Hit The North! More from Tenerife

On Monday, day three of our five night stay on Tenerife, we ate breakfast outside on the terrace and then went for a walk.

Once again it was wonderfully warm and sunny. I thought I was being overly optimistic packing my off-the-shoulder Pink City Prints dress, last seen in Santorini less than eight weeks ago, but the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

We passed the small fortress of San Felipe built in 1604 to defend the town from pirates. 

And wandered along Playa de Jardin, one of Puerto de la Cruz's five black sand beaches.

You can see why it's called Playa del Jardin (garden beach), can't you? These colourful gardens are backed with shady woodland which extends to the slopes of Mount Teide.

We stumbled upon the town's cemetery, with its sweet scented rambling roses and the air of tranquility and calm, it seemed rather odd to have a lotto kiosk on the gate although they do say that life's a lottery.

We headed to The Plaza de Europa hoping to visit the Old Customs House, now home to the town's Museum of Contemporary Art, only to discover that it was closed, so admired the statue dedicated to the port's fisherwomen and wandered along the fort walls flanked by some imposing canons installed during the reign of Philip V (1682 - 1746).

I loved how everyone, residents & tourists alike, cast off their clothes and bask in the sun, sprawling on benches, rocks and the ancient walls - these are my people!

The water is so clean here that people dodge the boats to swim in the harbour rather than heading to the beaches or the lido.

We popped into the Museo del Pescador, a privately run maritime museum packed to the rafters with handmade replica models of boats and some seriously groovy festival posters from years gone by. 

We'd passed the Inglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia (Our Lady of the Rock of France) twice in our quest to find a supermarket the previous day but took time to have a proper look at it this time. Built in 1697 with a very fancy spitting swan fountain and beds stuffed with poinsettias, which seem strange to our British eyes, at home they're short-lived houseplants, rarely surviving more than a month.

A marvellously over-the-top interior overloaded with gold leaf and rapturious saints.

My heart skipped a beat when I spotted this gorgeous Art Nouveau cafe in a side street behind the church, with tiled Mucha panels adorning the entrance and that fabulous Belle Epoque swirly script, I insisted we pop in for a beer. 

Much as I love sitting outside drinking a beer in the sunshine, I was more than willing to sit indoors and bask in the original decor. Never mind those massive cakes, check out that cash register!

Refreshed and ready for a little more culture, we visited the Archaeological Museum which, as it's  currently undergoing refurbishment and, as only a couple of rooms are open, the admission costs have been waived.

We loved these vintage photographs of the islanders, they looked like they were stars from an old time Western.

By now we were absolutely famished so found a restaurant in a shady square and tucked into mushroom omelette & a salad (me), Iberian ham & melon (Jon) accompanied with still-warm, freshly baked bread and a carafe of the house red. Whilst eating we were entertained by one of the many street musicians, this time a Spanish hippy chick playing Vashti Bunyan's 1970 hit (and a favourite song of mine) Just Another Diamond Day on a tenor recorder.

The skies were constantly changing, after lunch the blue had all but disappeared although it was still a balmy 24°C.

We walked up to Playa Martianez and sat spellbound by the waves.

Back at the apartment I took advantage of the deserted rooftop pool and got a few lengths in whilst Jon dipped a toe in, squealed and retreated back to his sunbed.

Earlier in the day we'd noticed a charity shop but it had been closed for siesta so we forfeited our post shower beer on the terrace and walked back for a look. Despite only having carry-on bags I snaffled a 1970s Spanish hand-embroidered flouncy cotton maxi dress and Jon bought a West German 1960s belted tweed overcoat, they were so lovely and such a great price that we decided that we'd worry about how to get them home on Thursday morning!

Dinner was eaten in a very hip and happening cafe bar in Plaza del Charco to the sounds of classic 1990s house expertly mixed by the resident DJ. Jon ate Moroccan lamb with the ubiquitous Papas Arrugadas and I had aubergine cannelloni stuffed with roasted vegetables and red pesto, washed down with some excellent Rioja. We declined the pudding.

After experiencing bathrooms in India that make the toilet in Trainspotting look halfway decent, I'm fascinated by the amazing loos in Europe, there's some great ones in Greece but the Spanish toilets are always exceptional. How pretty are these?

After dinner we went to our favourite hole-in-the-wall bar, mostly frequented by the locals and run by two gorgeous Portuenses (meaning from Puerto de la Cruz) women where we treated ourselves to a couple of large Mojitos for €3 - luckily our apartment was within stumbling distance and we didn't leave our charity shop treasures under the table like we've done in Spoons in the past! 

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for my next instalment.