It's Also Winter in Tenerife

12-14-2008

We came here for the beaches and the sun, and neither really seemed to cooperate. A bus from La Orotava down the valley to Puerto de la Cruz was pretty cheap and not long so we decided this popular beach would be the way to go.

While the black sand on the beach was beautiful to walk through along the beach, the huge waves and rip-tide justified the red flag being raised which according to the signage around the beach meant “swimming and water activities are forbidden.”

We didn’t see this sign until after we ventured into the water.

Nothing dangerous though. We basically went in enough to say we went in. You could feel the strength of the rip-tide just standing in the knee deep water.  So we really didn’t dare venture too far into the rough seas. A few others dared the waters after us, but before too long the authorities arrived to rope off the beach. But hey, we got in.

Down the street from the beach we found a stadium with what looked like local futbol teams battling each other. Right next to the stadium was a small church with a public tower which we walked up to watch the game from.

Puerto de la Cruz entertained us for a few more hours as we walked. But we eventually took a bus up to La Laguna, a bus which we never actually got off due to crappy weather and took back to Puerto de la Cruz. We got to see some beautiful parts of the island though, through rain-dropped windows.

Upon our return to the guesthouse we decided to cook our dinner, which consisted of noodles, tomato sauce, and cheap wine. That is, until we invited a couple other guests to join us. Then Patrick from Germany brought in some delicious goat cheese and olives which helped to spice up the sauce. Carl, who stays free at the guesthouse and does odd jobs to keep it up, ate with us too. I felt bad not knowing German with Carl because his English was very limited and I hated leaving him out of conversations. All the more reason why I’m diving into German and Spanish when I get home.