Day 9 - Sleepy Saturday

Today will probably be a beach day... Thought you all would like to finally see the photos though. Pictures page is here.

Enjoy the day!

Day 8 - The Big Talk

Today was the reason we're here, sort of. My talk for the conference was schedule for 9:30am (good to get it over with first thing). Still worried that I'd be plagued by the technical difficulties I had trying to give the talk on Monday, I wanted to arrive as early as possible to play around with the projector. Alas, I cannot change the shuttle service schedule, but not only did we arrive with plenty of extra time, but I didn't encounter the same problem. The talk went ok (Misty thinks I did better than I thought, no surprise there).

Rather than stay for the rest of the paper sessions that day, we took the bus back to Las Palmas (the conference is at the University campus in Tafira). We took a late lunch at one of the first places we ate where we knew we could get reliably decent pizza and mozzarella sticks. Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent resting and catching up on blogging and news (Palin?!).

Day 7 - Around the island in a day

Thursday was our last day with the car. We figured we better see the rest of the island while we had the car. We headed south along the coast, past Maspalomas to Arguineguín. the guide book mentioned a market on Tuesday and Thursday. Oh well, foiled again. The water front is really cute though. They have very tiny beaches.

Driving on, we encountered Puerto Rico. The Lonely Planet guide book for the Canary Islands describes the town as a 'good example of appalling town planning... the original fishing village has all but disappeared under a sea of concrete, with the apartment blocks stacked up like stadium seats against the mountains.' Um. Yep. Totally agree. It is atrocious.

We then headed to Puerto de Mogán. It is said to be the Venice of the Canaries. Well, if they count the canal and bridges sure... nothing else is remotely similar. And the canal... one side of it is a major road. We did see a submarine though, a yellow one. One in the water and one that hasn't seen the water in a very long time.

After the port, we headed north to Mogán in search of lunch at one of the best restaurants on the island. The guide book failed to mention that the restaurant may be closed the entire month of August for vacation. Thwarted but still determined, we drove on.

Before we found food, we found a cactus museum. Cactualdea has a supposed 1,500 species of cactus. We bought corn to feed the animals in the park (ducks, birds of some sort, a peacock, and a donkey).

Still hungry, we drove on. We gave up at 4 and went to a supermarket in San Nicolás de Tolentino, which the book describes as 'the sort of place you only hang around in because the ass has fallen out of your car.' The snacks we had and the seat in front of the church was nice. No complaints here.

Our car's ass in hand, we continued on to our beach destination of Sardina, only stopping at a viewpoint to see the cliff side and ocean. When we pulled up, there was a truck selling snacks and hot drinks but he drove off shortly after. As he drove off, I just kept thinking it would be a nightmare to drive a bus or truck on these roads. And wow, it was windy.

Sardina is at the NW corner of the island. The beach was smallish, sand a bit gray, and the water a bit chilly. You can see through the water though. Not as warm as the water in Maspalomas but very clear! After frolicking in the waves, we drove back to the hotel to crash. Friday... Alan's talk.

Day 6 - Camello? In Maspalomas? I don't know...

We found our camel, Richa, today, down at the southern tip of the island at the Dunas de Maspalomas. We headed straight for Maspalomas in the morning after breakfast to pack in as much as possible. It took a little while to locate the camels, and we ended up at a different outfit that we had first intended. In any case, the camels were hilarious. While waiting in line, we saw a previous group (a tour group) mount and head out. One lady's hair scent was determined to be extremely disagreeable to the camel behind her after she mounted. He yelled and yelled for a at least a few minutes, while she panicked, biting her nails. We saw a few other panicked folks as well, and were also amused when the camel wranglers had to tie on large weight bags to balance out the loads when one person was much more heavy than the other(s).

After the camel ride, we went in search of the elusive Palmitos Park. There are a few signs around town, but the intuitive following of these signs tends to leave one at a dead end more often than not. We stopped for directions at the police station and after a few more wrong loops, we finally found the canyon leading up to Aqualand, a huge waterpark, and Palmitos Park, our target destination.

Palmitos Park is a plant and animal zoo, which last year suffered severe damage from a fire, but is well reconstructed. We saw a huge variety of parrots, including a really fun parrot show. Who would have thought that you can teach a parrot to pedal a mini bicycle (with training wheels of course). You can see it here.

After watching the parrot show, we toured the rest of the park. We saw lots more birds, reptiles, cacti, orchids, butterflies, gibbons, and very briefly, and orangutang.

Then we headed down the canyon to Maspalomas and went to the Playa de Ingles to check out the beach. The water here today was quite warm and we played in it for a while, going out and floating back in on the big waves, getting completely drenched when they rolled over just before hitting us. We went to a nearby Mckee Dee's to get reliably good french fries, difficult to come by otherwise. Then we drove back to Las Palmas in the evening.

Day 5 - Driving the mountain loop

Tuesday we got a rental car. Yes, we decided to tool around the island, driving off the coast of Africa with our limited Spanish. It took a while on Monday to get a reservation with a company that had an automatic (I haven't driven a manual in a decade and Alan never has) and we figured it would be challenging enough driving hills with signs we didn't understand without having to worry about a clutch.

The car was delivered right to our hotel so all we had to do was get out of town and head south. The city is a bit scary but we did manage to find the freeway. I might point out that when I started the day I was thinking of recent drives to Portland (about two hours). Well, the island is only 602 square miles total. The first stop on our drive, Telde, was about 13.5 km away. So close! There was not a whole lot in Telde so we continued on our journey.

Ingenio, about 12 km south of Telde, is a very small town. It is known for its ceramics but we didn't find any. Next stop, Agüimes, 3 km south of Ingenio. Agüimesa is a neat network of small alleys, a church, and a park in front of the church. There were bronze statues of a camel, dancers, a mule, and a cellist. We walked around enjoying the cool breeze and then stopped to have a glass of fresh squeezed OJ at the local bar.

We decided to have lunch in a cave restaurant in Barranco de Guayadeque. Another short ride (6 km) and we have breezed through the canyon with a brief glimpse at the Interpretive Center. Here they have examples of the cave systems and methods of grinding grains. The surroundings are dry with a lot of cactus. The palm trees look a bit droopy too. The restaurant had a resident cat who begs for food from the visitors outside. They have grapes growing around the entrance. The view is of the caves in the mountains. It was quite amazing.

From there, we head 17 km to Santa Lucia. We stop at the Museo del Castillo de Fortaleza, a small castle built about 50 years ago to house an interesting collection of items. The 'museum' does not store the items in the best of conditions. The outside gardens were the only part I would recommend seeing. They have an almond tree, a fruit which looks like pomegranate, an olive tree, a lime tree, and an avocado tree. It was impressive to see these things just there on a tree.

We continued our drive and about 40 km later we reached the Cruz de Tejeda. It is a cross, carved from stone, that marks the center of the island. While not the highest point, it is up at 5184 feet. We could feel our ears pop on the drive down from the pass. We checked out a couple of the stalls and the goodies that they have for sale before we continue on. It is only 25 km to the next town, Teror. We drove through, admired the views, and then got back on the road to Las Palmas. We didn't do bad for our first time driving in Spain. The roads are in pretty good shape. Wednesday, we plan on finding the camels in the southern part of the island...

Day 4 - Bloody Monday

Today we did some non-vacationy things. I took the shuttle to the conference and gave a talk at the PROPER2008 workshop, while Misty worked on her pattern and sat on the beach a little. The University campus is... interesting, it's not so well defined as a campus. It's nice, with palm trees and good bus service, and residential areas all around. We had to walk quite a while for the lunch at the cafeteria.

Day 3 - Sunday, quiet Sunday

The goal of Sunday was to check out the local market. The Globetrotter Travel Guide to the Canary Islands boasts an open-air market on Sunday with over 250 stalls. We walked for hours and found nothing. We went to every area with the word Catalina in it and found no market. Thanks Globetrotter.

While walking, we passed a workout area on the boardwalk. It was pretty cool and people were using it. The equipment was colorful and had a spectacular view of the ocean. As you can see, Alan couldn't pass up the opportunity to work on his calves.

Walking further and we find the music hall (Auditorio Alfredo Kraus). It is a very elegant building right on the rocky coast. The decorations all over the building were ocean themed. Medusa has octopus legs instead of snakes...

After a lot more walking and staring at the blue, blue ocean, we ended the day at La Olivia. Dinner was a bowl of papas arrugadas, a salad with cheese made on the island, and a plate of little fried sardines. I ate all but 4 of the little fishies, which were very tasty.

Day 2 - First try at some beach relaxation

We began the day with the breakfast buffet and then a walk North from the hotel. Since our hotel is situated at the North end of the beach, the walk is along the elevated rocky edge of the water, more reminiscent of the Oregon coast. Along this route we found fishers fishing and others just lounging, one guy even doing a crossword out on the rocks.

We returned for lunch, and walked South along the beach in the afternoon, then later in the afternoon, we applied good quantities of sunblock and hit the beach ourselves. The sand is warm, but the water wasn't as warm as we expected. You can still get in and stay in, in fact, looking around, you'd think it was very warm. It was nice to lay out on our towels and dry off. The weather here is usually overcast, so there's not an abundance of sun to toast you right away.

After showering and taking a perhaps ill-advised nap (not quite adjusting), we went out for dinner. We didn't listen to our subconsciouses, which told us to avoid places where we never saw anyone else eating. The place we sat at failed to impress in more ways that one. First, Misty asked for a Ginger Ale, or 7-up, or Sprite. The waitress came back and said they were out of those, and then took our food order. She then came back a short while later and told us that although they were out of 7-up, we would have to order something from the bar in order to eat there (can't go with no drink), so we ended up (not) splitting a coke. The food itself left a lot to be desired. We tried a little fish variety plate, which was turned out to be different that expected, with some not-so-great sauces. The cured ham and melon was half good, that is, the melon was fantastic, but the meat tasted funny (that place in Venice had the cured ham and melon down). The spaghetti bolognaise was ok, but just not that appealing, especially to me on my stomach.

We grabbed some ice cream at a nearby spot and then headed back. On the way, we saw this hilarious sign for a Mexican restaurant that we will have to try.

Day 1 - Adjusting to beach life

Wow. Flying is rough. We spent 28 1/2 hours in airports and planes. That doesn't include driving to the airport in Eugene and the time driving from the airport in Las Palmas to the hotel.

Needless to say, we are just trying to adjust and rest.

We had a light breakfast of frosted flakes and oj in the hotel. The fresh kiwi and melon is very tasty here. The view from the breakfast table is fantastic. Our room has the same view (pic on right here), only higher up.

We have decided to take it easy today. After breakfast, we walked the walkway along the beach. The plants here are amazing. Aloe, palm, cactus, and bright colored flowers. There are little striped huts that hold all the blue beach chairs along the way. There are also multiple life guards sitting around watching the water. It is very quiet here, calm. No sand or water yet, maybe tomorrow.

We are resting (and obviously blogging) right now. We will find a quiet dinner later. Maybe at 'The Laughing Pig.'

We have arrived

Just a quick note, we've arrived at the Canary Islands!

Tomorrow!

We fly tomorrow! Through Portland, Amsterdam, and Madrid. Wish us luck on our journey. We should be arriving around 3pm Pacific Time, on Thursday.

Not in a coal mine

Soon, oh so very soon... Canary Islands.

Time to take off: 15 days