Tag Archives: Vilaflor

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?