RED RIDING HOOD

From Tenerife  I took the massive speed boat and went to Las Palmas de  Gran Canaria. On the map it looks like this:

And the boat that I took looked like this:

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It is actually quite nice inside, with the TV’s and the bar. The only thing I didn’t get and what I expected is to go out on the deck of the boat. But is it entirely closed during this one hour driving.

When I finally arrived, I went towards the main square of Las Palmas: the St Anna square. Typical spanish colonial-styled houses with balconies and dog statues around,  reminding us all of the origin of the name Las Canarias – nothing to do with the birds, but because they were over-run by canines….

Just there you can find Cathedral of St Anna. It is a  a Roman Catholic church located in the Old town of the city built in 16th century.

Old town was built at the end of the 15th century. Its streets and squares contain historical buildings and monuments.

There you can find the central market called Vegueta. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived it was already closed. 😦

I was really impressed with the House of Cristofar Columbo, or in spanish Cristobal Colon. 

This is the most attractive buildingswith ornate doorways, beautiful balconies, large courtyard and carved wooden ceilings, representing numerous aspects of the island’s architecture.

The house contains the historical items of the Columbo itself, like his diary whit the pages open at his arrival to Canarias, the maritime divider, compass and telescope, the room with the sky showing stars that were navigating him or the room which repsesents the life on the boat.

Cristofor Columbo was  part of local bourgeoisie, who towards the midddle of the 19th century had grown in Las Palmas. I learned he was always very well welcomed at Canarias, bringing the local populations always new groceries and foodstuffs like turkey or potatoes, when coming back from his expeditions.

I was also inspired by the small church alongside with the models of old ships hanging off the ceiling.

At the Museum of Canaries you can learna  lot about the people’s history of this place.  The museum represents the pre-hispanic culture in the Canary Islands and conserves and exhibits archaeological and ethnographic items.

So, Guanches were the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. They were the only native people known to have lived in the Macaronesian region before the arrival of Europeans. After the Spanish conquest of the Canaries they were ethnically and culturally absorbed by Spanish settlers.

Special mention should be made of the collection of more than 2,000 prehistoric sculls and mummies.

Parque Doramas is park of typical flora of Canarias combined with the architecture of Pueblo Canario and local 19th century life of spanish burgoasie.

I finished my day at Playa de las Canteras. It is a nice walk/ promenade of more than 10km with many bars and restaurants.