Waking up on Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s AM
There’s nothing like a walk along the Avenida Maritima to renew body and mind. The ocean breeze refreshes parts other places can’t reach. But if you’re cycling, you’ll enjoy a wind-assisted ride heading out. Before battling gusts from above on your return. Or vice versa.
The Avenida Maritima: Going local rather than Global
At first, I used to walk to the AM from my home via Juan XXIII. I’d then catch a Global bus to the north coast. Then, when I started missing cycling in Epping Forest, my wife suggested the perfect remedy: riding to La Laja along the Avenida Maritima.
Little Havana
The Cuban capital’s been high on my bucket list. Ever since reading Pedro Juan Gutierrez‘s Dirty Havana Trilogy. Except, maybe I shouldn’t be in any great rush. When John McCarthy visited Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to interview me, he told me that it’s Havanaseque. And drinking pal Jose, who has family in Cuba, offered some sage advice. If I want to feel what walking along the Malecon‘s like, the Avenida Maritima’s the place to begin.
Lessons in language
It’s pretty easy to find the Avenida Maritima. Head from the airport along the GC-1 which becomes the AM as you enter the city. But if you need to ask, pronounce the v in Avenida like a soft b. And, as for Maritima, it’s more marie tea ma than marry timer.
Boarding the ARC
The Avenida Maritima’s an ideal spot to catch the start of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). Every November, 200 boats set off from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to travel 2,800 nautical miles to St Lucia in the Caribbean. It’s definitely more hectic then rather than mere lively, as it is during the rest of the year.
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