Travel Beaches galore Flower and palm-lined walkways joined one beach to the next. Playa de Los Cristianos is the closest beach to the marina. The wide stretch of sand is popular with families. Like Pied Pipers, two buskers attracted children by making giant bubbles above the walkway encircling the beach. The kids gleefully jumped up and down to burst the floating iridescent globules. On the opposite side of the marina, Playa de las Vistas has a very different personality. Along the long beach, you can rent lounge chairs and blue umbrellas and enjoy massages in a tent. A sign described the short-finned pilot whales and dolphins that inhabit the protected coastal waters. Parents with baby strollers, dog walkers, hand-holding couples, people on motorized wheelchairs, cyclists and rollerbladers enjoyed the balmy weather from a tiled pedestrian walkway along the beach. From park benches, we viewed beach volleyball and elaborate sandcastles. Opposite the beach, cafés and shops sold liquors, beachwear, massages and manicures. At Playa del Camisón, sunbathers relaxed on lounge chairs under thatched umbrellas on the crescent beach. Near Playa de las Américas, a resort known for its hotels, water sports and nightlife, we watched surfers riding the waves. Billboards displayed restaurant menus for tapas, paella and sangria. Beach bars enticed patrons with mojitos to go. On the way back to Los Cristianos port, we walked along a breakwater painted with an undersea mural of fish, sea urchins and a coral reef. The walkway offered great views of the marina and Los Cristianos before we departed for the next island, La Gomera. When we arrived, a spectacular rainbow arched over the town of Valle Gran Rey. The town of 4,200 people is very safe and easy to see on foot. In one day, we walked from the port through the municipality’s six districts and returned back to the ship along the road bordering the Atlantic. Canary-yellow flowers Each district radiated a unique personality. Palm trees lined the road through Vueltas. Cats slept next to potted jade plants, canary-yellow hibiscus blossoms and cascading pink bougainvillea in narrow alleyways between houses. Artisan shops, restaurants, grocery stores and bakeries attracted visitors and locals. Vueltas merged into Borbalán. We admired a yellow, tileroofed building with a wooden balcony. Small plantations of banana trees, laden with clumps of fruit, grew between buildings. From the turning circle where one branch of the road goes to San Sebastian, the whitewashed houses of La Calera fronted a mountain like a pile of giant sugar cubes. Walking up the road, we discovered a beautiful white chapel crowned with bells and a cross. After a downhill walk, we arrived at the black sand beaches of La Playa district. Even though it was mid-February, the temperature was warm enough for sunbathers. The road continued back to the port and theHarmony V. That evening, our cruise co-ordinator offered passengers glasses of pale-yellow, semi-sweet Platé banana wine, made in the Canary Islands. The next day, we visited San Sebastian on a shore excursion from the ship. The 600-year-old capital city is home to 12,000 people, half of the population of La Gomera. We sauntered along cobblestone streets to Our Lady of the Assumption Church. Artists painted the interior frescoes in the mid-18th century. From a nearby well, Christopher Columbus collected water for his three ships before he crossed the Atlantic in 1492. Columbus was supposed to stay on La Gomera for four days. Legend claims that he had a love affair with his widowed landlady, so he stayed for one month. Casa Colón is now a museum that commemorates his visit. Inside the courtyard, our guide Meike pointed out a dragon tree with sword-like leaves. “The sap turns red when it’s exposed to oxygen,” she said. (Called dragon’s blood, it was historically used to heal wounds.) 1. Yachts and fishing boats in marina 2. Children play with bubbles on walkway by Playa de Los Cristianos 3. Pedestrian walkway in Playa de las Vistas 4. Strolling along cobblestone street towards Our Lady of the Assumption Church in San Sebastian 1 2 3 4 Viewing dragon tree in courtyard of Casa Colon in San Sebastian, La Gomera 20 | www.snowbirds.org
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