Tag Archives: Santa Cruz

The Military Museum, Tenerife

February 22, 2025Tenerife, TravelAdmiral Horatio Nelson, Ferdinand Magellan, Hercules cannon, Juan Sebastian Elcano, Museo de Militar Almeyda, Santa Cruzkarenfranza

Feb 18 – For our last day in Santa Cruz, we walked up into the hills to get an overview of the city. It was a beautiful, crystal clear morning.

How would you like to have to climb these steps every day to get to your house?

The ocean and the city stretch out below.

Then we sallied forth to see the Museo Militar de Almeyda, a huge building not too far from our apartment. We met some Brits who said they visit this museum every time they come to Tenerife and that it’s the very best. We shall see!

The handles on the cannon are described as dolphins, but they look like dragons to me

The Hercules cannon is huge! I was impressed with the intricate decorations on every piece

Lots of ship models from Spain’s illustrious naval history

Scale models of la Niña, la Pinta y la Santa Maria

Scale model of the Victoria, the first ship to circumnavigate the globe in 1522. I remember from school that this feat was credited to Portugal’s Ferdinand Magellan, the original captain, but he didn’t make it all the way around. Magellan was killed in the Philippines, and the voyage was completed by Spaniard Juan Sebastian Elcano.

Some of the many uniforms sported by the Spanish military over the years

This suit of armor seems a bit too old for the Canaries, but here it is!

Much of the museum is focused on the famous battle in 1797 where the islanders defeated British Admiral Horatio Nelson and his fleet. His wounded arm had to be amputated. After the battle, Nelson was invited onto Tenerife to recuperate before sailing home. This was definitely the biggest event in Canary Island history.

…and here we are, in the midst of the battle! Thanks to some friendly Nigerians for snapping our pic. A great way to end our stay in Santa Cruz!

The Palmetum, Tenerife

February 21, 2025Tenerife, Travelpalm trees, Palmetum, Santa Cruzkarenfranza

Feb 17 – There is a special botanical garden here in Santa Cruz, called the Palmetum. At the edge of the city, it was once the municipal rubbish dump, a huge mountain of smelly decay. In the 1980s the dump was closed, and in the 1990s the conversion began.

Terraforming, nurturing seeds and importing species of palm trees from all over the world took an additional twenty years, and the park was opened to the public in 2014. We are going to visit it today.

We took a bus across town, then walked to the outskirts. We climbs up several stories to get to the entrance of the Palmetum.

Climbing the steps to the entrance, we can see the modern arena / opera house nearby.

The park is divided into geographic zones, displaying specimens from Madagascar in one area, and the Caribbean in another

Each specimen has a plaque that names the palm and shows a map of where it is from

The Atlantic is in view throughout most of the park

Back on ground level for the walk home – another lovely day!

Museo de Belles Artes, Tenerife

February 19, 2025Tenerife, TravelMuseo de Belles Artes, rainbow, Santa Cruz, sculpturekarenfranza

Feb 15 – Another beautiful sunrise heralding another fine day. Ideal weather around 70 degrees every day. We could get used to this!

Today we ventured forth to see the Fine Arts Museum. As usual, when I am faced with too much art, I focus on one thing. Today, it was sculpture.

Back on the street, we contemplated which cuisine we’d like for our midday meal

How about Chinese? This classic restaurant served everything family style, and we enjoyed every bite.

When we got home, we found it was misting gently, even though the sun was still shining. This resulted in as bright a rainbow as we’ve ever seen. A lovely day!

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.