And, all too soon, it was our last day. We wandered the colourful streets of the old town, making sure we'd reacquainted ourselves with all of our favourite street art.
From the 15th century, Puerto de la Cruz became a crucial stopping-off points for ships heading to (and from) the New World, serving as a vital last European port for supplies, repairs, and recruiting skilled sailors before the long transatlantic voyage, thanks to their strategic location in the trade winds. The city feels (and looks) more Latin American than Spanish and reminds us of our adventures in Brazil back in 2000.
Stopping off for a Barraquito along the way. Of course, at 10.30am, we could have asked for it served sin liqor, but we didn't!
We made our way to the San Carlos Cemetary which, when we'd visited back in 2023, we'd had no idea about a grisly incident that had taken place there one hundred and fifty years previously.
In 1873, twenty-four year old James Morris moved to Puerto de la Cruz from England to work as the chief cashier at his uncle's succesful business. He was often seen around the city twirling the company's safe keys from the gold chain attached to his fob watch.
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| The San Felippe Fortress |
Life-long friends, Manuel Brito and Pedro Armas were born into poverty and dreamt of escaping to South America. They worked out a plot to rob James Morris of the company takings. Having studied the foreigner's liking for women and wine, they convinced him that a local girl was interested in meeting him close to the San Felipe fortress. On 25th November, 1878 on a dark, chilly and overcast evening, Brito, dressed up as a woman and hid while Armas led the victim to the chosen rendezvous point where they stabbed him to death. Taking whatever possessions he carried with him along with the safe keys, they ransacked the company offices, stealing over 20,000 reals which, to this day, have never been found.
In the early hours of the following morning, they carried Morris's corpse to the nearby San Carlos cemetery and placed his body in a tomb belonging to the Marchioness of De La Villa de San Andrés who had died in 1853 but, in their haste they cracked the tombstone and this would prove to be their undoing.
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| The tombstone, with the telltale crack |
Three days after the crime, there was a funeral for a child who had died of pneumonia but the ceremony at the cemetary was delayed after the gravedigger refused to do his job until the required official permit had been issued, causing the mourners to stand around waiting for the document to arrive. As fate would have it, one of the funeral party was blind and had a heightened sense of smell. He told the gravedigger that he could smell decay and pointed to the grave where he thought it was coming from. The gravedigger noticed that the tombstone was cracked and that swarms of bluebottles were entering the opening. When the tombstone was removed they found the body of James Morris.
Investigators discovered that Brito and Armas had befriended el inglés in a local tavern and they were arrested and taken, first to the jail in La Orotava and then to the prison in Santa Cruz where they admitted the crime. Three years later they met their own death, horribly garrotted. Theirs was the very last execution to take place in The Canaries.
As the volcanic black sandy beach of Playa Jardin was closed off due to the continuing "Coastal Phenomena", we sat on the jetty mesmerised by the huge Atlantic waves - although they look pretty benign in this photo!
I've swum in the harbour on previous trips and although there were others splashing about, I decided to keep my clothes on and swim in the rooftop pool at the Florida Plaza later.
A 250 step walkway, cut into the foothill of Mount Teide leads to Parque Taoro, the city's green lung. Comprising over 100,000 square metres of cascading waterfalls, fishponds, botanical gardens and magnificent views over the city, it's a popular spot for locals and tourists alike.
Go on, Jon, you can do it!
Jon found a faster way down, an overgrown donkey track carved out of the mountain with an ancient frayed rope attached to the rocks to cling on to - talk about hairy, we needed a stiff drink by the time we'd reached ground level!
We ate on the seafront, enjoying Papas Arigadas con mojo, a canarian cheese platter and some goats cheese and honey-drizzled croquettes - along with large glasses of ice cold Dorada Especial. It was the hottest day of our trip, a splendidly balmy 27°C.
We headed back into the old town, grabbed a table at Agora and enjoyed a couple of glasses of the local red wine, such good value at €3!
A final swim in the rooftop pool...
Before our last night out in Puerto de la Cruz.
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@vixbrearley #puertodelacruz #northtenerife #over50women #vintagestyle #1970saesthetic ♬ Señorita - Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
Tenerife, we love you! Can't wait to see you again!
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