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Green travelling is all the rage amongst the uber set and now it has reached even simple sightseeing. City biking or city bike touring is spreading throughout Europe with Paris and Amsterdam being among the first. So we agreed to test the concept in wintertime in a more shorts- friendly city, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. And we liked it!
In Las Palmas, the city biking concept is mainly aimed at the cruise ship passengers visiting the city for a day and that is a shame. Bikes are the perfect means of getting around in narrow city streets and at the same time covering a bit more distance than is healthy for worn feet. In Las Palmas the company Cycle Gran Canaria has just started it’s tours so we joined them for a tour starting from the cruise pier and taking us along the waterfront and into the charming, narrow streets of Vegueta, the old town.
90% of the trip is on cycle ways, so traffic is no problem, and in the old town car-traffic is scarce and slow, so you never feel stressed by the polluting part of the transportation system. Cycle Gran Canaria supply easy-to-ride city-bikes with side-bags, helmets, light wind-jackets, a bottle of water, and of course 2 professionals on both biking and guiding! They even use walkie-talkies to stay in constant contact and ensure the smooth running and safety of the clients on the tour.
As opposed to sitting squashed on a sightseeing bus you actually feel that you are moving and maybe more important, it is easier to stop if you have questions about sights you are passing. Just raise your hand and a Guide appears by your side. So when I saw this ARC banner at the marina I just slowed up and asked the biking guide. And of course he knew all about the amateur yachting race across the Atlantic to Santa Lucia every November because they are sponsoring it!
It was a small group, so our guide used the opportunity to improvise and tell us a bit about the marina and Canarian sailing traditions and island culture. We had already had tales of the impressive size of the commercial harbour on our way out from the cruise-pier, so our naval and nautical knowledge was now at high tide.
After a few turns of the pedals we turned right into the old town of Vegueta. Hardly any cars and history written deep into every wall. We passed churches, went in to the one of our choice and skipped the other. We passed a quiet plaza, had a rest and a cortado coffee and a sip of water, all I might add included in the price.
The Casa de Colon museum we didn't skip! It is spacious and on 3 floors, with a mix of fascinating historical items and explanatory boards that seemed just right to satisfy my curiosity without getting me restless to move on. The pace is relaxed and the Guides seem to anticipate when to move on. We were also told an intriguingly sweet story of why Colombo always visited the island of Gomera before he went west. Yes. There was a woman involved. And why he didn't visit the island before his last trip. Right. You’ve guessed it; she found another, otherwise known as her husband!
The high point of the tour was a restaurant about 20 meters above sea level and more important a few meters above most other restaurants in town. The exquisite tapas they served in Restaurant Casamontesdeoca were excellent, the service just right and the surroundings in this tranquil courtyard that is a dream for a romantic dinner on a warm summer night. Unfortunately this was a working group, so the romance was scarce, but the ahh's and ooh' over the tasty food were abundant.
Feeling plump and well fed we climbed aboard our bikes after the lovely lunch and rode back into the sunset to the last stop of the day, the nerve-soothing park Pueblo Canario at the Santa Catalina Hotel and the adjacent Nestor museum. This most famous of the Canary painters must have been the closest to a universal generous in the field of visual art at the time of his life (early 1900). Not only did he paint and draw extremely skilfully and creatively in an amassing number of different stiles, he was also a clothes designer. The Nestor museum was not a part of the original trip, but we asked to see it and the beauty of the art of bike-sightseeing with Cycle Gran Canaria came into sight: Complete flexibility just what a working journalist needs!
Contact Cycle Gran Canaria on booking@cyclegrancanaria.com or wherever you see the amazingly apt red chameleon riding a green bike. The chameleon who is called “Chacho”, they tell me, represents change with the ecologically friendly mode of cycling as a form green transport. Perfect and appropriate for today and tomorrow.
Kim Pilgaard Norway
kim.pilgaard@tele2.no
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