Our next stop was Roque Nublo. We found a parking space and started walking along the path between the pine trees. The views were great, and it wasn't even the main attraction yet.
Looking to the East we could see the Pico del Nieves, the highest hill in Gran Canaria, that would be our next stop.
Roque Nuble looked pretty in late afternoon sun.
Other rocks nearby were just as pretty. Down somewhere to the right is the captain's head.
The hike was rather steep at the places and not very short. When we came about half way, we figured out that if we hike all the way to Roque Nublo, we'll not make to the Pico del Nieves in the daylight. So we took some more photos and returned to the car.
In 20 minutes we were standing at the highest hill in Gran Canaria. The hike was very easy, as there is a military post up there and the road very good and parking lot is just several meters below the peak. The views from up there were breathtaking, we could see all around the island. This is the view to SE...
...and this to the West. The rock on the left is Roque Nublo, and the peak above the clouds is Pico del Teide in Tenerife.
We drove down on the SE side of hills and while we expected the temperature to not be high in the hills, we discovered it was even lower in the shady valleys. We stopped several times and the coldest point was where I photographed this flower, it was only 5 deg Celsius.
We returned already in the dusk and were quite tired and hungry and we just grabbed some pizzas and beer in one of the bars in marina.
Next day we drove to the town of Arucas in the Northern part of the island. It must have been a wealthy and important town in the past, as it has lots of beautiful houses...
...with cute balconies, lots of parks...
...and a majestic cathedral.
Above the town was a small hill and we saw that there is a road going up there, so we figured there must be some pretty view from there. And it was. We had some troubles getting through the old part of the town with one-way streets, but finally we got above the town and above all the banana plantations around it. The visibility was even better than the day before and the entire island of Tenerife could be seen, not just it's highest mountain.
From there we drove towards the town of Teror. It was a great drive through the hills, with lots of eucalyptus and pine trees along the road.
I don't know how the town got it's name, but I can hardly think it has something to do with terror. It is far too pretty for that. There are all these old buildings with balconies...
...and great doors with all the decoration.
In the centre of the town there is a basilica...
...with enormous tree in front of it...
...and more pretty buildings around it.
We did found a house that was a bit shabby though, but I found it charming with all the plants growing on it's roof.
There were also some parks with elaborate benches.
We sat down at one of the restaurants right on the main square beneath the giant tree and ate some typical Canary dishes - ropa vieja (old rag), a meat and chickpeas stew, and stewed goat. They were both delicious and the price moderate, despite the location. The legend goes that ropa vieja got its name as father, who was so poor he didn't have any food to feed his children, out of desperation cooked his own clothes and because it was cooked with so much love and prayer it turned into delicious meat stew. Canary immigrants took the recipe with them to Cuba and other Caribbean island, where the dish was modified a bit, but is also very popular.
In early afternoon we left Teror and drove further towards hills.
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