Sleeping with ghosts
Trip Start
Dec 22, 2007
1
17
26
Trip End
Jan 16, 2008
Santa Cruz de Tenerife,
Spain
Monday, January 7, 2008
I couldn't move my arms, nor my legs. I couldn't lift my head to sit up. I desperately tried to thrash about, but could do nothing. The only thing I was able to do was use my hands. I had a death grip on both sides of the bed, struggling to pull myself up.
Whatever I tried, nothing happened. I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't open my mouth to scream. This strange paralysis seemingly lasted forever, though in reality it was probably only for a few minutes.
It's difficult to describe the feeling of helplessness I experienced - the best analogy I can make is one of drowning in the ocean, struggling to surface and catch a breath. Think Evanescence's "Going Under" video.
I finally managed to scream - I probably scared all of the other guests in the pension. As I opened my eyes, I could see the shadows or silhouettes of birds or bats circling overhead, disappearing into the rafters as they circled upwards. Then, the most creepy part - a deep, guttural, evil cackle - HA HA HA echoed through the rafters ... like something out of a horror movie.
I lay in bed thinking "WTF????" Was it real? Just a dream? I've had many dreams in the past that blurred the lines between dreams and reality. I've also had many lucid, self-aware dreams where I realized that I was dreaming, and could take control of how the events in my dreams unfolded. I've even been able to wake myself up from unpleasant dreams. But not this time ...
a
something was different ... I struggle to describe what transpired last night - it felt almost as if an outside presence had invaded my mind and subjected me to this hellish experience. I remember getting a creepy vibe in my room last night. I didn't feel comfortable in the room, and noticed that the pension had an institutional-like feel to it - perhaps it previously was an orphanage, or school of some sort? It was a fairly traditional Canarian building, complete with courtyard - I'm guessing it was a few hundred years old.
Was this a case of my mind playing tricks on me? Or was some sinister force at work? I thought about turning on the light - but what if I actually saw something up in the rafters? Maybe use the bathroom down the hall? But it's even darker and creepier out there. I managed to convince myself it was all a dream, pulled the covers tighter over my head, and somehow fell asleep.
I thought nothing more about this incident until much later in the day. I've replayed this event over and over in my head several times - like I said before, I know what is and what isn't a dream. The sequence of events ... I can't definitively say that I saw the shadows after opening my eyes, meaning that it could have been a dream. But I'm almost 100% positive that the cackle happened after my eyes were open, meaning that it couldn't have been a dream. Everything was too real ...
b
but I don't think I want to know exactly what last night was. All I know is, I'm never staying at the Pension Colon ever again!!! I grabbed a quick shower before checking out - the stupid bathroom light has a timer on it, and it's only set for 3 minutes! So if you're showering, you'd have to get out and go all the way across the bathroom to turn the light back on, or you could just fumble around in the dark. Show me a man who can shower in less than three minutes, and I'll show you a man that walks around town smelling like @ss all day! Come on people, set the d@mn timer for at least 6 or 7 minutes! And while you're at it, call the friggin' Ghostbusters and get those d@mn ghosts out of your place!
For breakfast, I wanted to check out one of the ubiquitous juice bars in town - but none of them appeared to be open. I settled for "Planet Fun", a games place (i.e. - slot machines and the like) that also has a café. It had a nice location on Plaza de Las Americas - it was nice sitting outside that morning, instead of being cooped up inside a haunted pension.
I took a short walk down to the beach and harbour area - I had time to kill until "Dulceria Isabel" opened at 10. But no - it was a holiday and was closed today! I was denied once more!!! I couldn't get the girl before, but why can't they even allow me to have a snack at the Isabel pastry shop??? So close, yet so far ...
c
Dejected, I walked back to the pension to collect my things. On the way, I noticed a hot backpacker sitting on a bench outside of the church, playing with her belly button. This temporarily made me forget about the pain of missing out on the Isabel pastries.
I needed to return the rental car at 10:30, but my ferry wasn't scheduled to depart until 11:30. To kill time, I sat at the docks on a concrete block planning the day's activities. I boarded the ferry back to Santa Cruz in Tenerife - some guy with terrible body odour sat next to me. Why couldn't it have been the two cute sisters I saw earlier on the ferry, instead?
I munched on a Canarian banana - I've got a lot of ground to cover today and won't have time for lunch, so I'm armed with snacks. Getting off the boat, an older Canarian guy started chatting with me - it took me a second to realize it, but it was "El Papaton", the potato cart guy from yesterday! Apparently, he's got a few carts scattered about the islands
He remembered me from last night and commented that I write a lot in my journal. I explained to him that my journal is my single best memento of all my travels, and that my blogs were a way of sharing my experiences with friends. He asked for a free plug, so here it is! El Papaton rocks!!!
He asked me about where I was traveling to next, and where I have been. He asked me why Spain was my favourite - he wasn't surprised in the least when I told him that it's because Spanish women are the most beautiful in the world. He merely nodded and said "Of course ...
f
I understand completely" Ha ha! Wannabe Spanish Casanova Tip #6: Naviera Armas, one of the ferry companies in the Canaries, has pretty hot ticket agents. Buy your ferry tickets with this company!
First stop - Masca - a very cool location nestled in the mountains, but bursting with tourists. It was very tricky driving down to it - the roads were especially windy and narrow, with lots of traffic in both directions. Buses needed to make 3-pt turns to negotiate the hairpins.
Next was Garachico - I somehow slammed the car door on my chest as I was getting out - ouch! Garachico has some really cool volcanic pools along the coastline that you can swim in. Garchico deserved more time, but I didn't have enough of that today.
The next town was Icod - the only real item of interest is the drago trees in the park. But parking was too much of a pain, so I just kept on driving when I couldn't find a decent spot. I also thought that I could see it in another of the upcoming towns, but I was wrong!
Puerto Cruz - its main plaza is very lively, with numerous shops and outdoor cafes. There was a free bathroom below it, with an attendant soliciting tips, but there was no soap! I don't mind paying to use a bathroom or tipping an attendant if they were doing their jobs, but not in this case!
I grabbed a quick watermelon gelato - it tasted a little artificial, but that didn't stop me from gobbling it down. It was a huge portion - it lasted me for quite awhile as I wandered along the castle area. The rugged coastline was getting pounded by the waves - it kind of reminded of Siracusa in Sicily (see Euro 2006 blog entitled "Mandorla - more addictive than heroin") Mmm ...
g
I still have fond memories of the squid ink pasta and various flavours of gelato I had that night in Siracusa ... Puerto Cruz was another place that deserved more time. Especially because of the wealth of hotties walking around! Off to La Oratava - I sound like a broken record because this place also deserved more time.
Quite simply, La Oratava is a beautiful town. Plaza Constitucion, Iglesia St. Agustin, the gardens - it was all pretty stunning. Casa Lecaro is considered a heritage site, and is now a restaurant. In the back, there was a terrace with beautiful views and also a tented area for parties.
There are a number of beautiful houses on Colegio Street - I briefly checked out Casa de los Balcones (house of the balconies). Pretty neat on the inside, but it appeared to be not much more than a beautiful souvenir shop.
It's a pretty amazing town - city hall and its adjacent square was also quite nice. It's a perfect town for strolling. It was time to return to Santa Cruz - but how the hell do you enter the port area? I'm actually returning the car at the airport tomorrow, but I figured it would be easiest to park at the car rental office, leave my things in the car, and walk to the pension from there. Then I wouldn't have to drive around looking for a parking spot. Wrong!
It took me over 90 minutes to actually get into the port! I probably drove up and down along the port 3 or 4 times. I tried one entrance on the northern end with no luck. The one near the middle - no luck. I finally tried the parkade entrance - no luck again, but the attendant told me that I needed to enter near the auditorium.
The signage is terrible - the actual entrance to the port is probably 2-3 kilometres away from where the car rental office is. And then I still got lost inside of the port! Again, the signage was very poor in directing you to the actual port office. And once I got there, I found that Cicar had no actual parking available. What the heck?
A couple of police officers noticed me driving around some restricted areas and asked me what I was doing. I made an excuse that I was just trying to return the car, but didn't know where (I didn't want to explain that I just wanted to park my car here for the night). They told me that the rental place was closed for the day, and let me park in a secured lot. I didn't know how the heck I was going to get out of here tomorrow but didn't care - I just wanted to quickly check in after this frustrating experience. I almost went crazy looking for the entrance to the port - and as I did, "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley came on the radio. The timing was pretty funny.
On the way to the pension, I noticed a couple of Spanish hotties on a bench just steps from the entrance. They probably thought I was stalking them because I walked by 4 times in total, in a span of 30 minutes.
I dropped off my bags, and left to find dinner - I walked by the bench hotties again. I went back to the kebab shop I stopped at a few days ago. This time, I decided to grab the kebab durum (wrap), instead of the kebab inside a bun grilled in the panini press. The chef was making the durums like crazy last time, and they looked good.
The chicken kicked @ss again. It was very filling, stuffed with lots of veggies and feta cheese. I downed a bottle of water as I waited, and another as I ate and walked. I was very dehydrated after the whole parking debacle.
Back to the hotel to change out of my sweaty clothes, and another walk past the hotties on the bench. After changing, I walked past a fourth and final time. Each time, they looked at me like "Why are you stalking us?"
Santa Cruz was pretty dead tonight, since it was a holiday. It's funny - on the peninsula, it'd probably be even livelier on a holiday, but the opposite is true here. I went back to Romana for some excellent gelato - being my last night in Spain, I splurged and got a crepe with 3 scoops.
That crepe was a beautiful sight - just like a beautiful Spanish woman, it took my breath away and left me speechless! Banana, coconut, and hazelnut - surprisingly, the hazelnut wasn't the best of the three, but perhaps that speaks more about the top-quality of the banana and coconut gelato. I was so happy eating that crepe - it almost made me forget about the parking incident!
I liked that they let the crepe cool first, so that it didn't completely melt the gelato - smart girl! But sadly, the crepe was a little bit burnt, though it still tasted great. I asked the worker if the town was so dead tonight because it was a holiday - she replied "It's always dead here." Not exactly a ringing endorsement for this town! But I must say that I have enjoyed my time in Santa Cruz.
I wanted to find a good spot and sit outside, writing in my journal - but I couldn't find a decent spot, and I also forgot my notepad back at the pension. I didn't want to walk back and get it, and risk walking past the bench hotties a fifth and a sixth time.
Instead, I wandered around town - I was still thirsty, so I grabbed an OJ from Burger King. It had a cool little opening tab that spiraled outward concentrically until it opened, and you were left with a spring-shaped piece of plastic. Sad - only engineers notice and are impressed by things like that!
It was an interesting experience walking around town tonight - on certain streets, I was the only person around for blocks. It felt so liberating. Back to the pension - my body temperature was elevated since getting frustrated with the parking, and hadn't come down since. I opened the windows and just sat on the bed, writing and listening to music. Hopefully I won't be sleeping with ghosts tonight. .
h
