LAS PALMAS

Las Palmas, the largest city on Gran Canaria, has a broad and varied history and architecture. Even Christopher Columbus spent time here. The first settlers found many wild dogs on the island; at the end of the nineteenth century the city fathers commissioned the statues of dogs to emphasize this fact. Curiously they did not choose the Canarian dog.

As a city it has wonderful food, art, music, parks, shopping, beaches.

CANARY ISLANDS

I left Boston on Sunday the 10th of January, on my way to the Canary Islands, off the west coast of Africa, via Madrid. Travel took almost 48 hours because the airport in Madrid was under snow. The return trip took only 30 some hours, because of fog in Madrid.

I had never been to the Canary Islands before, The Coast, is like so many other places, hotels shoulder to shoulder, fast food everywhere.

The Island of Gran Canaria is as a whole a beautiful and varied geography. My destination was the small village of Fataga, in the crater of an extinct volcano, at an altitude of about 5,000 feet. Wonderful food, beautiful flora.

The Islands are named after the wild dogs that were found there contrary to some thoughts that it had something to do with birds. These dogs remind me of the abyssinian breed of Egypt; with their large ears and enigmatic regard.