Out and about in Las Palmas, dodging Storm Thérèse. Historical-mythical heroes. The continued craziness of the world.

 This should have been posted yesterday but somehow went into draft. So here it is.

My Spanish sister has expressed concern that we might have been affected by the rain that has hit the Canary Islands - Storm Thérêse I think it has been dubbed - but we have been fortunate with no more than a little shower of drizzle at some point this morning.

Out on walkabout yesterday we saw a statue of good old Christopher Columbus. Allegedly … because surely nobody knows for sure what he looked like.

Thinking of historical, semi-mythical, literary figures, here’s an interesting thing about D’Artagnan, of The Three Musketeer fame:

“More than three-and-a-half centuries after a musket ball to the throat put an end to decades of exemplary swashbuckling, the French soldier who inspired Alexandre Dumas and went on to be immortalised on the stage and screen.

Workers repairing a church in the Dutch city of Maastricht have discovered a skeleton that could belong to the 17th-century Gascon nobleman Charles de Batz-Castelmore – better known as d’Artagnan – whose exploits led Dumas to make him the hero of the Three Musketeers.

The real-life d’Artagnan was a spy and musketeer for King Louis XIV who died during the siege of Maastricht in 1673. Three hundred and fifty-three years later, the longstanding mystery of where the warrior came to be buried may finally have been solved, thanks to a set of bones found under a collapsed church floor.”

There you go. Another mystery solved. 

Getting back to being out and about, I also admired the strange root formation of a tree. Trees are always fascinating, maybe exotic ones even more so.

Having got into our accommodation finally yesterday, we had a bit of a snooze, making up for being up well before the crack of dawn. In the middle evening we ventured out for a beer and a snack, sampling the local delicacy: papas arrugadas - small potatoes boiled in their skins (hence the wrinkles) and served in a slightly spicy sauce.

This morning we went back to the same place, Bodegón Veguetas, for breakfast. There’s something very civilised about coffee and toast and freshly squeezed orange juice in the open air.

Then we packed up and left, setting off to join an old friend with whom we’ll share accommodation for the rest of our stay here. 

Out in the wider world, Israel claims to have killed an Iranian naval chief. There is some doubt about whether or not peace talks are taking place. Personally I have little faith in peace talks any longer as someone always seems to continue dropping bombs and shooting folk despite alleged peace talks. Experts say the UK economy will be worse hit than other places by the conflict in the Middle East. Goodness, even the clothes store Next is saying they will need to raise prices. 

So it goes.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!