Rabbit for dinner on TENERIFE.

Monday 23 March.

 

I was improving this morning and beginning to feel a bit better. We would have gone for a walk if the weather hadn't been dodgy again. There were a lot of black clouds over the mountains behind the town and the wind was blowing them our way. It ended up again with showers throughout the day. Moira checked the weather forecast on the Internet and it looks like improving tomorrow and for the rest of the week.

 

After breakfast Moira wanted to checked at the Tourist Info Office about her iPad and get them to phone the police loss property office in Santa Cruz again. I went out with her to get a bit of exercise and some fresh air. There was a heavy shower must before we were ready to go and had to wait half an hour until the clouds cleared and we got some blue sky. As we walked through the town there were still black clouds gathering over the mountains, so it wasn't going to be long before another shower.

 

The 'tourist' woman was very helpful and phoned both the police at Santa Cruz and La Laguna where we stopped for lunch and it may have come out of the daypack there. There was a problem in the fact that amazingly the woman didn't know what an iPad was so couldn't describe to the police what it was we had lost. The police at one of the offices seemed to know what it was and said that something had been handed in and would check and phone back. After 5 minutes wait they came back but it turned out to be a phone that had been found.

 

When we came out it was looking more like rain again. We hurried along to Mercadona to do some shopping and get shelter at the same time. Moira got some bread and picked up a rabbit for dinner tonight. When we finished the rain had stopped but there was more on the way. We walked briskly back to the flat, it was starting to get heavy as we got in, we had been luck not to have been caught and soaked today.

 

The day now was spent indoors. It was listening to the radio, reading, crosswords and I wrote up my blog. In the afternoon it was mainly listening to the catch-up radio; there was the radio version of 'Dad's Army', two rounds of the 'Brain of Britain' quiz and the comedy, 'Claire and the Community'. Moira went to Los Gigantes to check at the bus station there if there was any information about her iPad, unfortunately it was closed, probably for siesta.

 

After early evening quizzes on TV we had the rabbit for our dinner, very nice. I read until 'Uni Challenge' (I managed to answer a few of the questions) and 'Only Connect (I don't think we worked out any of the connections) came on. After that there was an old 'New Tricks', we had seen it before but a long time ago and couldn't remember the end.

 

I was now feeling a lot better, the short walk this morning in the fresh air must have helped. Unfortunately it didn't help me to sleep. I lay awake until nearly 2 am before I finally dropped off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Feeling poorly and rain on TENERIFE.

Sunday 22 March.

 

I wasn't feeling any better when I got up to make a cup of tea this morning. I went back to bed with it and read the paper until 'Match of the Day' came on the TV . I got up and watched it in the lounge while Moira made our weekly 'full English' breakfast. The weather was still changeable and there were heavy showers arriving ever hour throughout the day. So there was no prospect of going out for a walk. I also gave the gym a miss as I was feeling really down with a sore head and my body was weak and sore. I had no energy.

 

I put the radio on through the iPad and listened to our favourite music all day. I worked on my blog then had a go at the prize crossword in the 'Telegraph'. I managed to finish today's version and submitted it for a prize, hopefully. After lunch I spent the afternoon reading my history book which is quite good and easy to read.

 

At dinner time I was feeling sickly and couldn't face anything to eat. It was a chicken curry as well, my favourite. I went to bed to lie down but couldn't get to sleep. After an hour I got up and watched 'Countryfile' then went back to bed again. I put the TV on in the bedroom to watch a programme about people sailing a barge on the canal through London, but I dosed off during it. Later I wakened again to watch this week's episode of 'Poldark'. After that I was able to get off to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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More rain but good rugby on TENERIFE.

Saturday 21 March.

 

I got up at 6:30 am and made a cup of tea then I was going to get breakfast before getting ready for our walk. We lay in bed drinking our tea and I was downloading the newspaper when we heard the rain pouring outside. We decided that our walk was off again, it was a good decision as the rain was on and off again all day.

 

After breakfast I began feeling unwell again just like last week. I stretched out on the couch and worked on the crossword which I got stumped with the last two clues. Later I started reading the history book I downloaded from the library. I was feeling very tired from an anti-histamine pill Moira gave me and nodded off. I wakened for lunch and listened to the ‘News Quiz’ on the radio. In the afternoon I was still dozy so went to bed where it was more comfortable.

 

I slept on and off then when I got up to see the football results found it was 5pm. I discovered later, on the internet, that Morton beat Ayr 2-1. Instead there was rugby on the TV, England v France. Ireland, Wales and England were all tied on 6 points for the ‘6 Nations Trophy’ and only separated by points scored difference. Wales and Ireland had both played their final matches earlier and had won with high scores. This left England having to beat France by 26 points. They made a good go of it but the French weren’t lying down and fought like demons. There were tries galore and the score finished at 55-35 to England, but not quite enough to win the Trophy. It was some game and a good advert for rugby. Another thing about the game was the control the referee has over the match and his decisions are respected by the players. Also if he is in any doubt he consults the video referee for confirmation. Football could learn a lot from just watching this game.

 

After dinner I watched another couple of programmes on TV but was still feeling down and got to bed early. I was soon asleep.

 

 

 

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Rainy day on TENERIFE.

Friday 20 March.

 

The plan this morning was to go for a walk from Erjos along the woodland path to Las Portelas. We left for the 8:20 am bus to Santiago del Teide and Erjos after breakfast. We were watching the progress of the eclipse on TV before we left, they had cameras in Cornwall and it had started there when we had to get going. If it was happening in the Canaries then we should have been able to see it as we headed to the bus stop. It was very cloudy but we could see the sun but it was too bright to look at for long, even with having short glimpses there wasn’t anything happening.

 

We were early for the bus and had nearly 15 minutes to wait, the weather wasn’t looking very promising. It had become very cloudy and they were very dark over the hills. When we began to feel spots of rain we decided to call off our walk and headed back to the flat. We were back in time before there was a heavy shower. We now spent the next hour or so watching the eclipse on TV. It turned out to be quite good but one wonders how much this is costing the licence fee payer with cameras and reporters in places as far away as the Outer Hebrides and the Faroe Isles. They even had Carol Kirkwood to present the weather from Lewis and an aeroplane up above the clouds over the Faroes to get a better view. One comment that really amazed me was from Brian Cox about using the special eye protection viewers to look at the sun to avoid damage to your eyes, ‘this isn’t Health and Safety, this is seriously dangerous’, he told us.

 

When the eclipse was all over I headed for the gym. It was another day with heavy weights and low reps. I also did 300 crunches and stretching today and then back raises with a 10 kg plate. I finished off my workout with two laps of the basketball court perimeter carrying 2x12 kg dumbbells. I was really tired after this hard session. When I walked to the gym it was sunny and I thought we had made a mistake not going for a walk but while I was working-out there was heavy rain and the roads were very wet when I made my way back to the flat. We now had rain showers throughout the rest of the day.

 

After lunch we both took it easy and spent the time reading. I finished the novel I was reading and downloaded a non-fiction history from the library. It was about British history from Henry V11 to Charles 11. I didn’t start it but work on a crossword until the quizzes came on the TV. Later there was another quiz ‘Mastermind’ then it was the ‘Musketeers’ before getting to bed. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow and we can get a walk done.

 

 

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Trying to locate iPad on TENERIFE.

Thursday 19 March.

 

It was an easy day today and the only energetic thing I planned to do was go to the gym. Moira hadn't slept very well worried about the loss of her iPad. She came out with me after breakfast when I went to the gym but she carried on to the Tourist Info Office to ask them to phone the police loss property office in Santa Cruz. They were very helpful and obliging but nobody had handed the iPad into the police office. They said to phone again in a few days.

 

At the gym I was back to heavy weights after warming up with dumbbells. I did lat pull downs, press machine, leg presses, chest expanding with cable columns, tricep push downs, 300 sit ups, twists with barbell, and balancing on half sphere. I increased to the biggest weight I could manage to do 8 reps with. It was a good, very hard session and I managed well after about 3 days away for the gym. On the way back it was cold again just like yesterday with a bitter breeze blowing. Moira was waiting at the gate when I arrived to let me in.

 

We sat outside to have lunch and listen to the radio but it was too cold so came inside instead. In the afternoon I managed to complete a crossword then spent time writing up the account of our day out in Santa Cruz yesterday. I had it on the Notebook and when it was finished I transferred it to the iPad using Google Drive. I edited it on Documents and when it was all right put it on Blogsy, incorporated photographs then published it on my blog.

 

I watched the quizzes early on as usual then later watched the 'Stargazer Live' with more about tomorrow's eclipse. Later there was a programme called the 'Truth about Sugar'. I thought is was to be about how sugar made you fat and was bad for your health but it was just a bunch of fat people who were told they ate too much sugar and how to cut it down. It was also full of a load of dumbed-down science. I don't know why I bothered watching it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Trip to the capital, Santa Cruz on TENERIFE.

Wednesday 18 March.

 

 

I was feeling a lot better this morning and we prepared to get the bus at 8:15am to Las Americas to catch the connection from there to Santa Cruz. We took our iPads with us to read on the first section on the bus as we have seen this scenery many times before. We didn’t bother with our fleeces as the weather was now much warmer but Moira packed our rain jackets as the north-east side of the island gets a lot more cloud and rain. When we left we put on our jackets as it was, for some reason, a little chilly and also had to keep them on in the bus as the driver had the air conditioning going full blast.

 

It was the express bus we caught from the corner and it took under an hour to reach the bus station at Las Americas where our connection was already loading for Santa Cruz. I had time to visit the loo before we were off at 9:15 am. The first part was the usual slow section into Los Cristianos but after that it was motorway all the way to the capital of the island. This was also an express bus and there weren’t any stops until we reached our destination, it was about 72 km and it took just over an hour. There is another slower bus that goes to Santa Cruz and calls in at the airport on the way, which will be the one that we will catch when we are returning home in a fortnight. We didn’t bother reading on this part of our journey as it was all new to us. It wasn’t terribly exciting driving along the motorway but there were some beautiful mountain scenery inland with the high peaks shrouded in a thick blanket of white cloud. This side of the island was well populated and there were a number of large towns and communities stretching, in places, high up into the hills. We could see the airport down below us as we passed along the freeway and further on there were huge wind farms with the blades all turning in the breeze. Even with this breeze generating power this power it didn’t seem to be having much effect on the sea which was relatively calm with only slightly rolling waves and no white caps.

 

I was still wearing my rain jacket on the bus but took it off when we arrived at the terminus at Santa Cruz. We only walked a few 100 metres and I had to don it again, there was a bitter wind blowing and there were black clouds about, threatening rain. Near the bus station there was a building that made us think we had landed in Australia, it was the very similar I design to the Sydney Opera House; it was also a concert hall, the Auditorio de Tenerife 'Adan Martin'. We headed in the other direction towards what we thought was a church in the old town. It had a large square tower but when we approached it we saw two large signs at each side saying ‘entrada’, it was the market. We had a wander round the stalls but they were mainly; fruit and vegetables, meats or cheese and spices. Some of the varieties of fruit and veg weren’t familiar to us and were at a loss to what they were. From there we followed a map of the city that Moira had and should have entered the old town next but we must have missed that part as according to the map we were well into the new section. We didn’t notice any difference, it all looked the same and there wasn’t anything of particular interest to see. On the map there was a large park at the top of the town and we made for that, at least to have a seat in pleasant surroundings and a cup of coffee. One good thing about the city was that all the streets had name plates and they corresponded with the map, so we had no problems finding our way.

 

The park, Parque Garcia Sanabria, was very nice and mainly consisting of trees; a large variety of tropical palms. We found a bench for a break; it must have been raining earlier as we had to wipe the water from the seat. After our break we had a walk around the multitude of paths that ran between the towering palms and one beautiful archway of shrubs but unfortunately not yet in bloom. The park was a very popular place and there were a number of school parties there on a nature field trip. There were a few spots of rain as we strolled round but luckily it didn’t come to anything.

 

Moira said that she had read in a guide book that a tramcar went to the suburbs of Trinidad and La Laguna, high above the city. These were supposed to be the original communities and the book said it was worth a visit. As there wasn’t anything noteworthy in the city centre we decided to take that advice. We headed to the tram terminus which was near the bus station by going down a different road to the waterfront and along. At the dock area where the cruise ships come in (there weren’t any in today) we got a fine view of the mountains and ridges to the north where the climbing and trekking area is found. It was a nice stroll by the sea and there was a lovely old sailing ship in one of the docks. Further along there were what looked like oil drilling platforms being refurbished, but we weren’t aware of any oil operations in this region. Soon we picked up the tram lines and followed them to the terminus where we caught one straight away; they were in fact plentiful, running every 10 minutes. Moira was able to use the prepaid bus card for the tram as well.

 

The ride was quite long, I had suggested that we could walk back but it turned out to be far too far. The scenery wasn’t any better as it made its way through shopping and housing areas. There was one point where we got a good view of the mountains to the north but soon the rails ran through more built up suburbs. The tram was fairly busy with people getting on and off at the many stops before reaching the end of the line at Trinidad. When we got off it was in the main street and a row of shops, it was also very cold now we were at a much higher altitude. It was lunch time and we had hoped for a bench when we got off the tram to sit for our sandwiches but because of the cold we decided to take a walk to the end of the street turn and get the next tram back down.

 

The plan changed when I spotted the large dome of a church in among the houses. We headed that way and after a series of zig-zags through the back streets found the church, the Cathedral de La Laguna. It had two lovely domes and inside the aisles were rows of columns with high arches and the windows beautiful with a series of stained glass with biblical depictions. There was a mass taking place in one of the side chapels as we walked around. When we came out the sun was shining and it was milder, we found a bench at the side of the church out of the wind and there had lunch. As we were eating a band was forming, at first I thought it was going to be a parade but when they finished tuning up and got in line a hearse arrived with a coffin decked in flowers. As it was taken into the church in front of the mourners the band played a solemn dirge. When it was over we continued on our walk about.

 

We saw another large clock tower nearby and went to explore there. It was another church, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and when we went in for a look around the woman wanted money to climb up the tower, we declined and satisfied ourselves with the view outside. From there we slowly strolled back to the tram terminal through a quite nice area of old houses and buildings. We got a bit lost and had to ask directions, fortunately we had been heading the right way and the tram was only a few blocks away.

 

When we got off the tram at Santa Cruz again we intended to catch the first bus back but first I wanted some photographs of the Sydney Opera House ‘look-a-like’. It wasn’t far away but I had to get closer because of telephone cables and lampposts blocking and spoiling the picture. On the way back to the bus station it began to rain and although only a few 100 metres we got soaked. The express bus wasn’t until 3:15 pm but there was a slow one leaving at 3 pm so we took that instead rather than hang about for 15 minutes to save maybe 10 minutes travel time. One difference with this bus was that it kept coming off the motorway at each junction to a bus stop on the slip road then back to the motorway again on the other side. The other change was that it called in at the airport, this was quite handy as it gave us an idea of the timing and where to get off when we catch the bus to go home in a couple of weeks’ time. From Los Cristianos I expected it to take a long time to Las Americas as it was now the rush hour but it took a different route from the El Teide bus and was on to the motorway again and at the terminus in about 5 minutes.

 

I went to the loo before heading for our connection while Moira went to standing the large queue. When I came out she was in a state, she couldn’t find her mini iPad in the rucksack. We searched thoroughly but it wasn’t there, only my iPad. We couldn’t figure out what had happened to it, either she had left it on the bus this morning or it got pulled out with our lunch. Moira went to the info office at the bus station and asked if it had been handed in there. It hadn’t but the woman took her details and will phone if anything turns up. By this time we were at the back of the queue when the bus arrived and I thought we wouldn’t get a seat but fortunately there were two left when we got on. It wasn’t a very happy journey back to Puerto Santiago.

 

We had a pizza for dinner and were back in time for ‘Eggheads’ on TV. After that I let Moira have my iPad to read the newspaper while I used the Notebook to upload the photographs I had taken and write up the highs and lows of the day in my diary. Later there was a programme with Brian Cox, ‘Stargazing Live’, in a build up to the solar eclipse that is due to happen on Friday morning. It was all right but I’m not that keen on Cox, he is as my mum used to say ‘too sweet to be wholesome’. We got to bed at 9:30 pm and read for an hour before getting to sleep. I slept on and off while in between thinking about the mislaid iPad.

 

 

SANTA CRUZ PHOTO ALBUM.

 

Tower at entrance to market.

Floral archway in Garcia Sanabria gardens.

 

Giant palm trees in gardens.

 

Old sailing ship in harbour.

 

Dome of La Laguna Cathedral.

 

Done inside the Cathedral.

 

Columns and arches inside Cathedral.

Cathedral stained glass windows.

 

Cathedral gardens.

 

Clock tower of Church of the Immaculate Conception.

 

Sydney Opera House 'look-a-like'.

 

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Paddling our feet on TENERIFE.

Tuesday 17 March.

I got up and made a cup of tea, I was feeling better this morning but still didn't fancy traipsing around Santa Cruz today. All the pills Moira had given me seem to be helping but I decided to have another easy day in the flat. I managed to get the breakfast made this morning then settled down to read my book. I finished it by lunch time and downloaded another Aline Templeton novel, 'Bad Blood', from the library.

After lunch we went out for a walk to the beach in town and to paddle our feet. It was very hot and the summer must be arriving here. On the beach there were lots of people and a good number in swimming. The beach shelved down sharply and the waves breaking just off the edge of the black sand were huge. We paddled for about half an hour and watched the swimmers enjoying themselves in the breaking surf. After our paddle we strolled back to the flat and picked up a bottle of water at the supermarket on the way.

The rest of the afternoon was spent out on the veranda in the warm shelter of the awning. I managed to do a couple of crosswords and then started reading my new library book. After the quizzes on the TV we had dinner then read until a new programme came on at 8pm. It was about taking a family back to the 1950's to see how they would manage with the austere conditions after the war. It was a bit of nonsense and the only thing of interest was the reminder of how we lived then. One thing was that they kept having ' bread and dripping', neither Moira or I had ever had that to eat and it looked revolting. After that I turned over for the football. Arsenal were playing the second leg of their European Cup tie against Monaco. They lost at home 3-1 and needed to win by 3 clear goals but could only win 2-0 and lost on the away goals rule. After that I went to bed and read for an hour before getting to sleep.

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