We've spent the day in Las Palmas, Grand Canary Island, not the prettiest part of the European vacation string of islands off the western coast of Africa. Today's the beginning of the last segment of our 3 part long cruise, but this place has an international airport and makes for a good "change-over" point for the cruise line. The new folks just got onboard and look just like those who just got off. I haven't heard much German yet. So maybe the full ship (with 275 guests) will be OK.
The town of Las Palmas is described by Fodors as "dirty, full of traffic, and not much to see." Not quite true as it has a very nice beach and a few gems, well pretty rocks anyway. We took a "hop-on/hop-off" bus this afternoon and saw the cathedral and a lot of tourist shops and restaurants between the traffic jams, but a highlight of the ride was a pretty local parish church, El Corte. It is built on the site of a legend of Mary rising on a pine tree to save a shepherd (or something like that). I took a picture of the church and the nifty plaque on its front. We also walked the old town area near the soot encrusted cathedral and found the area nicer than the landmark. We also saw a guy who seemed to not be wearing pants, a restaurant serving a potato dish that was made with birds (if not dogs), and a new building that must not have been made to withstand the local strong winds.
On tonight to Tenerife to look at the volcano and Arrecife to visit the Fire Mountains. More on these in a couple of days.
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