Le Guapa Tenerife

Too excited to sleep, we were already awake when the alarm went off at 4am last Wednesday. As the trains don't run until after 6am, Tony dropped us off at the airport so we could catch our 7.30am flight (we'd bribed him with lunch in Spoons the previous week!). The plane took off on time, landing half-an-hour ahead of schedule but, due to the rain in the south, our usual 90 minute bus ride to the north took 140 minutes. Still, ten hours from door-to-door sure beats those epic 26 hour journeys back in our decades of long-haul trips to India!

We checked into our usual hotel, The Florida Plaza, where we were greeted by the staff like old friends. We dumped our bags and headed straight to the nearest bar for a pint of Dorada Especial. After stocking up on supplies at the Hyperdino, we returned to the room to unpack and shower before spending the night out on the town. 

Tapas and wine, eaten in the street. I still can't get my head around that we're in Europe, sitting outside in December and not freezing our t*ts off! 

After sleeping for almost 12 hours we awoke to dazzling sunshine, eating breakfast on the balcony in our sunglasses (Canarian yoghurt with bananas and grapes grown less than a mile away).

Tenerife is currently experiencing a "Coastal phenomenom" with huge waves battering the island. Several of the beaches and the main promenade were closed off following a drowning a fortnight ago. 

We stopped for the Tenerife speciality, a barraquito, made with layers of condensed milk, the local vanilla liqueur, espresso and frothed milk, garnished with cinnamon and a twist of lemon peel and an absolute bargain at €3.50. Booze at 11am? Outrageous!  

A visit to Puerto de la Cruz's gorgeous Jardin Botanico is an absolute must. Established in 1788 by Spain's King Charles III, the gardens are the second oldest on the island. Open daily from 9am - 6pm, admission is €4 for non-residents (€3 for locals). The gardens are1.6km from the seafront and as Puerto de la Cruz sits in the slopes of Mount Tiede, getting there involves climbing around 100 steps (although there's decent public transport available for those less active).

We ambled back down the steps to the town square where we ate tapas, drank delicious Canarian pale ale and were immortalised in ink by a passing Cuban artist.

Food of the gods....tortilla (Spanish omelette), Pimientos de Padrón (small green peppers, fried in olive oil) and papas arrugadas con mojo (new potatoes cooked in sea salt and served with chilli & garlic sauce).

After a long and lazy lunch we returned to the Florida Plaza so I could swim in the rooftop pool. It's very rare I ever have to share the water with anyone, as most people (including Jon) consider it far too cold ...all the more room for me! 

A pool with a view.

After a few beers in our favourite hole-in-the-wall bar we ate at the Moroccan* restaurant where we'd visited last year and the food was just as delicious. 

*Tenerife is closer to Africa than to mainland Spain. 

As you know, Xmas bores me rigid but the festive lights in Puerto are so pretty!

La Guapa (meaning The Pretty) is one of the coolest bodegas in the Old Town and, conveniently, a two minute walk from our hotel. The music is Spanish and the clientelle almost exclusively Canarian but if you're lucky enough to find a seat, tourists are more than welcome. 

One of the loveliest things about nights in downtown Puerto de la Cruz is seeing women in their 70s and 80s dressed up to the nines and going out to bars on their own.

I would have been happy just to sit and watch but the local lads kept insisting I dance with them, it would have been churlish to say no!

Thanks for reading, more to follow!