GRAN CANARIA:)

We rented a car (don't tell my car guys that it was A FIAT!!!) and drove into the interior of the island on Christmas eve. We started from the ocean and the dryness and climbed high into the volcanic hills until the climate and flora changed to moist, cool, fern-laced pine forests and beautiful valleys and canyons. The volcanoes have long since been inactive, but as you can see in the photo above, the steep mountainous slopes are covered with the zig zag roads and narrow switchbacks. There are also numerous cinder cones like the one above at the coast that remind you of the island's orign. The other photo is taken along the main street of Arucus, where we had a great lunch in a little bar/restaurant....local beer, pasta and fresh seafood. You can see the church at the end of the street where we found a magnificent wooden main santuary with a brilliant silver Mary and Child.....at that time we were only a quarter of the way up the slopes. We drove back down along the western slopes and ended up near the cinder cone above then along the coast back to Las Palmas.