The tour of "TEROR"!!!

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Geo: 28.1248, -15.43

Off for Las Palmas today - yes!!! Back to something more real, and something less tacky. We popped over to the store (this time on foot, rather than in the car) to pick up some more milk to finish off the cereal. We also grabbed some juice, ham, cheese, and buns to make sandwiches for later.

We re-traced our drive from last night - a lot less impressive during the daytime, because now you could see the rampant over-development of the island. Cranes and construction equipment marred the beautiful coastline.

I've heard this coastline being compared to Italy's Amalfi coast ... not quite as nice, but not too shabby either. At least there isn't the smog here that wrecks the Amalfi coast. But smog or over-development - neither one is a pretty thing.

I'm finding the names of some of the towns on this island to be quite amusing. "El Hornillo" sounds a tad dirty, does it not? It sounds like my nickname whenever I travel in Spain ... another town was called "El Tostador" - the toaster. Who comes up with these names, a horny baker???

We were running out of gas again. Stupid car rental company - we always end up with a car that has only a ½ tank or a ¼ tank. Or maybe it's the stupid renters that never think to fill up as soon as they get the car ...

There aren't exactly an abundance of gas stations in the Canaries - it's funny, because we kept driving and driving, looking for a station, but all we ever saw were signs for cafes and never any for gas stations. Apparently they have their priorities right here - cappuccino is more important than gas!

The first stop was Puerto de Aldea - it had a neat little beach and kind of reminded me of Port de Soller in Mallorca. Though I suppose Port de Soller was a bigger town and had a much larger (and more touristy) city centre. The rocky beach was a nice change from the sandy ones.

Next up was Puerto de Las Nieves - famous for a rock formation dubbed the "Finger of God". We strolled for a little bit then went to the next town. There were some caves in Galdar that might have been worth checking out, but we couldn't find it because of poor signage. Luckily, we were always able to find cappuccino because of the over-abundance of coffee shop signs!

It's too bad that we missed the caves, but I saw something far better - the Spanish version of Kate Beckinsale! How can it possibly get any better than Kate Beckinsale? Only if she were Spanish! Ahhh ... reminds me of the time I saw the Italian version of Kate Beckinsale on a train in Tuscany (see Euro 2006 blog entitled "For the 2nd time, I can't think of a dumb title!") ...

Off to Arucas - it's got some great views from the top of its mountain. There are supposedly lizards there that will come out if you toss some tomatoes down the side of the hill. None came out . Perhaps the lizards like their siestas like the Spaniards?

The town of Arucas is pretty cool - the Iglesia San Juan is reminiscent of Gaudi's Sagrada Famiglia in Barcelona. The municipal park is a pretty spot for a quiet respite. We wandered over to a cafe called Siroco for some bocadillos (sandwiches).

The café itself was austere but charming. The beautiful senorita sitting just behind us added to the charm of the place! I chuckled as we ate because a Telenovela (ultra-cheesy Spanish-language soap opera) was playing on the TV.

Next was the town of TEROR!!!! I love this name - it's one of the coolest names for a town I've ever come across. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see in TEROR!!!! The Basilica de La Virgen del Pino wasn't anything special. We took a nice stroll through TEROR!!! Then we left TEROR!!! We needed to return our rental car in Las Palmas.

Driving through Spain's larger cities can be tricky at times. But we managed to navigate through Las Palmas fairly easily and returned the car without too much problem. It helped that it was during rush hour, so we were able to take our time and figure out where to turn.

Parking was a bit of a pain - but we saw another rental car pulled up onto the sidewalk just outside of the car rental office, so we just pulled onto the sidewalk next to it. It's no longer our problem!

We walked to the hostal to check in - we buzzed the reception a few times, but there was no answer. Where the heck was the guy? That's one of the problems with budget accommodations - you can't expect much in the way of service. We waited outside for 10 minutes before somebody entered the building, and told us to wait a few more minutes outside. Alright ...

Time for a walk - B&H wanted to check out the southern end of the promenade, but my knee was hurting so I told them that we'd meet in 30 minutes, so that I could chill and use the internet for a bit. But I made a mistake - I knew that we'd be having dinner on the northern end, so I should've just told them to meet me farther north on the end of the promenade. It wasn't pleasant to hobble back on my gimpy knee to meet them, only to hobble back the other way for dinner.

Dinner was at Meson Condado, a simple restaurant specializing in northern Spanish cuisine from the Galicia region. Galicia is know for having some of the better food in Spain ... but really, that doesn't say much! It's supposed to be very authentic - and it was, because it wasn't all that great!

The bread was like that of the peninsula - hard, dry, and stale! The beer was much better - I've seen Estrella Galicia being served elsewhere before, but this was my first time trying it - very nice.

We wanted to start with the Galician empanada, but they were out. We settled on some manchego cheese instead - no complaints from me, as it was pretty tasty. However, the rest of the meal was pretty average.

At the end, we were served some honey rum - it was pretty amazing. We noticed a French couple - the man looked like AJ from the Backstreet Boys. We laughed as left. It was a nice, but slightly breezy night for a walk.

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Photos

a
This is probably Ha under the covers, but could easily be a Canarian cockroach - they're just a little bit bigger than Ha.

a2
Umm ... I'm only licking the box because some milk spilled out ...

a3
Another sexy Spanish beverage. Too bad the lady looks like she's out of the 70's.

b
Interesting brand name of the TV - Telefunken. I think the definition of "Telefunked" is being scammed into depositing coins to use the TV.

b2
Picture of us, all thinking "Can't wait to get out of this tacky place!!!"

b3
Our tacky resort.

b4
Our tacky resort's even tackier bar. It's funny how all the guests seem to do nothing but sit there watching soccer all day.

c
Wow - talk about a beautiful lookout.

c2
No, this isn't New Zealand - don't let that Maori warrior in the foreground confuse you!

d
This must have been the bathroom at the lookout. How do I know? It quite obviously SMELLED like the bathroom ... yech ...

e
Ben, with food in his hand. This was the most common sight for me in all of the Canary islands.

g
Overly Sensual Spanish Ice Cream Ad #4: No commentary necessary about this one.

h
Overly Sensual Spanish Ice Cream Ad #5: This one appeals to those with the Japanese Anime fetish ... cough cough .. like Tri ... cough cough ...

i
Overly Sensual Spanish Ice Cream Ad #6: This one is for those with a Bart and Millhouse fetish. I've always thought they were a little TOO close to be just friends, and that Millhouse's obsession with Lisa was just a front. They're the modern version of Bert and Ernie!

i2
Nice spot for a picture at the port.

j
The "Finger of God" - much more impressive before a hurricane struck and destroyed it.

j2
The "Finger of God", before the hurricane.

j3
This is the "Finger of Pat" - this is a very rare sighting in the Canaries, as the "Finger of Pat" is usually only seen while driving on Deerfoot trail in Calgary.

l
Overly Sensual Spanish Ice Cream Ad #7: This one appeals to the Dairy Maid fetish, with a bit of Japanese Anime thrown in for good measure.

m
The peninsula in the distance is Las Palmas.

o
The town of Arucas, viewed from Mount Arucas. In the centre is the Gaudi-esque cathedral.