 50 euro for three days).

I had memories of spending time in Puerto Rico on previous trips here, along the coast west of Playa del Inglés, but the guide book in our house was very negative about this, whereas it sang the praises of a smaller spot a bit further west, called Puerto de Mogán, and that's where we went.

The later part of the journey was pretty hair-raising, along a high, twisting road cut into the mountainside, but we survived in one piece and finally found our way down to this really pretty and rather sleepy town built around what was once a working fishing harbour but is now packed with expensive yachts. Despite all the expensive boats, Puerto de Mogán treated us to an enjoyable easygoing afternoon, in an atmosphere much quieter than what we'd become used to in Playa del Inglés. The only real disappointment was lunch, which was over-priced and not at all nice.

We walked around the harbour and stopped for coffee at the far end, where we pooh-poohed a waiter who advised us to get an umbrella, since rain was on the way. He was right, of course, as we found out later in the night. Quite a heavy shower came as a real surprise, since rain and Gran Canaria are not supposed to go together at all.

Before late-night drinks we had a fantastic meal in Mama Mia, a really good Italian restaurant in the Yumbo Centre. I went for one of the evening specials, which was a delicious plate of squid-ink spaghetti with prawns and avocado. Yummy.