Heaven's just three blocks from Hell

Ted. This morning, Judy and I were strolling along a pleasant street in Las Palmas when we came upon a construction site. The equipment threw up a cloud of dust and a cacophony of noises. Jogging over a couple of blocks, we were once again on a quiet avenue. We then rested at the café in a park we like that has a little castle, a rose garden and is usually deserted, in spite of being three blocks from the hectic cruise ship port.

Plaza del Castillo de la Luz

It struck me that this often happens when we travel. We can choose to walk along a touristy street filled with "typical restaurants," souvenir stands and touts like Váci utca in Budapest, or walk along a parallel avenue three blocks over that is sublime.  Meander three blocks off the Champs Élysée in Paris and you might find yourself in a peaceful neighborhood, not unlike a French village.

"Tipico" means "filled with tourists"

Swimmers beach at Las Canteras

The famous beach here, Las Canteras, has quiet stretches and crazy parts that are packed. If the later is all one ever sees, one may leave Las Palmas thinking it is wall-to-wall sunburnt, Northern Europeans. 

We, on the other hand see mostly Spanish teenaged surfers and retirees enjoying a relaxing afternoon.

Surfers beach at Las Canteras

Our journey is certainly affected by our attitude, but the paths we choose make a difference as well. Robert Frost, when faced with two roads put it nicely:

“I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference.”

A typical day for two nomads

Ted. Many people tell us that they can’t imagine sightseeing every day:  packing and unpacking constantly, eating in restaurants all of the time, and rarely seeing their kids or grandkids. Judy and I couldn’t agree more! Nearly two years into retirement, I think our lives are surprisingly similar to those of our retired friends, aside from the fact that, when I wake up in the morning, I sometimes have to remind myself what country I’m in. There are times when we are very active tourists, like our two weeks in Morocco. These weeks are balanced, though, with more leisurely stays like the month we are currently enjoying in Las Palmas. Our lives here are much the same as they would be were we still in the apartment in Atlanta that we loved so much.

On waking up, we typically fix a light breakfast, browse the news online and play sudoku and crosswords. That’s followed by morning stretches, exercises and showers. Then come our routine items like doing laundry, buying groceries, paying bills, studying Spanish, checking Facebook (Judy), writing blog posts, doing research on future destinations, going to a yoga class (Judy), and cleaning up around the apartment. After that could come a walk (here, that means the beach for Judy) and then lunch preparation. This is normally our main meal of the day and we try to fix healthy food with lots of salads and vegetables. After lunch, I like to read and then nap while Judy reads (on the beach). Late afternoon is the time for a walk that includes a stop at a cafe. 2-3 times per week we do a little exploring. We rarely see all of the popular sights where we live but we do like to see some of them.  We usually have extra activities throughout the week like church, volunteer opportunities and “Meetup” groups. Sometimes we have friends in the area and join them for outings. Every week or two, we Facetime our kids and grandkids. Our days usually wind down with a snack at home while playing cards or watching something on Netflix. We finish with our books and bed.

So – yes, we are living as nomads, wandering the world, but a typical day is much as it would be if we stayed in Atlanta. But then again, we do get to stroll the beach promenade after my nap today!

"Same same...but different"

Ted. Wandering the streets of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, I keep thinking of a funny phrase that we heard last year in Cambodia. In SE Asia, when one asks why a "Rolex" is just $15 or how one can distinguish two fish and rice dishes, the response is usually, "Same same...but different." To me, this expression can also describe two places like Las Palmas where we are now and Cádiz, Spain where we spent the first two months of the year.

Naturally, the stores, prices and products are about the same. The wine and tapas are much alike. Once again, parts of town are a bit seedy and we notice some graffiti and a few professional panhandlers. The accent sounds similar to my ear. The weather here is comparable, generally sunny and windy, though about 10 degrees (F) warmer. The local population blends seamlessly with tourists and expats. Cruise ships come and go, bringing surges of tourists. As in Cádiz, we hear lots of German, to which is now added Italian and various Scandinavian accents. Las Palmas has even more surfers and, once again, we have a nice promenade along the beach with plenty of benches.

The topography is a lot different, though. Gran Canaria is a volcanic island with the highest point at 6,400 ft. Head out of town and you pretty much drive straight up into the hills.

The people here, called Canarios, seem to be a bit more outgoing than Gatitanos (locals in Cádiz) and typically respond to a greeting of  “Buenos Diás!” on the street. They also use some different words, reflecting the historic presence of Portuguese and English visitors and centuries of interaction with the New World, especially Cuba and Venezuela. For instance, in Spain (what many Canarios call the mainland), one calls a bus an “autobus.” Here, we use the Cuban term “guagua” (pronounced “wawa”). 

I have also noticed many similarities to Hawaii such as black sand beaches, palm trees, an abundance of surfers and great fresh fish. Here are some more:

Characteristic                              Canary Islands     Hawaiian Islands

Formation of islands                     volcanic                   volcanic

No. of main islands                       7                               8

Ht. of tallest volcano                     12,200 ft                  13,800 ft

Population                                      2.1 million              1.4 million

Estimated arrival of human          1000 BCE                300 CE

Avg year round temp, F                71-84                       79-90

One could argue that the Canaries are Europe’s Hawaii. A big difference for us, though is that the prices are much lower here. So, we will enjoy the warm weather and inexpensive wine and tapas for a couple more weeks. This makes a wonderful place to relax and study Spanish as we finalize plans for our next trip – South America.

Hilltop view of Las Palmas

A Grand time in Gran Canaria

Judy. When we told friends we were spending a month in the Canary Islands, on the island of Gran Canaria, they typically said, “Well, that’s a great place for you to relax. There’s nothing to do there.”

I’m not sure just what part of the Canaries they visited, but we’ve hardly slowed down! I’ve heard that Maspalomas, the “English Beach,“ is like that, but here on the north side of the island, in Las Palmas, living near Playa de las Canteras, things are hopping!

As we did in Cadiz, we walk along the beach promenade almost every day. Further south on the same beach it’s somewhat touristy, but here we get surfers and locals. The waves are massive, and it’s fun to watch the surfers, from about age six up, from novices to experts, maneuver through and around to get the best ride. You can grab wine or coffee and sit for hours watching them.

Tide's out!

Or you can wait for the tide to go out and plop yourself on the black lava sand and enjoy the sunshine. The water’s surprisingly warm here, and the rocks hiding just beneath the surface make for interesting wave patterns.

But that’s on the quiet days, the ones where you take more than a couple of hours for a nap or rest.

Our first Saturday we walked to Parque de Santa Catalina and stumbled on a group of Canarian folk dancers and musicians. After a song or two, locals just started dancing as well. After enjoying that, we walked downtown to the Old Town and tourist information. We definitely want to go back to see the sights there. I posted a video below. Remember to see the video, you'll have to visit losingsightshore@blogspot.com.

Our friend Jose Maria, who spent Christmas with us several years ago, lives here, and

With Jose Maria

one night took us to San Lorenzo, a tiny town in the mountains, to eat typical Canarian food, which was not like any food I’d had before, but delicious:  tiny potatoes with mojo sauce; ropa vieja, a pork dish; and delicious Canary cheese.

One day we took a bus tour around the northern part of the island and discovered mountains, forests, rocky outcroppings and quaint towns. One of these, Tejeda, is named one of the most beautiful towns in Spain. Spread out over several hills, its white houses sparkle against the green trees. They also have some pretty delicious marzipan. We definitely want to return to two other towns, Teror (where the Virgin appeared in a pine tree years ago), and Arucas (where a student of Gaudi built the massive church, and also where Jose Maria lives).

Teror, monument to the Virgin in Pine

Gaudi's student's work, Arucas

A view from the mountains

Tejeda 

Ever heard of WOMAD, the World Music and Dance festival? It’s held in venues all over the world, and one weekend, it was here—and free! For three nights we walked to Parque de Santa Catalina and listened to flamenco, North African music, Canarian bands, Scottish bands, and Ladysmith Black Mombasa, whom we’ve loved listening to since Paul Simon released his album Graceland.

Maalem Hamid dl Kasri

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

I’ve located a yoga studio, and in addition to practicing in our apartment, I visit Om Yoga Studio weekly. As it’s my third time practicing in a Spanish studio, my Spanish—at least the directions and body parts words—is improving. And John, who's Irish, and his wife, Christelle, who's French, translate from Spanish to English when needed!

Speaking of improving Spanish, on Tuesday evenings we go to an intercambio. We meet at a café on the beach, pair up—one English speaker and one Spanish—and walk the beach for about 45 minutes, speaking Spanish one way and English another. Not many of the English speakers are English or American. We’ve met folks from Poland, Finland, and Germany, among others. Last Tuesday, I paired up with Maria, who was terrified—her English was almost non-existent. I was feeling pretty cocky helping her out till it was time to speak in Spanish. I’ve still got work to do. After the walk we sit in a café in groups and talk. Poco a poco, our Spanish is getting better.

Holy Trinity on Veterans' Day

We located a little Anglican church, Holy Trinity, in the English Gardens part of the city, about a 20-minute walk away. On Veterans’ Day, they had a deeply moving service with readings from soldiers and poets about WWI. The church was packed. Regular services don’t have quite so many folks, and they can take the time to speak to us.

It’s odd to see Christmas decorations going up everywhere, without any hint of Thanksgiving except for the ubiquitous Black Friday sale signs. I have to admit they took me by surprise, since I tend to lose track of what month it is, much less what day.

Christmas is coming!

Ted located a tiny 16-seat Argentinian steak house that is absolutely delicious, and not expensive at all. While we mostly eat at home, that’s one of the restaurants on our “return” list.

A couple of Ted’s shirts got stains on them, and we located a second hand shop that had beautiful clothes he bought for replacements! For seven euros he walked out with a wool sweater, a corduroy shirt, and a new pair of sunglasses.

Ted's birthday coffee & cake

Along the way in our travels, we’ve developed the habit of getting an afternoon coffee and maybe a treat. Here we alternate between sitting in a café on the beach, where the coffee’s not so terrific, but the view is to die for, and Café Regina, a fabulous coffee shop about five blocks into town. No view, but incredible coffee. It was a great place to celebrate Ted's birthday. Oh, and I’ve discovered leche leche, a coffee drink made with condensed milk and coffee with regular milk. It’s a lovely dessert all on its own.

Sunset coffee

So we’re two weeks into our four-week stay, and rather grateful for the rain today, since it means we’ll relax for a bit. It's Thanksgiving today, and we were able to talk to our family on FaceTime. Just one more month till we see them again. Meanwhile, there's more to explore!