My Virginal Gran Canaria Experience
Craig Scully, 1/06/08
Howdy!
My Gran Canaria experience
I’ve just got back from a fab couple of weeks in Gran Canaria, This was my first visit to the Island that I’ve heard so much about, I was really looking forward to getting out there and experiencing the Gay Dream that everyone kept telling me about.. At this point I think I should point out that according to Kev I made a fatal mistake before heading out and that was falling in love… apparently its a lot more fun if your single…lol…
Unfortunately I think people may have hyped the place up a bit too much for me cos on my first afternoon in the sun drinking a nice cold magners in the first gay bar we got to, I turned to kev and Said Not what I was expecting I think I might be a little disappointed here, when people described the Yumbo to me I think in my slightly snobbish manner I was expecting a Cribbs Causeway type of centre only the shops would be bars..
After seeing it for the first time nothing could have been further from the truth… Hmm we’ll see said kev..
65 Euros’ later and nothing but alcohol and aeroplane food in my belly I found myself staggering back to my hotel with a bottle of Spanish vodka and a few cans of red bull to keep me company while I was getting ready to hit the Yumbo Centre again only this time would be at Night..
Ok it was 10:15pm on my first night and I headed out the door pretty much sozzled and with the intention to go and see if my first impressions of the Yumbo could be improved upon from earlier in the day..
As we walked down the steps to the ground floor I think my chin hit the bottom before my toes, there were men walking around holding hands and snogging in the street there were Bears, Twinks and trannies to be seen at every angle and suddenly I felt like I had travelled back in a time machine to when I first came out and my best friend Pauly had taken me on a secret trip to Manchester Mardi Gras, I was witnessing Gay Rights and Freedom in all its glory and my god, how refreshing did it feel. The only down side was that it made me miss my fella a little bit more.
As the first week of the holiday went on and me and my friends all got a little bit browner and in Helen’s case a lot more red.. (ouch) the busier the place seem to get I couldn’t work out why until people reminded me that it was pride week here and the festivities really kick off this weekend..
I wont drone on about what happened all weekend as there is just far too much to tell everyone about but what I will say is…what a show the people of the maspalomas pride committee put on..
Everything was just perfect, most of the bars seem to be involved and joining in on the festivities more importantly most of the bars seemed to be working together in harmony, the tribute acts on stage were great fun for everyone, I must mention that Bear Force One were probably the funniest and most entertaining of the lot, if you get a chance check out their video on you tube. Hilarious…
There was one really touching moment when there was a recorded message from Elton john shown on the big screen reminding everyone about the dangers of HIV and asking us to take a moment to remember someone we may know who has been affected by the disease and apart from the odd loser who clearly though they were special the whole of the Yumbo seem to come to a stand still and you could almost hear a pin drop. As I looked around me I saw people from all walks of life clearly moved by what was going on, I swear I even saw a small tear fall down the side of Kev’s Cheek.
Finally the tribute to old Shirley Bassey was outstanding and she really did get the party started as the Gay pride Party was now in full swing. The next day saw the Pride march with pretty much every bar having their own float and everyone who was anyone out there getting involved, it was amazing to see families line the streets to watch in anticipation as the floats went passed. All I can say is Well done to everyone involved it really was an amazing event and lets hope that the people of Swindon and surrounding area’s make as much effort for our first pride this year..
Once pride was over and all the pride goers had jumped back on their planes to head home, the Yumbo Centre changed again, it was a lot quieter the second week there were less people, apparently it was just outside the main season, although it was quieter the party still roared on and on the Friday night of the second week my friends and I decided we going to hit the Yumbo YMCA style, there were cowboys and Indians, builders and sailors, police and gay bikers and we were all pretty sozzled before we left the apartment, we staggered down the steps to the bottom floor and hit pretty much every bar we possibly could, having a drink in each, everyone who saw us gave us a great welcome and even joined in our games and YMCA dancing..
Apart from the Bear Hole bar. They kicked us out! How Rude, However one might think they kicked us out for being drunk, disorderly or even slightly too loud, but oh no not in Gran Canaria as all those factors are allowed or even expected, nope we were kicked out of the bear Hole for having 2 girls with us…. They didn’t mind the twink builder or the tall cowboy or the camp sailor they didn’t even mind the straight guy pretending to be a gay biker! But two women dressed as police and an Indian were well and truly asked to leave, work that out…lol…
Anyways we headed off to the next bar and got a fab welcome at Tropical the staff were lovely and welcoming and they even took photos for us.. Thanks Guys!
The following day I think its fair to say that everyone of the YMCA cast felt the pain of the previous night so much so that my little sister spent most of the morning and pretty much most of her flight home throwing up and walking like a zombie, someone said to me that morning if you suffered like that you just wouldn’t drink would you? I really don’t know the answer to that question, sure the morning after is painful but the night before was soooo much fun! Lol.
The end of the Gran Can trip was finally here and on the last night those of us that were left were reliving the past fortnight over dinner the highs the lows, experiencing pride and feeling the hangovers. At the start of this blog I mentioned that people had talked the Place up so much I felt I might be disappointed, I’m still none the wiser on this so here’s my take on the place
Gran Can was full of sex in every sense of the word everywhere you went it was pretty much filth I mean they even had sex in the streets, the bars had dark rooms and there were bars for pretty much every preference you could think of, I am glad I experienced Gran Canaria and it did live up to what everyone had told me about, I’m not sure I’d go there again but I think that’s just a personal preference when it comes to holidays. But I would like to put right some of the points people made to me . You can go to Gran Canaria if you have a boyfriend, yes there is lots of temptation there for everyone, but if your in a committed and happy relationship you can still have fun in GC without the worry of your partner running off with the first hot guy he see’s.
Also Kev told me before we went I made a fatal mistake by falling in love just before I went, well he was right in one sense cos I did miss my fella like mad until he came out the second week, but to be fair, I don’t think I missed anything by being in love in fact I think it gave me the opportunity to see if from the outside, and in any case two days into the holiday the almighty wise kevsta fell in love himself and I think now post GC, even he will admit,
its never a bad thing to fall in love..
As always Love n Hugs
Skully
xx