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Tenerife Part 1

I was quite excited to see my first glimpse of Mt. Teilde, the volcano at the center of the island, and all the lush banana plantations, that I was snapping pictures right out of the airport bus window!

The last destination on my 6 week trip to Spain/Portugal is: Tenerife, Canary Islands.  I must admit that I haven't heard great things about Tenerife over the years, mostly that it was a package tourist type of place, but I needed some place to go for my last few days and as a place to relax after my taxing (lol!) scholarly endeavors I thought a holiday island would fit the bill nicely.  I learned in my research that the arid South was where the sun was most guaranteed to shine and therefore it was there that the big pre-planned tourist developments were; all-inclusives, mega-resorts, mile-upon-mile of bars/restaurants/trinket shops.  So I booked a hotel in the tropical North, where it was cooler, cloudier, and where the locals lived.  A bonus for me is that the Canaries are Spanish, so I'll try to utilize my new Spanish-speaking skills here!


Puerto de la Cruz, my base for the next 4 nights. Cosmopolitan, local, touristy, proud - all rolled into one seaside town. Add in the warm, tropical breeze with the salty tang of the ocean - I'm in love!


A panorama from my 11th floor balcony. Initially I was disappointed not to have an oceanview but I ended up loving looking at the mountain with its ever changing mantle of clouds and mist. The wind traveling over the cold ocean meets the warm land at the base of Mt. Teilde creating the ever-present marine layer. I think it's rare to be able to see the mountain all day long....



There's some history here! Forts, battlements and cannons are still dotted along the seafront.

My first full day of 'vacation' I just wanted to stay in town and wander around.  I was super tired my arrival day, getting few hours of sleep when I had to be at the airport at 5am, so I wanted to be able to head home easily for a siesta if the need struck.  Luckily there's lots to see in Puerto so I headed up to the Botanical Gardens first.

In the  mid-1700's botany was all the rage amongst the elite and any monarch worth his salt had a garden of wonderous acquisitions from far and wide.  The problem for Carlos III was that the climate of Madrid was not really suited for the quick transplantation of tropical species so a "half-way house" garden was created on Tenerife so the poor little seedlings could spend a little time adapting to drier conditions. And ever since 1759, there's been a wonderful botanical garden here full of plants and trees from all over the globe.


Next I wandered down the steep hill back to town and strolled along the seafront enjoying the sun, breeze and wonderful views. Puerto is extremely well-kept, with landscaped public gardens full of exotic (to me) dragon trees, cacti, and unknown flowering trees and shrubs.   Being the weekend the black sand beaches were full of sun-worshippers and a few hardy souls braving the sea.  I had lunch alfresco, and people-watched & window-shopped for the rest of the afternoon.

Tenerife Part 3

Another day in the car exploring the island.  I'm sticking to the green, wild north side today, I learned my lesson yesterday.  My first destination of the morning was the picturesque mountain village of Masca, located at the furthest west point of all those green squiggles.  It's set in an incredibly steep gorge, and was incredibly remote up until 13 years ago when the first road to the village was finally built.  My reading warned me that the "narrow road can be hairy" with blind, steep curves (ergo=green squiggles) and "can be packed, come early or late".  I have to say, I do have some experience driving curvy, steep, narrow roads but I do get worried about other drivers who don't!  So I had an early-by-Spanish-standards start of 8:30am and reached the start of this newest motoring adventure by 9:30am.  I was lucky to have only 3 cars coming up in the other direction to get around and the sun hadn't yet made it over the pass so in the end it wasn't too overly harrowing.

Heading back to the south coast

Overlooking part of the road to Masca

I made it! Masca!

Looking back at the valley Masca is in

The setting was stunning, the village charming, but I was a bit antsy about traffic and I didn't relish returning the same way I came like a little minnow trying to fight its way upstream, so I took a few snaps and headed on up and out thru the far side of the gorge.

Okay, so I beat the hordes of tourists at Masca but I could not outrace the wind. It was raging up at this elevation! I tried to stop at a viewpoint to take the next photo but my little Fiat was literally rocking back and forth and I was truly scared that it was going to be flung out over the precipice! So I drove a few hundred feet further and stopped in the (empty) oncoming lane of traffic where I felt safer! ;-)

What are those big scars in the little hill? I drove right by them, so someone was digging something out but what? And why so neatly spaced?

After such an exciting morning the rest of my planned stops seemed a bit tame - to see a 1000 year old tree and some seaside swimming pools built out of volcanic rock.  The weather over here was dark and cloudy and I thought: wouldn't it be lovely to stop driving, return the car, and have a long leisurely lunch back in Puerto? So I did!



And that was yesterday.  Today I'm flying back to Madrid, then tomorrow back home to the desert. ¡Qué gran viaje ha sido!

Tenerife Part 2

Day 1 of my two day driving tour of Tenerife.  There was a little kiosk right outside my hotel so I rented a little Fiat Panda and set off up into the mountains!  I couldn't see Mt. Teide from my hotel room so I wasn't sure what the conditions would be like on top but as it's extremely high and one of the best astronomical viewpoints in the world, I anticipated I'd end up being above the clouds and in the bright, clean high air.

I outlined in blue my route on the map above and you can see the squiggles I had to deal with on the way up, dozens and dozens of hairpin curves.  I started to feel a bit nauseous - and that's pretty rare when you're the one doing the driving!  I was right (and alright) in the end, as I progressed up from the tropical seafront to pine forests, then through the misty cloud layer and up into the startling clear air on the volcanic plateau that formed the National Park of Mt. Teide.

Cooled volcanic basalt columns that had been turned sideways at some point during their formation and 'burst' open to form this flower shape. Pretty neat.

The volcano is still active though it hasn't had a major eruption in a hundred years or so. Evidence of the different flows can been seen in the different colored rocks and shapes of the flows

Can't really see but over my left shoulder there's a cable car that goes up to almost the top of the volcano, from 2356m to 3,555m (top is 3718m)

Heading over and down the other side of the park to the south end of the island.

I have to say, the bicyclists around here are legendary!  I saw dozens riding the roads up to Teide - this has got to be at least 20-30 miles going UP without any relief, and UP to the tune of 6500'+!  And then another 20-30 miles DOWN the same hairpin curves.  In fact, one lady cyclist passed me, passed me while I was driving my car!  Incredible.



Just as I reached the ocean I stopped for a photo op overlooking Los Gigantes and their famous sea cliffs. It's supposed to be pleasant and peaceful with a good selection of English bars (so says TripAdvisor) but I wasn't hungry or thirsty so I turned left to continue driving down to the South bit of the island.  Remember, the south is the touristy side.  So much so that I couldn't bear to stop: people, cars, hotels.  Besides, my ankle was getting a bit cranky from working a stick-shift for so long so I headed to the highway and did a drive-by of the whole rest of my route.  Barren, arid, dry, windy. Just like home! Ha!  I don't even have any photos to share as nothing seemed photogenic.

Class Is Dismissed!

My four weeks of Spanish language studies are over! Here's another picture of my fellow students along with our long-suffering morning professor, Pablo.  I've definitely learned a lot in the last month but still have a lot of vocabulary and tenses to learn before I can actually carry on a conversation but I've enjoyed it and it was good to stretch those old brain cells a bit.  I coincidentally booked my departure for the afternoon of the final exam so I had the pleasure of cramming for 3 days and taking a 2-hour test...it's been decades since I've had to do that!  I've no idea how I did, as I'm missing Friday's class, I'm hoping Pablo will email me my grade!


The school offered activities every afternoon: paella-making lessons, a trip to an modern art museum, an interchange with English/Spanish students, etc. I ended up studying most afternoons but one activity I really enjoyed was a bike tour along Salamanca's river.


I'm not sure why this elephant is doing a headstand but I walk by it every day on the way to and from school and it never fails to make me smile.


The morning of my final exam I walked by this statue, the Struggling Student and Patient Teacher? I know how the poor guy feels....


Salamanca is full of students and tapas bars. This vegetarian cafe became a favorite of mine and my classmates. Cheap, excellent food, and lots of veggies which often seems hard to find in Spanish restaurants, unless you consider french fries a vegetable...but just at these tapas offerings!


Just a certificate of attendance, not a diploma but I know I'm ready to tackle Level A2 and the Past Tense now!!



Good-bye Salamanca! I'm on the express bus to Madrid where I'll spend the night before flying out to Tenerife tomorrow. The Canary Islands belong to Spain so hopefully I'll be able to practice my new language skills a little!