Vegueta

It’s raining in Las Palmas!

At least it is at the moment. It feels refreshing after a hot and sunny afternoon here in the Canaries. It’s 7:00p. Oosterdam is tied up at its berth since we are not scheduled to depart until 9:00p. I am enjoying the comfy night time temperature on the veranda, which is well-protected from the rain.

What to say about today.

Disappointing … that just about covers it. Here’s the story anyway … and a few photos. I blame it on today being Sunday.

After a morning at sea, our 2:00p arrival in port was delayed a bit due to a race … sailboats heading to the coast of Africa. In his announcement explaining the reason for the delay, Captain Rens said that they had not been advised of the race so it came as a surprise to the bridge team as well. To make up for the delay, he opened the bow, which is always a treat.

After Daniel’s presentation about Las Palmas last night, we had decided to spend our afternoon in Vegueta … the Old Town of Las Palmas … about two miles from the port. A cathedral, historic buildings, cafés, and shops … well, it sounded like the perfect place to while away a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. Maybe even have dinner.

Disembarking Oosterdam, we weaved our way around passengers coming from and going to the four other ships in port. In the square outside the gates — a 10-minute or so walk from where we were docked — we found the underground bus station. We were told that either the yellow #12 bus, or the blue #327 bus would take us to Vegueta … €1.40pp … each way. We missed the #12 while we were getting our bearings. But #327 arrived moments later. Except for the driver’s wife, we were the only passengers on the bus.

So far so good.

We got off when the driver told us we had reached our destination. He pointed out where to catch #12 on the way back. Which we did … much earlier than anticipated. You see, except for a few cafés, Vegueta, the birth place of Las Palmas, was fast asleep.

Shops closed. Museums closed. Even the cathedral — where we’d been told we could take an elevator up the tower to see the aerial views — was closed. We wandered around for a bit. Thought about sitting down at one of the few open cafés to grab a drink … it was too early for food. Nah … the ambiance just wasn’t there. Sighing, we walked to the bus station and hopped on #12 for the ride back to the port.

It was 5:00p when we returned to Oosterdam. Settling on the veranda, we enjoyed a glass of wine and some snacks.

Fingers crossed for a better day in Tenerife tomorrow!Läs mer