MadridWaites: BREAK, last part, GRAN CANARIA

GRAN CANARIA

This is the last entry for our temple break. We set out to the airport to fly from Tenerife to Gran Canaria. The airport is on the rainy side of Tenerife, and we had nothing but problems. We arrived in plenty of time to catch our morning flight. We checked in, checked our bags and arrived at our gate to begin the wait. About the time we needed to board there was announcement that our flight had been canceled. At that time we were required to leave the secure area, collect our baggage, and get in line to try and find another flight. I have never seen an airport that worked that way. Anyway, Greg managed to get us a flight 2 hours away. I might add here that the flights leave hourly from Tenerife to Gran Canaria. So we waited for two hours, and about the time we needed to board, the announcement came again that our flight was canceled. Again, we had to leave the secure area, collect our bags, get back in line to try and get another flight. Again, we got a flight two hours later. Once more we waited the two hours, and once more the flight was canceled. By this time we were all tired and frustrated, and poor Gloria was getting close to the end of her rope. She had been sick all week, and feeling really bad to begin with. We collected our bags once more and got in line again. This time we were told there were no more flights we could get on that day. They offered no compensation, or hotel rooms or help of any kind. We decided we did not want to get a hotel and go through all of this again the next day, so we grabbed a taxi and went to the port to try and get a ferry. We were in luck, but the ferry was another two hour wait. It was a nice ferry, and we had a decent dinner onboard. We hadn't eaten all day. The ferry was a three hour cruise. We finally arrived at our hotel in Las Palmas around midnight, and about 15 hours since the time we had begun our trial. It was supposed to be about a 15 minute flight. We could have flown to the US and half way back in the amount of time it took us to get the distance of a 15 minute flight. It put a real damper on our Canary adventure.

Las Palmas was a pretty and colorful city.

It was like Tenerife, where one side of the island is dry and
desert-like, while the other side is green, lush and rainy.

The water was so clear and blue, and waves came
from all directions. It was really interesting to watch.

This was the rainy side of the island, and the prettiest side.

We spent a morning at an openair market, where they had the most beautiful produce and many interesting people. Most of the shoppers were German tourists. While we were there we ran into our good friends, the Deschamps, who had decided to spend their last few days of the break on Gran Canaria. We made arrangements to meet them for dinner later on. That turned out to be the best meal we have had since we arrived in Spain.

It was a pretty island, and most of the towns were upscale.

There were statues and monuments on every corner.

This shopping area was park-like.

Looks like paradise.

There were lots of nice beaches, and a lot of frozen German's thawing out.

I love lighthouses.

A beautiful private home overlooking the beach.
There was a lot of money on this island.

An interesting vehicle to help you see the bottom
of the sea without getting your hair wet.

Took a drive up to the mountains.

This cute windmill just kind of sneaked up on us.

There was a neat cactus garden around the windmill, that turned
out to be a restaurant . In the garden there was giant cast iron stove...

A giant teapot ...

.. giant iron ...

... coffee grinder ..

... coffee pot...

... and soup pot.

Uh oh!

Back in Las Palmas. In front of the cathedral were
about a dozen dog statues. I have no idea
why, but they were kind of neat. The word canary means dog and not bird.

The old town is very pretty and interesting.

The cathedral. It was closed so we didn't see the inside.

This is the sweetest man in the world! He took
care of Gloria like she was his own mother.

I'm crazy about this darling lady as well.

This was an unusual sculpture. It looked like a bunch of caveman
types skinny dipping at the local watering hole.

This was a beautiful old grand hotel in Las Palmas.
The architecture was so pretty and old world, and definitely "Canarian."

Just outside of Las Palmas was this darling town of Arucas.

Cobblestone streets.

The biggest attraction was their cathedral. It is an old church, but was renovated in the early 1900s by a fellow who was an admirer of Gaudi. His work is very similar to the Gaudi cathedral in Barcelona.