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.

Our modern apartment is close to the beach, which has sort of a tan and desert sand vibe

After some coffee and a bocadillo (sandwich) we felt somewhat restored

Kite surfers are making the most of the breezy day

There’s a big hill not too far away, which is on Jim’s list of things to climb

A statue in honor of the travels of Magellan reminded us of the Mayan statues in the Yucatán

My favorite statues are the ones with a bird on top. We walked to the supermarket for some provisions, then crashed to get some much-needed sleep. More tomorrow!

Mérida Finale

September 12, 2024Mexico, Travel, Yucatán PeninsulaMérida, Museum of Modern Artkarenfranza

Sept 8 – So we got back on the bus to Mérida, for the final time. We have a day in town to purchase our souvenir plate and repack our packs.

We saw a street performer for the first time this trip. He must be so hot in that costume!

We got into the modern art museum that had been closed the last time we tried

We went back to the cathedral and got to see the Lord of the Blisters up close

And then, as the turtle at our hostal looked like he was packed and ready, we did the same. The Uber came at 5:15am, and by midnight, we were home! Thanks for a great trip, Yucatán!

A little more from Progreso, Yucatán

September 10, 2024Mexico, Travel, Yucatán Peninsulacoconut shrimp, lighthouse, malecón, pier, Progreso, wall artkarenfranza

Sept 6 – What do you do when you just can’t swim and sleep anymore? Walk into town, of course, where you can:

…admire the lighthouse, which is not on the shore, but blocks back into the town

…and a tribute to kids and their cellphones with the long pier in the background

Walk all the way to the end of the malecón to admire the world’s longest pier – 4 miles long, as the water is too shallow to allow large container or cruise ships to dock any nearer

Walk under the pier to the old wooden boardwalk

This end of town looks more like an old fishing village

Back on the malecón to look for beach souvenirs…

…and find a place for a seafood lunch – we eat seafood every day when we’re at the beach

Interesting appetizers – papaya with hot sauce, hot dogs in French dressing

When you order coconut shrimp here, you get the coconut!

Would you like one more sunset? Here you go! Thanks for the R & R Progreso, best beach ever!

Progreso, Yucatán

September 6, 2024Mexico, Travel, Yucatán Peninsulabeach, Gulf of Mexico, Progreso, shrimp tacoskarenfranza

Sept 3 – So long Yellow City! We got on the bus back to Mérida this morning, then changed to the Progreso bus for our last stop of this trip.

Progreso is about 75 miles east of our last beach town of Celestún, still on the Gulf of Mexico. Another fishing village with calm green waters and a beautiful, sandy beach.

The difference is that Progreso is a cruise ship stop, so it is a lot more affluent, with a long cement malecón (boardwalk), and many more hotels and restaurants.

We are staying at the Itze Hostel, just across the street from the beach. We have access to the kitchen, so Jim can make our coffee and breakfast. There are so many food options right close by, we don’t need to worry about feeding ourselves.

Coconitos – the best shrimp tacos on the beach!

There is a dinosaur exhibit here for the kiddos

…and a little train that runs tourists up and down the malecón

So, what is there to do in Progreso? Nothing at all, except eat, swim, sleep listening to the gentle waters, and repeat. Of course, you may also:

What a lovely town! More in the next post…

More from Izamal, Yucatán

September 4, 2024Mexico, Travel, Yucatán PeninsulaCenote Chihuan, Convento de Antonio de Padua, Holcá, Izamal, Mama Linda, Nuestra Señora de Izamal, subterranean cenotekarenfranza

Sept 1 – Do you remember when we were in Valladolid and tried unsuccessfully to swim in a cenote? Well, today we will get another chance! Although there are no cenotes in Izamal, our hotel host Monty arranged a taxi that will take us to a cenote about a half hour away.

Cenote Chihuan, in the town of Holcá, is on private land and is said to be the only totally subterranean cenote. Our taxi pulled up to the gate and it was… closed. Not again! The taxi driver banged on the gate and shouted, but no bananas. Our driver got back in the cab and started searching on his phone for an alternate cenote, when the proprietor opened the gate. Success!