Spirit of Adventure blog
Las Palmas
I like Las Palmas and its’ beach. Perfect route for a morning run. We picked up the pilot at 06:30, Kirill took us in, swung us off the berth and backed us in, well ahead of our scheduled arrival time. As there can be a lot of traffic and vessel movement in the harbour, we always arrive half an hour earlier to the pilot station in order to avoid the rush.
I had to wait for 8 o’clock to make my morning arrival announcement, then changed into my running gear, left Kirill in charge and off I went. I didn’t want to feel under pressure by the running app telling me the pace, so I opted to receive only an update on my running time (a ping every 5 min). It was cloudy with a light breeze and the air temperature of 20 deg C. Nearly perfect conditions. I ran past the shopping mall and the roundabout following the street L. Morote westerly to Playa de Las Canteras, then turned left down to Playa La Cicer and all the way south to El Burro pier. I turned around and went back up north to La Puntilla beach and La Marinera Pier restaurant, then back down to the same street I used to get to the beach, and back to the ship. I was shocked but really impressed when I finished my run in front of the terminal in 58 minutes, covering 11k. Not bad for a heavy weight class.
I joined some guests for a light lunch, as I was saving myself for dinner in the Grill. Executive Chef Francis and his team were preparing a Canaries Buffet and that was my mission for the evening. We departed Gran Canaria at 5 pm with Chief Officer Vincent as designated driver. A good plan that was well executed had us out of the harbour just before 6 o’clock. Perfect timing for a uniform change and dinner. I joined a table with guests and enjoyed Zarzuela, a local seafood stew. It was just what I needed at the end of a great day.
Kind Regards
Captain Franko Papić
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