GCGuru newsletter March 2009
As summer has suddenly arrived, before everyone heads off to the beach I thought I'd let you know what's happening in Gran Canaria in the next month or so.
Firstly don't forget the clocks change on the 29th March and it's (Spanish) Father's day on Sunday.
What's on
It's the Maspalomas Carnaval at the moment and although it's not as big as Las Palmas many regard it as just as good. It started a couple of weeks ago but the best bits are this week, there is the Drag Queen competition on Thursday and the main parade on Saturday followed by the burial of the sardine on Sunday. You can see the full program here . Also, at the moment we have the Hollywood car show in Las Palmas just next to the main football stadium. It's a big American car extravaganza - there are stunt cars, cars on two wheels, monster trucks etc. It looks quite good especially if you like cars and big old American entertainment. More information can be found here . If you're feeling active and you want cheap sports equipment the Decathlon second hand sale (trocathlon) is currently on - they usually have a good selection of bikes, fitness equipment, watersports stuff and random bits and pieces like hockey sticks and squash racquets. Try to get there before Saturday though.
Apart from that we have the usual selection of cultural events in Las Palmas with musicals, orchestras etc. You can see the full list in the events section of the website.
If you're feeling a little energetic this month a new bike company has opened up in Las Palmas offering cultural city bike tours. You do a tour of the city by bike (obviously) have lunch at one of the best restaurants on the island and get to visit all the best bits of the city. It looks like a really good day out. You can find out more information on their website www.cyclegrancanaria.com. It's all in English too.
Ways to beat the recession!
Many people think it is expensive living here but if you know a few tricks there are few ways to save a bit of money and live like a king without having to earn footballer's wages, so for the next few newsletter issues I will give a couple of hints on how to save money out here in GC. This week I am going to talk about internet shopping. With the pound diving against the Euro, now is a really good time to buy stuff in the UK and get it shipped over here. Apart from our food shopping we buy pretty much everything else on the internet and save huge amounts of money. For CDs and books I would recommend www.play.com. It is free delivery to here and they even have a second hand section, you can pick up many DVDs for under a fiver. If you have any books, CDs or DVDs you don't want you can also sell them on there too. We've just made 100 euros from some old DVDs we didn't want. For everything else our first stop is usually ebay.co.uk. An obvious choice I know, but if you know how to use it you can get some great deals. My hint this week is to use a sniper to make your bids for you. Snipers are software or websites that put your bid in 5 seconds before the auction ends therefore guaranteeing that no one tries to outbid you. We use www.gixen.com as it is free, web based and you don't have to download anything. Ebay is also great for selling stuff too, I just sold a broken Nintendo DS for 60€. However before you put all your possessions for sale have a look to see how much they'll go for. To do that just click advanced search and select the box completed listings, this is definitely worth doing as not everything will get you much cash. If you have any suggestions on how to save money please comment on this newsletter on the website and I'll try to include it in the next issue.
Flights and hotels
Right now is a great time to get a weekend break in the south. There are some real bargains available before the Easter holidays, All inclusive for 2 people from 70€ and apartments from 25€, have a look on the alpharooms booking section of the website. Now is also the best time to get your summer flights home. The direct ones with Easyjet, Thomson etc. are quite pricey but you can get some real bargains if you go via Spain. I'e just got a return to London in August for 140€. To get to the mainland use Spanair, Iberia or Vueling with your residents discount and then link to the UK with Easyjet or Ryanair. You'll have to go via Madrid, Barcelona or Malaga but it will be half the price.
Finally as this is a community based site I am offering free ads in the newsletter to people who help out on the forums etc. So ...
Our first ad is for a steam cleaner - You can rent one for 25€ a day from Madscot. If you don't know what a steam cleaner is (as I didn't) it is a hoover type machine that will superclean your house, car, matress etc. without chemicals. You can contact Madscot via the his ad in the classified section of the website.
As always, thanks to everyone who has contributed to the site his month, we've had lots of useful information added, we're still lacking a bit on the restaurant reviews though so if you know of any good restaurants on the island please add them, it only takes a minute.
Enjoy Easter and the beach.
The Gran Canaria Guru team - www.grancanariaguru.com