Category Archives: Travel

A Day in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

February 18, 2025Tenerife, TravelAtlas, Castillo de San Cristobal, doner kebab, Santa Cruzkarenfranza

Feb 14 – this morning’s sunrise from our terrace did not disappoint! Thank you Jim, for getting up early to capture these beautiful shots.

Our plan for the day was to check out the port area. As we walked, we saw lots of nautical artifacts.

Here is an anchor from the HMS Theseus, part of Admiral Nelson’s fleet in 1797

We visited the church of St.Francis of Assisi. Quiet and pretty.

“Would you like to borrow my royal ear warmers?”

Forget the frankincense – eggs are the most precious gift!

This is the oldest marble statue in Santa Cruz

A beautiful wide esplanade with stately palms

The inscription on this shiny statue says “we are all Atlas, carrying a world of thoughts on our shoulders”

Jim always gives money to the buskers on the street. This guy didn’t have anything but a mask – not even a hat to collect tips in. He sat still until tourists walked by, then yelled, “Boo!”

We went underground to see remnants of the castle of San Cristobal that was recently discovered when the land was being prepared for new construction

There is a fine example of a cannon displayed here. In all the battle stories, the Brits are the bad guys and the Spanish are the good guys. Admiral Nelson got his arm shot off near here.

Now that we’re in a big city, we have a wealth of cuisines to choose from, so we headed right to the Turkish takeout for the world’s best doner kebab durum (wrap). Soooo good!

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

February 17, 2025Tenerife, TravelAfrican Market, Atlantic Ocean, buses, Santa Cruz, statue honoring General Franco, Tribute to the Chicharrero, wall artkarenfranza

Feb 13 – today was a hassle-free travel day. We had a lucky breakfast (with two double yoked eggs!), locked up our very nice apartment in Vilaflor and strode confidently to the bus stop.

How often have you cracked three eggs and gotten five yolks? It’s gonna be a lucky day, for sure!

We rode without incident an hour back to Los Christianos, then pushed our way through a crowd onto the next bus (not everybody made it on, but being a New Yorker had advantages here). An hour of traveling north, with the Atlantic in view for the whole trip, brought us to the city of Santa Cruz.

The bus let us off in the heart of the bustling seaside tourist zone. This is the African Market, which sells, food, meat, and all manner of trinkets.

Tribute to the Chicharrero, the native fishermen of Santa Cruz, is right outside the African Market

How the Chicharrero dressed, back in the day

We strolled down the busy streets toward our new apartment. Lots of restaurants and statues and flowers.

These have leaves like geraniums but flowers like tulips? If Eliese was here, she’d tell me what they are!

An old advert for Cod Liver Oil – a universal remedy!

Santa Cruz is a major shipping port, and also hosts German and English cruise ships

This monument to General Franco is impressive

So here we are in our new, very modern apartment, on the sixth floor overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. There is a big supermarket and lots of restaurants nearby. Jim is making us a pot of chicken vegetable soup. Our terrace faces east, so we will wait for the morning for a view of the sunrise. I think we’re going to like it here!

More from Vilaflor, Tenerife

February 14, 2025Tenerife, TravelCasa Pana, flowers, Hermano Pedro de Vilaflor, Pino de las dos Pernadas, Pino Gordo, Vilaflorkarenfranza

Feb 12 – now that we’ve got all that climbing and hiking out of the way, we can relax and check out the sights of the tiny village of Vilaflor.

A short walk showed us more interesting rock formations. We are on our way to see…(wait for it)…

El Pino Gordo , the widest pine tree in Tenerife! This 800 year old Canary Island pine isn’t the tallest or the oldest, but it is pretty wide. You’d need at least six Jims to reach all the way around it.

Tourists came by in a steady stream to take a pic in front of the tree and then move on. We didn’t want to miss that opportunity!

I think this bump on the trunk looks like a lion’s profile – what do you think?

Right across the street is another sign for a pine that is not quite as old or wide, but actually a bit taller. It is called… (wait for it again)… the Tree of Two Legs! So much culture here.

Back in town we looked at Casa de los Soler, a fine example of Canarian architecture that was the home of the area’s richest family until the locals drove them out in the 1600s. There was also a murder here in the 1800s. Not sure if the house will be renovated.

We went back to the church to find out more about the local saint. While there we spied this statue of a seated Jesus – something we don’t often see.

Santo Hermano Pedro de Vilaflor was born right in this village in 1626. He traveled to Antigua, Guatemala to become a missionary in his 20s, and served there until he died in his 40s.

Every morning he rang a bell to call people to Mass, hence the imagery of the hand and the bell.

He was canonized in 2002 and is the first saint ever from the Canary Islands. Hometown boy makes good!

Jim is a satisfied man after our dinner. A half chicken, roasted outdoors on a wooden fire, and a green salad were just what we needed. Simple, and so delicious.

A view from the top of the village. Thanks for the memories Vilaflor – it’s been grand!

El Teide, Tenerife

February 13, 2025Tenerife, Travelcable car, El Teide, papas arrugadas, rabbit, rancho Canario, Vilaflor, volcano, Walking on the Moonkarenfranza

Feb 10 – this morning we got up early and prepared for our journey to visit the highest mountain in Spain and the third largest volcano in the world: El Teide!

Here in Vilaflor we are at an altitude of 3400 feet, but El Teide is 12,100 feet. Here it is chilly, but up there it will be cold! We dressed appropriately, meaning I put on a tee shirt, a long sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, a scarf, a floppy hat, and two pairs of pants. That’s all the clothes I’ve got, so it will have to do!

We caught the only bus of the day without any problems, and rode for an hour – up, up, and up some more! Our ears were popping away. Lots of excited chatter in many languages as we ascended.

Wall art at the bus stop – the image of the hand with the bell is the same as the statue we saw on the first day. We’ll have to find out what it means.

Unusual rock formations seen through the bus window. They do look like what you might see on the moon.

Our first view of El Teide – the original inhabitants believed that El Teide was the god that held up the sky. It last erupted in 1909 – please behave today!

The bus stopped at the park’s visitor center, so we got out and looked around

See the cable car stanchions running up the right side of the peak? That’s where we’re headed!

…until we reached the cable cars. There are two cars, running every 10 minutes throughout the day. We were told that the maximum time to stay on the summit was one hour.

Looking down into the crater. The air is thin up here, and we pant as we walk.

As we climb, my personal soundtrack cues up, “Giant steps are what we take, walking on the moon. I hope my legs don’t break, walking on the moon.” Thanks, Sting!

There is a rocky path across the ridge to an eventual view of the ocean. See the people heading up and over?

I’m proceeding v e r y slowly, slipping and sliding as we climb. This country doesn’t know that safety rails and non-slippery footpaths have been invented…

We’ve arrived! The ocean below, the sky above.

We are not at the tippy-top, which can only be climbed with a special permit, but we are high enough!

As we started our descent, we watched the clouds roll toward us.

Then it was time to get back on the cable cars. We’d spent over two hours at the top.

More strange formations seen on the bus ride home

For our celebration supper, we had local specialties.
I had Rancho Canario, a wonderful hearty soup with, chickpeas, pasta, pork and chicken broth

Jim had the stewed rabbit – served with all the bones and some of the organs. Very tasty, once you figure out where the bones are!

All restaurants here are very proud of their papas arrugadas (wrinkled potatoes), which are locally grown small potatoes boiled in seawater. They have a salty crust on the outside and are creamy inside. They are served with mojo rojo and mojo verde for dipping. What a day!

Walking on the Moon, Tenerife

February 12, 2025Tenerife, Travelpotato soup, Vilaflor, Walking on the Moonkarenfranza

Feb 9 – so why are we in Vilaflor? 1) It is the closest village to Mt. Teide, the highest peak in Spain and third biggest volcano in the world, and 2) it’s a place of many mountain hikes. Guess who’s going hiking today?

This little village reminds us of San Francisco or Lisbon in that you are either walking uphill or downhill at all times

The roads aren’t wide enough to allow two way traffic

Even though it’s a bit chilly, there are lots of flowers in bloom

We walked out of town to find the start of the trail. See how the land has been terraced for farming? Look in the foreground – are those grapevines?

We’re not the only ones out walking this morning

Our trail marker – the name of this trail is Walking on the Moon for its aridity and the odd formations of volcanic rock. At the summit, there is no vegetation.

Lots of dry gravel for slipping and sliding – not my favorite kind of trail!

Jim, on the other hand, is smiling from ear to ear!

We continue to gain elevation throughout the morning. The culmination of the trail, at the top, is said to provide a view of Mt. Teide, but unfortunately we will not get to the top today.

We sat on a rock and ate our jamon and Camembert sandwiches, then turned around for the trek back down.

Vibrant flowers growing beside the trail

We celebrated a successful day with Jim’s yummy potato vegetable soup. A fine day!

Vilaflor, Tenerife

February 10, 2025Tenerife, TravelNice Person of Tenerife, Santo Hermano Pedro, Vilaflorkarenfranza

Feb 8 – today is a travel day, which is always its own kind of adventure. We had our last breakfast in our super modern apartment, and set out to catch the 9:15 bus. The bus stop was right where Google said it would be, clearly marked with the Titsa bus company logo and our bus number.

Because it is Saturday, the buses run less frequently. Note to self: don’t schedule travel days on the weekend! We have to catch two buses today, the first to Los Christianos, then about an hour’s wait for the bus to Vilaflor. Easy peasy.

We were chatting and waiting when a homeless (or maybe just a very dirty) man came up and told us that if we wanted to catch a bus, we should go around the corner. Sure enough, there were lots of people around the corner, as well as a big green bus! Nice person of Tenerife!

The bus left on time, but it was a local, and every stop added additional minutes to our ETA. Before too long, it seemed we would just make the connecting bus, and after a while we were absolutely certain we would miss it. When was the next bus? Not ‘til 5:30 this evening, or maybe not ‘til tomorrow. Cue the tense music!

Then we got to a stop where lots of people got on at once, and the driver declared the bus full, passing by the rest of the stops. We pulled in to Los Christianos with 5 minutes to spare! Cue “O Happy Day!”

We bought tickets to Vilaflor, jumped on the new bus and were stopped by the driver, who said our tickets were short by €1.25. We just purchased the tickets! How could this be? The driver was adamant, so Jim coughed up the extra euro and change. We couldn’t risk not getting on this bus!

We headed north and gained elevation ‘til our ears popped. The countryside was dry and brown and reminiscent of Arizona – cacti growing but not much else.

Although we had typed Vilaflor into Google Maps to track our progress, the destination automatically changed to Santa Catalina, and the bus was indeed heading to Santa Catalina, which had a T for terminal. Sure enough, at Santa Catalina everybody else got off the bus. Jim thought maybe there was one more stop, but Google said “You have arrived”. We pushed the stop button on the bus, but were a split second too late, and the bus took off again, careening up the mountain and up some more. Oh no! How long would it take us to walk back to town?

Well dear friends, the bus did have one more stop, with no big town, just a church and a sign that said Vilaflor.

We got off and checked the distance to our new apartment. A six minute walk! Jim was right as usual. Google let us down again…

There was a strange statue of a solitary arm holding a bell, with no signage to explain what it meant. We’ll have to see if we can find out more about it.

The church was open, and had a pretty altar. It is dedicated to Santo Hermano Pedro, the only saint from the Canary Islands, who was born right in this town!

And now we are in our new super modern apartment in Vilaflor, the smallest municipality in Tenerife, with the highest altitude of 4600 feet. Instead of 70 degree beach weather, the high expected here is 50F. It is chilly. I hope I brought enough clothes…

Montaña Bocinegro, Tenerife

February 8, 2025Tenerife, Travelbuskers, El Médano, kite surfing, Montaña Bocinegro, Sunset, WWII bunkerkarenfranza

Feb 7 – can we top yesterday’s adventure for sheer excitement? I don’t think so, nor do I want to! Today we are walking up the teeny weeny elevation next to yesterday’s Montaña Roja. It is also called a mountain, but it’s just a bump in the landscape. The sign tells us it is called Montaña Bocinegro, literally the Black Horn, also the local name for the sea bream, a popular and plentiful Atlantic fish.

The shops are not open yet, but I just love the sentiments on this door. Only one who knows how to be small is great in life. For death or for life, food comes first! (It rhymes in Spanish)

The Black Horn is just a bump to the left of yesterday’s mountain. We are up before the kite surfers. The wind seems milder today.

We passed a morning yoga class, and a guy doing Tai Chi on the beach

In two shakes of a lamb’s tail we reached the top. Jim laughed when he read the sign (below)

There may be a risk of falling, but we can’t see the height shown in this sign!

Looking behind us at the side of Montaña Roja that we didn’t see yesterday. Can you see the tiny people climbing up the trails?

Here’s more of the red volcanic rock. The loose rock makes the path slippery – I’m glad I brought a hiking stick.

Google says these are “curious geological formations”. They look like a sea creature’s tunnels, but they are rock, not sand. We see them in several places along the beach.

A bunker from WWII. Spain was officially neutral, but built bunkers out of fear of invasion from both sides. The Allies and the Axis both wanted use of the strategic Canary Islands, and it is said that Spain turned a blind eye when the Germans used the islands to resupply their U-boats.

We continue to marvel at the kite surfers. We watched one young man as he repeatedly barreled toward shore, then lifted up into the air and flipped over with his board before landing gracefully back on the water. What fun!

We drank a café con leche as we watched the surfers. I liked the mural depicting this little town.

After supper we gathered with our fellow tourists to watch the setting of the sun

We were serenaded by this talented combo, who played songs from the last century like Fly Me to the Moon and All of Me. A young girl joined in to add French vocals to Strangers in the Night. Quite lovely.

Farewell El Médano. You’ve been grand! ❤️

Montaña Roja, Tenerife

February 8, 2025Tenerife, TravelEl Médano, grilled squid, Hiking, kayakers, king prawns, Montaña Roja, Sunset, very windykarenfranza

Feb 6 – today we put our boots on, grabbed our trekking sticks, and set out to climb Montaña Roja, or the Red Mountain, so named as the bits of iron in its volcanic rock composition give it a ruddy hue.

We started out early, before the kite surfing rental shops opened. Looks like it’s going to be a nice day.

The Mandela Man left us a new early morning message: Love yourself first, then love others

The start of the trail. The mountain is a piddling 400 foot climb, and doesn’t look red at all from here. This will be a walk in the park. My brain started singing, “Saturday in the Park” by Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Some hikers left their mark next to the trail

As we climbed, the wind increased – you cannot imagine how windy it was! The song in my head switched to Marilyn McKoo: Blowin’ Away. “I feel so high, I feel like I may be blowin’ away…”

This poor tree doesn’t stand a chance of growing straight in this wind!

Our destination! It was so windy up here that I repeatedly had to stop and crouch down to avoid getting blown off the summit. My full water bottle, stored in a side pocket of my pack, sailed up, up and away at some point, never to be seen again.

We made it! I almost lost my hat at one point, and the wind almost tore my glasses off, but, standing on the lee side at the top, this is the look of success.

Jim is so happy when he’s standing at the very highest point!

Time to head back down. We passed a young couple with an infant in arms on their way up, and all I could think was, “you better hold tight onto that baby!” See the cluster of white buildings that is our little town of El Médano?

Now you can see the reddish color of the rocks

Ta da! Back to the signpost! Some friendly Brits snapped our picture.

Returning to the beach two hours later, where the kite surfers were just getting started.

To celebrate our victory, we had lunch at a seafood restaurant. Jim had the grilled squid…

…and I wrestled with the king prawns. I prefer my shrimp when they are not looking back at me. Delicious, but too much work!

Tonight we encountered some buskers entertaining the crowd, which is growing larger by the hour as the weekend nears. This group had a very danceable tune, and, yes, we danced!

Time to watch the sun go down, as the last of the kayakers bring their boats back to shore.

El Médano, Tenerife

February 6, 2025Tenerife, TravelEl Médano, kite surfing, Mandela, wind surfing, windykarenfranza

Feb 4 – Today we are thankful for how-to videos on YouTube. Our modern apartment has a newfangled induction stove that we couldn’t even figure out how to power on. Turns out we’re not the only ones – several helpful videos came to our rescue. Ditto the microwave/broiler (a strange combination, don’t you think?) Tomorrow maybe we’ll tackle turning on the clothes washer that looks like a cheese grater…

The little tourist town of El Médano is on the southern end of Tenerife and is all about any sport that favors a windy beach. Kite surfing and wind surfing are mostly what we see. There is a constant wind of 15 – 20mph.

Lots of folks soaking up the sun and getting their feet wet, and a few brave swimmers

Lots of fit Germans in shorts that show off their bulging calf muscles and lots of considerably flabbier Brits are in evidence here. Also French and Italians, in smaller numbers.

Which way is the wind blowing? These artsy devices seem to agree that the winds blow from the east

One industrious soul creates a Mandela that will soon be erased by the wind and water

The surf carves ridges that sunbathers use as windbreaks. The sand is darker and more densely packed than our beaches – the sand doesn’t get in your shoes!

Where the boardwalk ended we found the trail that will take us up Montaña Roja (Red Mountain), but we didn’t climb it today

Back to town for a smoked salmon poke bowl – some restaurants here follow the Spanish custom of closing in the afternoon for siesta, while others open at 2pm, so we can always find something to eat.

After supper we walked to the place where everyone gathers to watch the sunset.

Tenerife

February 4, 2025Tenerife, TravelEl Médano, kite surfingkarenfranza

Feb 1, 2025 – We’ve had a few weeks of actual winter in Virginia, with real snow and freezing temperatures. It’s time to travel someplace a bit warmer, don’t you think?

We’re off to Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands that sit off the coast of Morocco and the Western Sahara Desert. The islands belong to Spain, so they are part of the EU.

What do we know about the Canary Islands? The name means Islands of the Dogs (think canine), as sailors back in Roman times noted the abundance of monk seals, called sea dogs, that lived there. The yellow canary bird was named for the islands.

There are eight islands in the Canaries, of which Tenerife is the largest and most populated. It is a popular holiday destination for Europeans and Brits. Winter weather is not tropical, but a very pleasant 70F on most days. Mt. Teide on Tenerife is the third largest volcano in the world and the highest elevation in Spain (12,188 feet).

That’s all I know so far!

Feb 2 – Son Peter dropped us at the airport Sunday, where we boarded our flight on time, but sat on the runway for a long time before takeoff. No worries, United – we want you to look both ways rather than running into anything midair!

When we got to Newark, it had started to snow, which wasn’t good. We grabbed a bite, then boarded on time just to sit for a reeeally long time – we watched an entire movie before the plane was de-iced and queued up on one of the only working runways. Once in the air, things were fine, and we arrived in Tenerife in 7 hours; a bit sleep deprived, but no worse for wear.

Feb 3 – Customs was a breeze, we found an ATM right outside the airport, then tried to find the right place to stand for the #10 bus to get us into town. We stood under a big sign that said “#10”, but after two #10s flew past us without stopping, we figured we needed a better plan. We figured it out eventually, and two buses later, we are here in El Médano.