Tag Archives: buskers

Happy Corpus Christi

Germany, Travel, , ,

June 19 – After a rocky attempt at a night’s sleep, we thought a nice walk in the sunshine would help reset our internal clocks. We ate our breakfast of fruit, yogurt, brown bread and cheese, downed a few cups of strong coffee, and set out toward town.

The first thing we noticed was that the supermarket we visited yesterday was not open – unusual for a Thursday, don’t you think? As we walked along, the streets seemed very quiet. As we approached the center of town, we saw that all the stores were closed. What’s up? Time to consult Google!

It turns out that today is the state holiday of Corpus Christi (body of Christ), a celebration of the Eucharist by the Roman Catholics here since the year 1246; always falling on the tenth day after Pentecost.

We made our way toward the cathedral, figuring that is where the action would be, and we were right.

The entire square was filled with folks participating in an outdoor mass, with dozens of priests handing out communion wafers.
Parades of priests, acolytes and musicians worked their way through the crowds
Lots of nuns in different colors
The shops were closed, but the buskers were out to entertain
This guy was whistling behind his happy mask
They have wall art here!
Happy monks
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one… We had enough excitement for one day, so went back to relax at our tropical hotel. More tomorrow!

Montaña Bocinegro, Tenerife

Tenerife, Travel, , , , ,

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
Here’s the start of the trail
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!
My ta-da moment
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.
See the flight of white birds?
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! ❤️