A Ferry to Remember

This was written on the 7th because I was so ill the evening of the 6th... as explained later!

The day started off OK. We found out that the Los Organos boat rides were for 7-8 hours which would have been a bit too long as we were planning to leave the island that day. We wrapped up at the 'hotel' and had a coffee downstairs.

Jeanette drove for the day, so I got to look around a bit. We drove toward El Cercado so Jeanette could buy another piece of potter, after I had pointed out to her that the pieces she originally bought were probably mass manufactured. On the way out of the Valle, we drove by one particular turn that had the scent of heather every time we passed. That will be a nice memory!

It was another misty day on top of the mountains as we drove from El Cercado around to San Sebastian. There were some areas with huge rock upthrusts that were pretty cool. Jeanette learned that the roads really were steep and windy and that it wasn't just my driving.

We got to San Sebastian and unfortunately ate when we should have shopped and shopped when we should have eaten. The shops were open when we went for an early lunch, but were all closed when were were ready to stroll. Jeanette was a bit bummed, but we found some ice cream and then laid out on the beach after checking out the church where Columbus christened the Americas. The old buildings were impressive, some from as early as around 1535.

The beach at San Sebastian is a grimy little plot of sand, but the sun was nice, so we laid there till it was time to get ferry tickets. We purchased tickets, fed pastry to some fish in the marina, and got another coffee.

The ride to Los Christianos was short and sweet, leaving us an hour to go buy some mini bottles of booze and some pizza to go. We boarded the next ferry after a wait, found a spot to settle in, and prepared to relax during the four-hour ride to Santa Cruz de La Palma.

The ride started off rocky and I felt OK, but Jeanette mentioned that it was rough. I joked with her, "No getting sick!" and then took a nap.  Well, when I awoke, I began feeling terrible. It was a long 2½ hours spent thinking of ways to keep from getting sick until the boat finally docked near midnight. I barely managed to get up and get to the car. The wait to drive off of the boat was awful because of all the exhaust in the hold. When we got out, I took a turn toward the town, then immediately swung into a parking lot to get out and get some air. We took a small walk and I couldn't stop myself from projectile vomiting around someone else's car (sorry). Jeanette was nice enough to get me some water and, after a bit, we headed on to find a hotel.

We parked "downtown" and, with a little help from a drunk guy, found the Hotel-Restaurante Canarias. It was on a dark, winding, one-way street behind the main church plaza. It turned out to be a pain because we wanted to drop Jeanette off with the bags, but ended up stuck in a one-way alley with an old Spaniard yelling at us (in Spanish, of course). We finally dropped her off, but then I had an awful time trying to park. Let's just say that my first attempt ended in some drastic scrapes on the passenger side of the car. Lovely to be feeling ill, tired, and trying to parallel park in a space meant for a go-cart. When I finally got back to the hotel, we both fell asleep, each exhausted on our own little bed.