Andrea's Colonia de Sant Jordi

I first visited Tenerife in 1970 with my parents, it was our second holiday abroad. I have been returning ever since. First with my young children, and now just my wife and I. Although the children, now adults in there 20s still ask, 'when can we come'.

A couple of years ago, we bought a second home just outside Puerto de la Cruz, with a view of spending the winter months here in our retirement. In the meantime we come out two or three times a year 'on holiday'.

Ein bisschen wie nach Hause kommen...
im Anflug auf den Nordflughafen kommt der so oft erklommene Teide mit seinen nun allerdings betrachtet ein wenig laecherlich anmutenden 3817 metern in den Blick,
ein Schritt aus dem Flughafengebaeude und man ist in bekannten Gefilden, wartet auf den seit Jahren bekannten Bus und steht eine halbe Stunde spaeter vor dem wohlbekannten Appartement in Puerto de la Cruz...
mit einem eigenen Herd, einem Kuehlschrank ...

... Sharm el Shiekh, Hurghada and Taba Heights) the Arabian Gulf (Dubai, Oman, Qatar and Abu Dhabi), the Indian Ocean (Goa, Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka) the Caribbean Islands ( Antigua, Grenada, Nevis, St Kitts, St ...

... a week before or so. Frankly saying, it wasn`t that important to me. I don`t like my Birthday. Every year I realize something has passed, that I`m getting deeper and deeper into an adult`s life. And the guys wouldn`t stop asking, so one day I just said: "I don`t have any plans, surprise me". On the night of my Bday we went to the crew bar for a drink and it was nice. In the morning I had to be in the gangway, taking pictures. Later on, around noon ...

... thoughts on Tenerife - it has great weather and it's an easy life - but it has a retirement home feel, especially where we were staying. There isn't much Spanish culture here - the most culture is that 'created' by the British tourists and the businesses that cater to them. Maybe the other islands would be a little more interesting. Santa Cruz was interesting but it's weather isn't as good as in the south.:-), Goodbye Club Tenerife - Diamantes II condo - back to hotel living....

... ll feel better. Along the boradwalk, we again saw the "Ghost of Manolo'. He's a 'street performer', in the loosest sense of the concept. It's a guy who sits on the beach in a ghost costume (a potatoe sack with the eyes cut out) surrounded by a small 3/4 meter high cardboard castle. And he makes 'ghostly sounds and phrases' in a very weird voice. It's more humorous than pathethic than it sounds...really...Dale gives him a coin each time we see him.

... relaxing. For lunch, we went to the 'Penny Farthing' restaurant. Not very Spanish but very British. The hamburgers ($4E) were very good as well as the pint of beer ($1.5E). All of the other patrons were watching some football (ie. soccer) game on the telly. For the afternoon, Andy and I just read while lounging on the balcony at the condo. John and Dale walked up the cliff and had a wonderful view of the coast. For ...

Today we just walked around the beaches and shopping areas of Los Cristianos and Los Americanos - the 2 resort areas of the southern tip of Tenerife. It looked like it was going to rain in the early afternoon but it again cleared up and was a beautiful 20 degrees. Andy and I had a wonderful pistachio ice cream cone on sitting on a bench by the beach. We also had a lousy burger ...

... ocean. The only downside is we can't hear the ocean (it's a 15 minute walk away) but you can't have everything. The weather is a little overcast but very warm, around 18-20 degrees and humid. Since we have a kitchen , we went and located a supermarket to get breakfast and essential food supplies (Ie. coffee, beer and wine). The wine is really cheap, ranging from 2 to 10 euros We were tired so instead of cooking dinner, we wandered down to the boardwalk and ...

... At a stop near the base of the Mt we had a 30 min photo opportunity, arriving back at the coach before the allotted time we quickly discovered that our wonderful guide had already instructed the driver to depart prior to us getting back, and it was only the couple sitting opposite us that raised the alarm that we weren't back which immediately halted the coaches departure, the guide told us later she was preoccupied viewing her photos!! After ...