spain: canary islands: gran canaria: arucas and maspalomas and las palmas

While on my bus from Agaete to Las Palmas I realized this would be the last few days of my new years holidays. The bus didn't take long, around 40 minutes. I got off the bus before the final stop, as it went quite close to where I had booked a place to stay. This particular hostel was just a couple streets over from the place I stayed when I first arrived in Las Palmas, three weeks earlier.

I checked in and relaxed for a while, then went for a walk. By walk I mean I walked to the beach, all of a seven minute walk. 

The weather was good, it felt good to lay in the sun for a while. After a couple hours I put clothes back on over my bikini, and started walking again.

The only sight I hadn't seen during my first visit to Las Palmas was a former castle. It was over on the east side of the Las Palmas peninsula, near the marina/port. I walked by several beautiful rose bushes in the gardens in front of the castle, they smelled lovely even though the flowers looked as though they were near their end.

As I entered the castle I discovered there was an entrance fee, payable at a ticket desk in a different building. I didn't feel like paying (I have no idea why, I just didn't,) so I walked away instead. The reviews I read later made me think I hadn't really missed anything.

I stopped in a couple souvenir shops while walking back toward my hostel.

The next morning I took my time getting going, (when on holiday, I like having no responsibilities, or a hard core schedule to keep,) but eventually started walking toward a bus stop to catch a bus to my destination for the day. On the way I stopped at a cafe and had porras con chocolate for breakfast. These were even better than the churros I'd had in Puerto a few days earlier.

I got on the bus, which took me to Maspalomas, on the southern end of Gran Canaria.

Maspalomas is mostly known as a resort area, and as the bus drove through, I could see why. I saw hotel after hotel after hotel, as well as restaurants and cafes. I'm sure there are homes somewhere in the area, but I didn't see any of them.

I had briefly looked at booking accomodation in the area for a couple days, but after seeing that it was nothing but hotels and such, I was glad I hadn't done so. Especially because the prices were not cheap, and none of the reviews were outstanding.

By the time the bus came to its final stop I was rather carsick, and I was thrilled to start walking. It wasn't the fault of the driver, rather, the roads were very twisty which doesn't usually sit very well with me.

I entered the beach area near a lighthouse, turned right, and started walking. Then I realized that continuing in this direction was not going to take me to a beach, which is what I wanted. I turned around, walked past the lighthouse, and got to a beach. I found a spot and laid out my malong, then soaked up sun for a little while. It turned out to be just windy enough that I was covered in fine sand after just 30 minutes or so. Oooops.

Either way, it was worth it to be in the sun.

One of the sights of Maspalomas (other than the beach,) is a series of really big dunes. After throwing on clothes over my bikini, I started walking around the dunes. I was initially wearing jandals, which I ended up taking off rather quickly, as they made walking in sand rather difficult.

Some of the dunes are pretty big, and when I finally got to the top of a couple of them, I felt as though I had a pretty good view of the water and beach.

I got to see sunset, which was lovely. I wasn't the only one out there, but it was pretty quiet, with people just taking in the natural beauty.

After dark I walked back to the bus station, and caught the next bus back to Las Palmas. Thankfully, the way back didn't make me feel sick.

The next morning I went back to the same cafe for more porras con chocolate. I don't know how to describe it other than to say these are a bit of heaven, and its a good thing I don't have easy access to them back in Moscow.

I caught another bus, the ride to a small town called Arucas was less than an hour. I hopped off the bus in the middle of a very small town, slightly motion sick. Since none of the roads on the islands are straight, I was a little motion sick every time I rode a bus between towns.

The main sight of Arucas is a giant cathedral. I was amazed at the size of the church in relation to the size of the town itself. The carving of the exterior of the church was really intricate, I wish I'd been able to get closer, and higher up, so I could appreciate more of it. Unfortunately the church wasn't open when I arrived, but hours were listed, so I made a mental note of when to come back.

The streets of Arucas were super cute. It felt like a small town, and was relatively quiet whle I walked around. At one point while I was taking photos a guy came up to me and asked if I would be a model in a posed photo for him. He said he was working in an official capacity of the tourist office of the town. I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but the photo he wanted was of me taking a photo, with the sign of the tourist office in the background, so hey, whateva. I never did figure out where I could find the finished product of whateva he was doing.

From there I wandered into a small platz, where I sat for a while, chatting with my sister through an app. I watched people as we talked, which was nice.

One of the other sights listed online was a park. I headed in that direction, and found it easily. The park seemed rather small to me, it didn't take me long to walk through the entire thing. Maybe I missed part of it?

Across the street from the park was an interesting looking building. I used my phone to find out that it was the building of the water usage organization on the island. It wasn't open for visiting, but the front of the building was photogenic. (To me at least.)

I looked at my watch and noted that I still had a couple hours to go before the church would open again, so I walked down the street in the opposite direction from town. The street took me sloooowly down a hill, and during the walk I got some nice views of the city back up on the hill.

Eventually I turned around, and walked all the way back through town, and out the other side. The way I've written this makes it sound as if the walk was longer than it was.

I stopped when I got to a traffic circle that had a big city name sign on one side. Next to the city name was a cactus garden of sorts, which I loved. I'd learned my lesson previously, and did not make any attempts to befriend any of the cacti. ;)

When I got back to the town center, it was finally time for the church to be open. I loved the feeling when I walked in. The interior architecture drew my eyes up, and I appreciated the grand feeling of the place. Some stained glass windows all around, and a grand altar up front. I walked all the way around, taking plenty of photos, then sat for a while and thought about life.

After the church I found a random cafe nearby and ordered a sandwich. It ended up being another case of my eyes being bigger than my stomach, I couldn't finish the food. Whoops.

Eating just before the bus ride was a good thing, it helped settle my stomach a bit; I felt fine when I got back to Las Palmas. It was either that, or we were on straighter roads. Either way, I called it a day and went back to my hostel for the evening.

The next morning was my last day on the islands. I started with another breakfast of porras con chocolate, and seriously considered figuring out a way to get them in Moscow. SO GOOD. 

I packed up my bags, and checked out of the hostel, leaving my bags at the front desk.

From there I started walking. I found a playground of sorts (basically an outdoor gym for adults, kindof,) on one end of the beach, and played around myself for a few minutes. Then I realized how out of shape I am, and moved on.

I kept walking along the road, which followed the coast. I got to see the water crash against the coast over and over again. A 30 minute walk down the road I came to a statue of sorts. 

A lot of rocks were piled up, in a shape that made me think of a woman. It was as if she was looking out over the water.

After taking photos of the woman, I walked back to the beach, and laid out for a little while, taking my last chance to soak up the sun. From there I went to a souvenir store, to make sure I had enough postcards.

From there I went back to the hostel where I changed and repacked, then took the bus to the airport. I slept at the airport, though the sleep wasn't good and I'm not sure how much time I actually spent unconscious.

The departures area of the Las Palmas airport is not a place you want to have to spend a lot of time, it's not terribly comfortable.

The plane took off right around sunrise, and I was treated to a beautiful view as the plane rose through the crowds.

I would happily return to the Canary Islands sometime in the future. I only got to see two islands, so there are plenty I haven't seen. I'd like to return when it is slightly warmer, so the beaches would be more fun. I'd like to do more hikes, and see more of the national parks.