Gran Canaria

We were very excited to get out of the cold, rainy Paris weather to the more equatorial Canary Islands.  The forecast was for 80 degrees and sunny.  We packed shorts, t-shirts, and sun dresses.  But when we got there, the forecast suddenly changed and we were faced with unusually cool temperatures, rain, and high winds.  We ended up buying wool ponchos to keep warm!  It was also eerily parallel to Hurricane Sandy.  We would watch the high waves and winds in New York Harbor on CNN and look out at the white caps on the choppy harbor and palm trees swaying in the wind in Las Palmas.

Even with the unusual weather, we enjoyed Gran Canaria a great deal.  We stayed at an amazing hotel, where the king stays when he is in town, and our hosts, Amber and Rodrigo, were even more amazing.  Rodrigo is a native of Gran Canaria and Amber is our former babysitter and friend.  They took us all over the island in the car and on foot to see the mountain peaks (reminiscent of Kauaii), sand dunes (that look like the Sahara), rock cliffs into the ocean (perhaps like Mendocino but with lava rock), old town (with Christopher Columbus’ house), tiny pueblos with markets selling local foods, the “avenue” (which reminds me more of the Boardwalk in Pacific Beach but with families, restaurants and free concerts), and—my favorite—to Rodrigo’s fire station.  Rodrigo is a fire fighter and he gave us the most comprehensive tour you could get of a fire station.  John got to wear a fire fighter’s outfit, we all got to go inside the big truck, Elizabeth got to take home an authentic Gran Canaria fire fighter t-shirt, and we got to interact with the fire fighters on duty in a Spanglish conversation about what they do.  It was so much fun.

Another of the highlights for me was when Rodrigo cooked us paella at their home.  First of all, Amber and Rodrigo’s apartment is a flat on the top floor of a 5-story building that has a view of the ocean and mountains.  We had Ibirian ham and other delicious appetizers while watching Rodrigo create the paella in his special paella pan with a gas hookup that outputs gas in a ring precisely around the giant pie pan shaped pan so that it heats the pan evenly.  When it was done, we dined on the patio, overlooking the harbor, mountains, city, and ocean.  And they get to do this whenever they want!

One of my other favorite adventures was when Amber took us to the old town section of Las Palmas and we went to a fruit and vegetable market.  Once inside, we found the mangos to be what I would call “larger than life.”  They were the biggest mangos I have ever seen.  The avocados were similarly large.  I wanted to buy a mango to eat but couldn’t imagine how I would be able to do that on the go.  The merchant said not to worry, that he would cut it up for me.  He proceeded to slice up and peel a giant mango that was perfectly ripe.  As he sliced it up, he offered me a bite straight from the machete (really a large, sharp knife, but it looked like it could take down a tree) he was using and told me that the president had eaten off of the same knife.  Then he showed me a picture to confirm it.  The mango was superb and I ate the whole thing and was stuffed for the rest of the afternoon.

I took home many local delicacies.  One was a honey rum.  It is rum with honey infused in it—delicious as an after dinner drink.  Another was an almond paste for spreading on bread.  It tastes like marzipan, turning an ordinary piece of toast into a dessert.  Gofio is a corn meal that they serve either savory or sweet.  It can be made into a dip that is made with chicken broth and served with onions that were sliced the size of potato chips.  It can also be mixed with hot milk to be served for breakfast as a cereal.  I tried that and added local avocado honey to sweeten it.  Last, was the mojo rojo sauce that is served over tiny boiled yellow potatoes.