Bye Bye Winter, Hola Tenerife!

 At 5.30am, a week ago, we left home, walked a mile down the road to the railway station and, too early for the direct train, changed at New Street Station for Birmingham International, hopped on the Monorail to Birmingham Airport, passed through security and by 7.10am were sitting in departures tucking into the cheese sandwiches Jon had made the night before. Life's so much easier when you travel light!

After the four hour flight we landed at Tenerife Airport South, speedily passing through immigration we boarded the #30 bus bound for Santa Cruz bus station where we alighted and caught the #103 to Puerto de la Cruz, finally arriving at our destination in the far north of the island two hours after disembarking the plane. (This long journey is the reason why the vast majority of British tourists stay in the South). After a short walk from the bus station to the old town, we checked into our home for the next five nights, The Florida Plaza Aparthotel, offloaded our bags and twelve hours after leaving the house, were sitting in the late afternoon sunshine enjoying a chilled glass of El Aguila.

Tenerife was experiencing temperatures of 28.5°C, making it the hottest December on the island for over a century. What a contrast to the dismal freezing fog we'd experienced on our walk down to the station a few hours earlier. 

Puerto de la Cruz was as vibrant, welcoming and authentic as we'd remembered and after tapas (padron peppers, wrinkled potatoes with mojo sauce, crusty bread and slabs of local cheese), eaten in the street, we headed to our favourite bar, a tiny hole in the wall, a stone's throw from our room where the two women who ran it remembered our usual tipple - dos jarras - two jugs (or large) beers. 

On Wednesday, after sleeping for almost 12 hours, we showered, slapped on some factor 30 and walked across town to the twice-weekly rastro (flea market) held outside the Mercado Municipal, the existence of which we weren't aware when we'd visited last year. Facebook really is brilliant for getting up to date travel info.

The stalls were beautifully presented with, unsurprisingly, loads of Zara, as well as rails labelled vestidos de fiesta (party dresses). I was excited to spot an original 1970s Indian cotton midi dress from vintage Jaipur label, Amber, in amongst the modern gear, tentatively asking the stall holder ¿Cuanto cuesta? When she replied, Cuatro! I double checked with Jon that she meant €4 and not €40, before hurriedly handing over my cash. 

After marvelling over the size of the peppers and the incredibly cheap prices of the fruit & veg on display indoors, we headed back towards the seafront.

We wandered along Playa Jardin, which certainly lives up to its name.

We roamed the old town, revisiting some of our favourite street art. 

Tenerife, closer to the Sahara than Madrid but with its colourful houses and tropical planting, feels more like Latin America than anywhere else.

When we reached the harbour we discovered that The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Eduardo Westerdahl, housed within the old customs house, the Casa de la Real Aduana (built in 1620) was open. It had been closed throughout the duration of our stay last year.

We're both fans of post-modern European art and with it being displayed in such a distinguished old building made us appreciate the beauty of both.

Needless to say, we went a bit mad buying postcards in the gift shop afterwards.

We decided to climb the hill towards Sitio Litre (Orchid Garden), home to the largest collection of orchids on the island and, at over 220 years old, the oldest garden on Tenerife. The grand mansion within is privately owned and over the years has hosted many illustrious guests including, amongst others, Agatha Christie, who wrote two of her novels here whilst holidaying on the island in 1927. 

The onsite cafe is renowned for its English cream teas and there's even a croquet lawn if you fancy the full-on ex-pat experience! I ordered crusty bread with tomatoes, olive oil & goats cheese and Jon the scrambled egg and bacon baguette accompanied by a couple of glasses of sangria made with Canary wine, Tenerife's banana liquor, fresh fruit and lemonade. The service can be a little chaotic but the food's delicious.  

Special thanks to the kind Scottish gentleman who offered to take our photo.

Sightseeing done for the day, we headed back to our apartment and spent the rest of the afternoon beside our rooftop pool. As we discovered on our previous visit, the info on Booking.com suggesting the pool was heated was wildly inaccurate. Last year Jon dipped a toe in, screamed and scuttled off back to the safety of his sunbed and still traumatised stayed on dry land but I'm made of sterner stuff and put in thirty lengths before prostrating myself beneath the Canarian sun. It was quite windy up there but the views are gorgeous.

After what feels like weeks of living in the dark, its such a treat to enjoy eleven hours of sunlight. Puerto de la Cruz is said to have the best climate in the world, with the temperature averaging at between 19°C and 22°C all day, every day, all year round. Many may wax lyrical about the changing of the seasons, personally I'd rather live in constant warmth and before you tell me to go and do that there's the small matter of bloody Bre**it! 

The reviews for the Florida Plaza are very mixed but we love it. Set in the heart of the old town, with friendly staff who can't do enough for you and probably the cheapest place in Puerto to stay, people complain about the décor being stuck in a 1970s time warp and that they can hear locals playing music until 1am.....like that's a problem!! 

Wednesday night's dinner was eaten al fresco facing the marvellously illuminated Plaza del Charco. 

Jon had Canarian lamb with wrinkled potatoes and I had a whopping great slice of vegetarian lasagne...tasty, if not the most adventurous (or Spanish) of choices. I found Jon's tee shirt, designed by the Chilean illustrator Fabian Ciraolo and featuring Frida Kahlo rocking a Daft Punk band tee on Vinted for a couple of quid and it was much admired by the waiters and bar staff.

Puerto de la Cruz is like being at a festival with live music and performers popping up on every corner. This lady is part of Grandpa's Party, a local band playing traditional Canarian folk.

La Guapa is always a great spot for an after dinner drink with live Spanish music.

And that's us after a few too many €5 Mojitos! 

And that was our first couple of nights on La Isla Bonita. What next? Stay tuned for my next instalment!