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View Full Version : My trip to Tenerife (modem killer!)



beerfan
30-11-2011, 23:22
This is a collection of my photos of Tenerife that I took last week. The entire trip came to £713 for two people for flights, accommodation in a four (really three-and-a-half) star hotel with buffet breakfast and dinner and a hire car (really a van) with a full tank of petrol and insurance.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the photos. If you click on the photos you'll be taken directly to my Flickr page where more information and free high-resolution copies may be found.

Day 1 - Airport, Drive and Hotel

Departure from Manchester Airport:

We departed from home at around 07:10 for the Thomson flight to Tenerife South. Here's a few snaps from the airport itself:

Checking-in using the electronic check-in system. It's the very first time I used one of these and I must say it makes the experience quite hassle free. It isn't invasive and doesn't demand an iris scan or fingerprints but is instead only a simple passport check. I'd use this again, certainly.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6430002475_35d9ed358b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6430002475/)

Once through security and into the departure lounge I went into the airport to pick up a few supplies for the flight itself (whilst marvelling at the exorbitant airport prices - £1.85 for a bottle of 500ml Coke and so on). Whilst I was there I snapped a couple of shots of the newspapers for that morning.

The Daily Telegraph:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6430024009_d199d54b04_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6430024009/)

Daily Express - but note the photo of Lady Diana, Princess of Wales - in keeping with tradition naturally!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6430389641_55624ef0c5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6430389641/)

A quick look a the Daily Mail (with typical screaming headline) a newspaper that predicts doom daily - much like the Daily Express, in fact - and does very well out of doing so too thankyouverymuch:

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6037/6430392033_53de6c62cb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6430392033/)

One of the airport duty-free shops:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6431477857_9c7019bd60_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6431477857/)

And a semi-posh departure lounge restaurant majoring on 'real food':

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6233/6431646833_33f1f78572_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6431646833/)

A U.S. Airways plane parked up:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6431650391_7dd98bddc5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6431650391/)

Various aviation paraphernalia such as airbridges and the like:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6431655657_2e7c4bbf7f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6431655657/)

The scene on the tarmac as I was just about to board the plane:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6431706205_9600602454_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6431706205/)

Picking up car at Tenerife South and the drive to Puerto de la Cruz:

The scene at the Goldcar pick-up and drop-off point that afternoon:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6432061735_d6e95200ca_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432061735/)

Driving up the Autovista TF-1 to Puerto de la Cruz:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6432066273_92e17db1e0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432066273/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6432073759_3b4c146f03_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432073759/)

Outside the hotel:

The exterior of our hotel:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6432241751_d514927b2c_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432241751/)

In the hotel room itself and the interior:

The bedroom and TV set:

Decent enough hotel room although not without its faults. Offhand, I can think of a few, i.e. patio door doesn't lock; no bin in bedroom (but is in bathroom!); refrigerator isn't cold enough and so on. Minor things but a bit of a nuisance during our stay.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6118/6432245725_3132f6b34e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432245725/)

The TV stations available at the Interpalace are as follows:

Channel 1: Hotel TV channel (I think)
Channel 2: TVE1 (Spanish)
Channel 3: TVE2 (Spanish)
Channel 4: Antena 3 (Spanish)
Channel 5: Cuatro (Spanish)
Channel 6: Tele 5 (Spanish)
Channel 7: laSexta (Spanish)
Channel 8: TV Canaria (Spanish)
Channel 9: Clan TVE (Spanish)
Channel 10: Eurosport (German)
Channel 11: ZDF (German)
Channel 12: ARD (German)
Channel 13: RTL (German)
Channel 14: ProSieben (German)
Channel 15: Viva (German)
Channel 16: CNN (English)
Channel 17: BBC World News (English)
Channel 18: CNBC Europe (English)
Channel 19: CBS (English)
Channel 20: TV5 (French)
Channel 21: ARTE (French)

...so as you can see the hotel TV is mostly geared towards Spanish and German speakers. Not that I'm especially complaining as I don't come on holiday to lounge about the hotel to watch TV. Having said that the reception on most of these channels wasn't really up to much:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6432250597_3332b60405_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432250597/)

The bathroom:

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6091/6432255497_624498a03c_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432255497/)

The view from our hotel balcony:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6432259925_7320e747f7_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432259925/)

One of the other hotels, the Hotel Masaru, which is on the same road as the Interpalace:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6432354001_3d15c5dbb6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432354001/)

Relaxation:

And a well-deserved if expensive glass of Krombacher Pils (4.8%), a German pilsner, in one of the German pubs on that same street:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6432836153_22b2f655ef_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6432836153/)

Outside of the hotel by night:

This was a long exposure test shot. I think it came out very well, especially being on near-full zoom. It is of the Hotel Bonanza, which is across from the Interpalace and is a part of the same group of hotels:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6433494183_97ba2f5dca_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6433494183/)

Hope you enjoyed these! Day 2 will be up soon.

beerfan
02-12-2011, 12:17
Day 2 (Part 1) - Hotel breakfast and Puerto de la Cruz

Hotel Buffet:

We start the day with a very brief look at the breakfast food available at the Interpalace.

This is the juice vending machine. Both the orange and pineapple juices have a slightly nasty aftertaste to them that could easily have been avoided:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6435338009_5dc8b6087e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6435338009/)

A quick peek at the cold meats and cheese available (incidentally, the slices of pork are unintentionally mistranslated as "Pig", obviously a direct translation of the Spanish word "cerdo"):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6436010297_8957f1c1dd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6436010297/)

My simple buffet breakfast comprising slices of cheese, ham and tomato. The cheese was edible if somewhat tasteless. The ham seemed fine to me but I didn't eat much of it. The tomatoes were bitter and were swiftly disregarded:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6436012689_7b9103a665_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6436012689/)

Hotel Views:

A view from the rear of the local near the lifts:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6436906491_d1059c8318_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6436906491/)

Outside the Hotel:

A view of awe-inspiring Mount Teide with the clouds (if you decide to stay at the Interpalace make sure you get a room with a mountain view and not the sea view for the sea view is continually cloudy):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6436911681_fc0ff6bc76_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6436911681/)

Most hotels have a collection of flags flying outside, the Hotel Bonanza - just across the street from the Interpalace - being no exception:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6436913225_ff43d69d74_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6436913225/)

Puerto de la Cruz:

Once off the shuttle bus we were left to make our way into the resort's centre and from there to the bus station for a trip out to a small village. Here are a few photos from that walk.

Flowers across the road from the drop-off point (underneath a shopping centre):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6436926371_f62d6f8737_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6436926371/)

A German bistro (for those not in the know the resort is almost entirely frequented by older German tourists so bars of this kind are very common in Puerto de la Cruz and in northern Tenerife more generally):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6436931533_332ea5ac58_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6436931533/)

A local club, the Discoteca Joy:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6437354795_86dd1cd941_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6437354795/)

The trackless train for Loro Parque at the Plaza Reyes Catolicós. We elected not to visit the zoo after we saw the (in our view) exorbitant cost of doing so:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6437714125_154a7dcf37_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6437714125/)

The outdoor swimming pool of a local hotel. Don't quote me on this but I think the hotel is the H10 Tenerife Playa:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6437723237_a03cd73fde_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6437723237/)

Here are photos of a silly old fool, probably German or Austrian, before he went for a swim in the choppy Atlantic Ocean in late November. A younger man tries to talk him out of it as you can see in the second photo. Meanwhile people were watching him from a distance and taking photos, as was I:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6437724955_b46917fd22_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6437724955/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6437729389_5a54b33614_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6437729389/)

He got in (it must have been freezing!) and I moved on.

A view of one of the main tourist streets in Puerto de la Cruz on the coast:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7024/6437803643_748d7ec273_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6437803643/)

The green lettering of a hotel on that tourist street. It's a handy place to be for sure as it's right in the very heart of the resort!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6438014485_101e67e2ee_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6438014485/)

A shot of the interior of the main Catholic church in Puerto de la Cruz, the Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia in the Plaza de la Iglesia (Church Square), right in the epicentre of the town. Incidentally, they have a mass in English there at 10am every Sunday:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6438018975_c6a4138d2b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6438018975/)

My heart sank when I saw this coin-operated candle machine. It sort of takes some of the magic out of it and makes the entire art of remembering someone mechanical and impersonal. Shame on this church for installing it:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6438023287_cab0c2940a_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6438023287/)

Having left the church (I sheltered in there from the rain for a short period) we return to the town centre. Whilst we were mooching around I spotted this shop window selling spirits. As most of you probably know the Canary Islands do not have VAT but instead have a local sales tax called IGIC (Impuesto General Indirecto Canario) at a flat rate of 5% and are also outside the European Union customs area (leading to vastly reduced allowances!). This makes the Canary Islands a relatively cheap place to buy cigarettes and some types of alcohol although electronics are perhaps best avoided and perfumes are always cheaper over the Internet:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6438188637_4be2c71ce7_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6438188637/)

A busy town street, the Calle del Doctor Ingram:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6438700531_129247e4ed_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6438700531/)

A view of a street near the bus station in Puerto de la Cruz:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6440736593_33ced0635a_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6440736593/)

Hope you enjoyed these. Part 2 of Day 2 is being uploaded and is on its way shortly.

TenerifeTeddy
02-12-2011, 14:41
Thanks for posting your pictures and opinions of your recent trip to Tenerife. It's always interesting to see how different people view this lovely island and to hear of their experiences.

It's a shame that you didn't visit Loro Parque as IMO It's much more than just a zoo and is a really great day out. I know you pay more as holidaymakers than we do as residents, but I still think it is well worth the money. We visit it several times a year and never tire of the place.

Nic
02-12-2011, 15:51
I'm just surprised you got as far as Tenerife!! How on earth did you manage to take photographs at an airport in the UK without being carted off by the terrorist police (erm I don't mean the police are terrorists, I mean the ones in charge of fighting terror!!)

beerfan
02-12-2011, 16:21
I'm just surprised you got as far as Tenerife!! How on earth did you manage to take photographs at an airport in the UK without being carted off by the terrorist police

Airports in the UK aren't a problem. I've never been stopped at an airport in the UK (or anywhere else) yet. Keep it hidden at security and you're golden. Never had to go through an X-ray scanner at Manchester Airport either.

Day 7 (at Tenerife South Airport) holds a bit of a surprise. You know the utterly exorbitant prices they charge for soft drinks at that airport? They don't charge the same rates at the vending machines the staff use, you know. ;)

Shame I don't have the photo as evidence but we didn't want to be discovered in the authorised sector although one of the accredited staff happily gave us directions! :D

AL JAY
02-12-2011, 22:02
Im enjoying this thread its interesting and has a different slant to the usual holiday pics!

sunseeker
02-12-2011, 22:21
nice photos. i have an app for my phone that does nice pics too, called instagram. :)

beerfan
02-12-2011, 22:39
Anyway, let's continue Day 2 with the second part.

WARNING: this is a very beer-oriented post so if pubs and the sort of food served in them doesn't interest you, you may wish to wait for tomorrow's update.

Day 2 (Part 2) - Bus up to Tacoronte, Tacoa Cervecería y Restaurante and Hotel Tapas

Bus up to Tacoronte:

One of the defining features of the north-west of the island is the very frequent cloudy weather. It rarely rained during our holiday (despite this portion of the island accounting for over 70% of all rain on Tenerife) but it was frequently cloudy as this photo taken on the Titsa #101 bus (Puerto de la Cruz-Santa Cruz de Tenerife) shows:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6440827269_efded9bf76_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6440827269/)

One of the stops on the bus route is La Orotava, a wonderful little town that we visited later on in our trip. For now though, we just saw the bus station.

Here's a wonderful mural of a young girl on the wall of the bus station. I'm not sure what the mural is referring to though:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6440871945_bfc2e159de_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6440871945/)

Visit to Tacoa Cervecería y Restaurante at Tacoronte:

The Tacoa Brewery and Restaurant is the only brewpub in northern Tenerife. The beers they produce here suffer from tasting too similar to one another (as is often the case with brewpubs) but with slightly varying strengths (the far stronger Negra excepted). Having said that the food is excellent, filling and is very reasonably priced. The English menus required a bit pf amending (the spelling and grammar was somewhat rusty having been written by a non-English native) so the owner - a lovely local lady by the name of Teresa - was very happy to let us rewrite much of it and took a beer off the bill as a thank-you. The outdoor area at the back is lovely and is well worth a visit just to sit in what is pretty much the middle of nowhere, in the hills, to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Having reached our destination (the bus stops literally a minute's walk from the brewpub, so just a minute's walk back down the road) I took in the view outside and snapped a quick shot before entering:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6442021329_5290454641_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442021329/)

Overall I found this place to be not particularly good on the beer front although it is produced on the premises. The taste of the beer ranges from average (but much better than the dull swill sold all over Tenerife) to almost undrinkable. Let's take a look at some of the beers anyway, starting with...

...the Cobra. It's a copper-coloured German-style lager - I'm not sure of the style, perhaps a Vienna or Munchener? - but I really couldn't wait to finish this. It was malty and cloying and I would have drainpoured it had I not paid for it. 4.5% (I think).

This 30cl glass cost €1.68 after 5% IGIC (local sales tax) which is around £1.56.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6442025633_df47e9c847_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442025633/)

Next up is the Clara, an OK-ish lager, although the reason for the name ("clara" is Spanish for "clear", and this was anything but clear just like all the other beers!) baffles me. Definitely better and less gassy than Dorada and particularly the appalling Dorada Especial! - but that doesn't mean that it's an excellent beer. I'd call this mediocre though I'd be lying if I said that this beer didn't grow on me a bit. Needs more hoppiness and needs a brighter, sharper taste I think. 4.5%.

This 30cl glass cost €1.68 after 5% IGIC which is around £1.56.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6442027337_ac578997cb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442027337/)

And onto the Trigo. This is supposed to be a weizen (wheat beer) with banana but to be honest it tastes much like the two previous beers with a slight banana taste. It's drinkable and like the Clara, it does grow on you a little but it's not something I'd go out of my way for. This beer tastes way too dark for the style - a much lighter taste with a more pronounced banana flavour would have worked better I think. 4.5%.

This 30cl glass cost €2.05 after 5% IGIC which is around £1.90.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6442030729_18f7118dbd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442030729/)

At this point in the proceedings I had started to grow hungry having not eaten much since breakfast. I looked at the menu and I must say that I'm glad I did as the menu is a wonderful mix of German and local Canarian cuisine. I could have eaten there two or three times from there - my first choice, the blood sausage, seemed very intriguing but the owner Teresa (who also doubles as the chef) didn't have any of the savoury ones in so I chose currywurst, one of the national dishes of Germany, essentially sausage in a curried sauce. It was a good choice: simple in nature but delicious, filling and most of all inexpensive at €3.90 (£3.61). As you can see it's almost a full meal. If this is anything to go by Teresa cooks German food extremely well (I actually thought the lady was German but she is in fact a local who speaks English with a very German accent). Bottom line: this is a good place to eat.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6442033381_4268eda184_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442033381/)

And back to the fourth and final beer, the Negra. In my opinion this is the best of all the produced here. It's a dunkler bock (German-style dark lager) It's dark, malty and strong. It's a very simple beer - don't expect anything complex! - but out of all the beers they serve here this would probably be the one I'd remember most and the one I would want to try should I ever go back. Personally though, given the clientele (mostly Germans) I might just have gone for a simple roasty and coffeeish schwarzbier (another type of dark lager) or maybe a dunkel (yet another type, although it is sometimes difficult to tell between the two styles of beer in the same way as it is often difficult to tell between a stout and a porter) instead. 6.5%-ish.

This 30cl glass cost €2.05 after 5% IGIC which is around £1.90.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6442035619_66f48ac639_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442035619/)

After drinking all that beer I took it upon myself to go and have a little wander around the pub. This is the copper vessel, prominently located to the left of the bar. You see it before turning right to head into the outdoor beer garden at the back of the premises:

(Geeky photography note: I'm quite pleased at how well this shot turned out as it was hand-held at ⅙th of a second. I could have bumped the ISO up to 200 but didn't really want to do that.)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6442160023_5d760ebd51_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442160023/)

A view of the bar area:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6442164443_610d697301_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442164443/)

And by this time, after a Maß (one-litre glass) of Clara it was back up the road to get on the bus for the lengthy journey back to La Paz. On the bus it takes around an hour to get to Tacoronte from the bus station in Puerto de la Cruz. If you're staying in La Paz, say, it might be worth getting the #101 from the main road. If you travel by car it is far, far quicker but of course you cannot drink much if you do that.

Tapas at Dinner at the Interpalace:

I took this at dinner mainly to see what the cheese would look like - a test shot if you will. The answer? The cheese was very hard, rubbery and fairly tasteless. The olives were OK... they were, well, olives.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6442588437_e449f446d4_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6442588437/)

And that's it for the Part 2 of Day 2. I'll now get on with uploading the photos for Day 3 which will probably appear here sometime tomorrow. :)

sunspot
02-12-2011, 22:47
Love the pictures and the commentary, cant wait for your next installment.......................

beerfan
02-12-2011, 22:51
Forgot to post the photo of the Negra! Fixed.

beerfan
03-12-2011, 20:56
Time for another update? Well, I thought you might say that. ;)

Today's update is Part 1 of Day 3 and covers our visit to El Tanque on a decidedly cloudy early Thursday afternoon in late November. Hopefully this entry will be seen as a little more, er, 'conventional'. ;)

So, without further ado I'll get started.Day 3 (Part 1) - Hotel Shots and Journey to El Tanque

Hotel Breakfast:

We began the day, as usual, by going down for breakfast. The breakfast buffet at the Interpalace has a lot of choice but this is somewhat soured by the fact that it is almost identical in content from one day to the next. Indeed, I can't remember ever seeing any variation in the hot breakfast bar items. I took photos (which will be posted in a later entry) so you can see what is served up.

Part of my breakfast was thin slices of ham served with olives inside and a couple of slices of queso blanco (white cheese):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6446432255_44c57974c4_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6446432255/)

Swimming Pool of Neighbouring Hotel:

After breakfast we retired to our room for a little while. Whilst at the lifts I snapped this photo (the zoom lens came in handy here) of the outdoor swimming pool of the neighbouring Aparthotel Bellavista Mirador:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6446435501_e3b25573b5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6446435501/)

To El Tanque:

The original plan was to drive down as far as we could go but we soon realised that we had gone too far down the TF-42 road. After getting lost in the dense banana-growing part of the island we found our way back to the main road and dropped in on this supermarket, just outside Los Silos, to purchase some pre-packed slices of cheese and salami:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6446438331_6f147772fd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6446438331/)

Having bought what we needed as a little light lunch to tide us over until dinner we then made the long and steep drive up the Teno mountains to El Tanque and eventually to Los Gigantes, a somewhat isolated tourist resort on the west coast of Tenerife.

There aren't that many safe places where it's OK to get out to take pictures on the drive up so I seized an early opportunity to take some shots. These were taken relatively near the bottom of the mountain.

This is San Pedro de Daute (special thanks must go to fellow forum member Andy2010 for correctly identifying this spot where I failed!), a tiny settlement just outside Garachico:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6446442263_8336e42d17_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6446442263/)

A little to the south of San Pedro de Daute lies another small village by the sea: La Caleta de Interián. I decided that it would be rude not to snap it even though it looks a little dilapidated from this shot, taken above:

(Photography note: This shot was taken at the extreme telephoto end of the lens at 18x [equivalent to 486mm] so a few allowances should be made in respect of image quality.)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6446446833_928eec8a78_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6446446833/)

Another shot of the countryside below:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6447272813_8a81db714b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447272813/)

In El Tanque:

We made it to El Tanque just after 14:00. In Spain (and especially in small rural communities such as El Tanque) the law of afternoon siesta is paramount. It is an integral part of Spanish culture; thus, isolated, modest farming villages obey it to the letter therefore El Tanque rather resembled a ghost town on my visit.

Here's the shot of the road:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6447276551_a31147c547_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447276551/)

And a couple of peeks at the vista, as well as the surrounding vegetation and the coast:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6447282141_9d0da531bb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447282141/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6447289843_6cf3e5035d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447289843/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6447295607_0d35380959_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447295607/)

A general election had just taken place in Spain mere days before our visit. The conservative and Christian democratic People's Party (Partido Popular, or PP) won a clear majority in November's elections. Not all of the political posters had been taken down so I took it upon myself to snap them whenever I could. Here's a pro-PP hoarding that was doubtless one of many throughout Spain:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6447805367_a4fc799526_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447805367/)

The steps leading up to one of the main roads. Taken on the plaza:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6447809289_cce655ed7e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447809289/)

I'm unsure of the voting demographics in Tenerife but someone seems to take an exception to the Canarian Coalition ("Coalición Canaria")/New Canaries ("Nueva Canarias") Spanish electoral alliance as this vandalised election hoarding shows:

(NB: The Canarian Coalition - or CC - is a social liberal and Canarian regionalist political party that has run the regional Canary Islands government since 1993. The Coalition seeks more devolved government from Spain but do not call for full independence for the islands. They are currently neck-and-neck with the People's Party in the Canarian Parliament with 21 seats each although one of the CC's seats belongs to a separate Canarian nationalist organisation that has taken the Coalition's whip.)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6447812269_b53f872133_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447812269/)

Here's the main plaza of the village. You can see the bandstand in this photo too:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6447815597_2a4bd34a33_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447815597/)

And a close-up of said bandstand:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6448266297_388d399b07_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6448266297/)

And the village church's tower:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6447818097_93e415bd64_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6447818097/)

Having seen all we wished to in El Tanque it was time to get in the van and move on up and over the mountains to Los Gigantes in the far west of Tenerife that will be the subject of my next instalment: part two of day three. I hope you enjoyed looking at these and maybe you even learnt a few things along the way... I sure did, both out in Tenerife and back here at home!

I should have part two up sometime tomorrow.

Until then... ¡Saludos!

sunspot
04-12-2011, 00:30
This is a lovely thread.............. thankyou beerfan

dixie4
04-12-2011, 10:44
This thread is compelling, fantastic stuff, particularly the section regarding the brew bar in Tacaronte. I have never heard of this place before I will have to check it out.

As you seem to like your beer I do hope you found the Dolphin bar on the quay at Los Gigantes it does a fabulous pint of Old Speckled Hen.

Keep it up, can not wait for the next........

beerfan
04-12-2011, 14:05
As you seem to like your beer I do hope you found the Dolphin bar on the quay at Los Gigantes it does a fabulous pint of Old Speckled Hen.

I only visited one of the bars in Los Gigantes (down by the harbour) where I enjoyed a swift tanque of Tropical. Tropical is brewed in Gran Canaria but this beer is not too common in Tenerife where it is Dorada, the island's own lager that reigns supreme.

As for beer in Tenerife more generally:

I did visit La Maison Belge (and the associated bar) in Puerto de la Cruz, which stocks Belgian beers and chocolate (and actually functions as a small beer bar in itself more or less). Staffed by a wonderful lady, too, who has everything one could wish for (to a non-Belgian beer expert like myself they have a selection of beers that is frankly dazzling, and not just your regular Leffe/Stella/Chimay/Hoegaarden schtick that you can find in most supermarkets here in the UK) including all but the most specialist Belgian beer styles (she had gueuze which I was surprised at - tastes like champagne!) and even had a dusty bottle of Cantillon in the back on request (this is seriously hardcore stuff even for Belgian beer fans). The only thing she had difficulty with was sour ale (Belgium produces some very highly regarded sours) but I think I'll have to go to Belgium for those as they're too challenging for non-beer geeks ("acid" was the description she gave me!). That said she did stock the odd imperial stout (a rarity in Britain and which I eagerly bought) and she said she was getting more in due to the winter season. Let's just say that I have an awful lot to write about her bar. Basically, if you're ever in Puerto de la Cruz make it your business to go there. I think a sit-down session comprising six bottled (often strong on my part!) Belgian beers didn't cost more than €21.

Hope I haven't spoilt any surprises!

chifleta
05-12-2011, 15:11
Day 7 (at Tenerife South Airport) holds a bit of a surprise. You know the utterly exorbitant prices they charge for soft drinks at that airport? They don't charge the same rates at the vending machines the staff use, you know. ;)
D

it's even better when your better half works in the airport... mind you, it's a bit of a shock every time I come home as i keep forgetting I have to actually pay for my food and drinks in Gatwick :)

beerfan
05-12-2011, 16:06
My apologies for not posting another entry yesterday - lots to do (including uploading photos!). I should have something ready by later on this evening though.


it's even better when your better half works in the airport... mind you, it's a bit of a shock every time I come home as i keep forgetting I have to actually pay for my food and drinks in Gatwick :)

Indeed. Is that even at the bars too? That could come in handy considering the astonishing price of drinks in most airports these days. It comes to something when one considers £2.99 for a pint of cask ale in an airport pub (J D Wetherspoon outlets at Speke Airport) to be excellent value. In fact, the Argosy in Liverpool Airport is pretty good all-round actually with friendly and helpful staff even if some of the customers happen to be dirty, lying, thieving oiks (personal experience).

chifleta
05-12-2011, 16:31
Indeed. Is that even at the bars too? That could come in handy considering the astonishing price of drinks in most airports these days. .

he works in the bars, but I rarely drink alcohol (though you wouldn't think that these last 3 weeks LOL) .... but I'm just happy for replacement bottle of water that we STILL have to throw away before you go through security control, oh and my carry-on picnic for the plane (bocadillo, pringles, choccie, keke (cake), easy to please I am :spin:

beerfan
05-12-2011, 21:55
Time for another section of my photographic travelogue of my trip to Tenerife.

In this edition I shall be covering Los Gigantes, a tourist resort popular with British tourists on the west coast of the island.

I'm having to split this up into two sections as the forum software simply won't have it!

Hope you all enjoy this. Hope it was worth the wait!Day 3 (Part 2a) - Los Gigantes [Section 1]

Los Gigantes (Spanish for "The Giants") is a resort town in the far west of Tenerife that lies at the foot of the imposing giant rock formations known as the Acantilados de Los Gigantes. It is approximately 23km (15 miles) from the nearest major tourist resort of Adeje, 42km (26 miles) from Tenerife South Airport and 101km (63 miles) from Santa Cruz de Tenerife so it's somewhat isolated. The area was developed in the 1960s as a result of British money flowing in and has remained popular with British and Irish tourists wanting a quiet holiday experience.

As the background information is done and dusted, time to get on to the photos...

Views from the Top of Los Gigantes:

We arrived in Los Gigantes just after 15:00 in the mid-afternoon. Everything was fairly quiet due to it being siesta time. Fortunately in resort towns this Spanish custom is not so strictly observed so it was easy to enjoy the town.

Here are some photos taken from above the town on the Carretera General Puerto de Santiago of parts of the centre below:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6453394861_03293d5b22_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6453394861/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6453404293_9ac787f716_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6453404293/)

One of the major hotels in the resort, the Stil Los Gigantes (I think there is one of these in Puerto de la Cruz also):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6453414167_c048382d24_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6453414167/)

And some more shots of the roadside and scenery - Los Gigantes is kept clean and orderly. I don't know if this always applies in places like Playa de las Americas or not but it does here in Los Gigantes:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6453419883_5191919e36_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6453419883/)

And a few of apartment balconies from above:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6453427397_ce1330de62_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6453427397/)

A look at the imposing cliffs around Los Gigantes:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6454816969_e9c7a223ae_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6454816969/)

A view of a tennis court. Given the fact they also have crazy golf in the same picture I wonder if this is a tourist attraction of some kind or possibly a hotel? I can't remember what street this is on unfortunately:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6454835775_d464d8369e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6454835775/)

A view from the street up to the rock. At the top of that rock lies a mast that features mobile phone and UHF TV antennas as well as microwave link dishes:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6454870107_7e5b8275df_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6454870107/)

Further down that street is the Vigilia Park Aparthotel, which also happens to house a small shopping centre. By this part of the day I was somewhat thirsty and hungry and headed in perhaps hoping to find somewhere selling soft drinks and a bit of something to eat but alas this was a dashed hope as seemingly every last shop was either selling cheap tat or overpriced electronic goods so unless you're into that it's probably best avoided. I have read good enough things on the Internet about the hotel itself though:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6454970675_04e0484463_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6454970675/)

...continued in my next post.

...continued.

Day 3 (Part 2b) - Los Gigantes [Section 2]

Down to the Centro Comercial:

Parking in Los Gigantes is a complete and utter nightmare even in November. The tourist basically has two choices: spend ages driving through the narrow side streets of the town in the hope that a free parking space emerges (easier said than done with apanel van) or resign oneself to paying whatever price the people down at the harbour choose to inflict on you so here's a photo of the side street we ended up parking on after finding a free space there. Much better than shelling out several euros to be only slightly nearer to your vehicle:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6454982333_274f8995a5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6454982333/)

And finally a photo of our hire vehicle. It was a Fiat Doblò and cost around £215 in the end for seven days which included a full tank of petrol and comprehensive insurance:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6455597309_fa9619b85c_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6455597309/)

Businesses catering to tourists very frequently change names and often hands in Spanish resorts and this place is a good example. When the Google Street View came to town this building hosted the Highland Paddy pub, a bar which has moved premises no less than twice since the Street View photos were taken. The property is now an Irish music bar called The Harp and - naturally - it serves Guinness (check out the black "Guinness" sign in this shot). Alas it was closed on our visit to Los Gigantes (I fancied a pint of Guinness even though it would unfortunately not be the stronger variant of the stout more common in Africa and which is available in the Canary Islands and Madeira from some department stores). I think it's a good indicator that bars such as these are closed as no-one is going out to spend money and for expat bar owners in particular:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6455606187_8f948d1f79_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6455606187/)

And a view of the Atlantic Ocean:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6455616739_3b7c7e195d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6455616739/)

As I mention on the second-to-last photo restaurants in Spanish tourist resorts often have a change of names. Here's another incidence of this occurring as this Italian pizza restaurant was formerly called Little Italy for instance according to Google Street View. Note the cliffs in the background of this picture:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6455621989_b876edd225_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6455621989/)

The marina. This lies at the end of the main road and goes down to the sea. There are a collection of bars, restaurants and supermarkets on the street on the road where this shot was taken:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6459792839_018809f7db_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6459792839/)

All this walking and photo-taking was making me a little thirsty so I decided to stop by a bar for a swift tanque of something slightly alcoholic, yellowish and, most importantly, cold. I chose La Terrazza, a bar-cum-Italian restaurant on the terrace. This watering hole is a little unusual in that it serves the Gran Canaria-produced Tropical (4.7%) as opposed to the Tenerife-brewed Dorada. As a beer Tropical is somewhat generic being a typical Spanish lager however on a warm afternoon it can often be quite refreshing. At the top of the glass is the Tropical beermat I placed on it to keep the flies out. The inscription on the glass reads "Beer of the Canary Islands". 4.7%.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6459797197_6fd5824658_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6459797197/)

One of the hotels that can be observed in the distance from the main street - the Royal Sun:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6460098799_8e940a64d8_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6460098799/)

This small supermarket in the centre of Los Gigantes sells a variety of British (as well as German) magazines and newspapers as well as confectionery and other goods more typical of the rest of Spain:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6460107977_89d7c22e62_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6460107977/)

This is the notice that the previous owners of the Highland Paddy pub had left in the central plaza of Los Gigantes near the modestly-sized Catholic church. It reads:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6460116225_63d83e0552_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6460116225/)

One of the main shopping streets in Los Gigantes. At the top of the photo one can make out is the Stil Los Gigantes, the hotel in the second third photo from the top:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6460822629_ef1c27d7e3_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6460822629/)

And the town's small church called the Church of Holy Spirits (or "La Iglesia del Espíritu Santo" in Spanish). What caught my eye was the name of the priest in charge: Evans David Gliwitzki. Gilwitzki is notable for being first Spanish Catholic priest to be married. He was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and was ordained an Anglican minister in 1984 and became a Catholic priest in 2005. His ordination had the full support of the Catholic Church as a special case for unity between churches, and does not signal a change in Catholic policy towards priestly celibacy. Such cases have also occurred in Britain but this was a first for Spain.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6460828199_ed5aeccc52_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6460828199/)

The Journey Home:

Not a tremendous amount to report as it was beginning to get dark soon after we had started to head back. That said, I did manage to snap this wonderful photo of the view in the Teno mountains. Parking up wasn't a problem here as I was shooting from a specially-designated place where one can park and take photos. I think the colours are magnificent here:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6461041939_50513fc366_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6461041939/)

After getting back I had a few beers at one of the local bars and then back to the Interpalace for something to eat (by this point I was starting to tire of the food on offer) and then went to sleep.

I hope this entry was worth the wait. Day 4 will be available soon. :)

sunspot
05-12-2011, 22:07
Fabulous Beerfan, i cant wait for day 4,this really is a great thread

imablue
05-12-2011, 23:53
this is a brilliant thread and has made excellent reading...so if i may just add a little point about Los Gigantes and more to the point The Harp Pub and Highland Paddy that you have mentioned ....
The Harp is newly opened and by all accounts is a popular evening/late-ish night time bar only.. (closed day times apparently)
The Highland Paddy in the centre of Los Gigs is in the throws of a total refurbishment.... therefore the notice informing people of the Highland Paddy in Playa de la Arena ...
Just information i have obtained on my various travels to this particular area... hope this helps in explaining the situation ....

beerfan
06-12-2011, 00:10
So basically it's being refurbished and they're moving to Playa de la Arena in the meantime? I get it now.

Added after 3 minutes:


he works in the bars, but I rarely drink alcohol (though you wouldn't think that these last 3 weeks LOL) .... but I'm just happy for replacement bottle of water that we STILL have to throw away before you go through security control, oh and my carry-on picnic for the plane (bocadillo, pringles, choccie, keke (cake), easy to please I am :spin:

The general idea is to drink it right in front of them. If they have a very public area, save it for the last minute. I know they don't care and it's me being childish but still...

imablue
06-12-2011, 00:26
well i,d say H P in Los Gigs is being totally gutted...it did have a sunken bathing pool that formed part of the ceiling as well as being on the roof ..... solid concrete.
H P 2 has always been in Playa de la Arena..
and The Harp as you said pictured by google street view used to be HP 1 .. used in recent years as a store room only ...
and if you manage to get to Parque de la Paz in Las Americas HP 3 is situated there ...

beerfan
07-12-2011, 22:49
And now we move onto the first part of day four. I'm having to split the first part into more than one section in order to circumvent the 10,000 character limit on each post therefore I thank you for your understanding if this section seems to conclude suddenly.Day 4 (Part 1a) - Hotel Breakfast & Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Hotel Breakfast:

The day began - as it generally does on holiday - by going down for breakfast. I decided to try some chicken nuggets for a change and ended up sitting down to this, a dish I can only describe as vile. The chicken nuggets were rock hard, not soft like they should be. The chopped potatoes hadn't been fried nearly enough and had a strange chewiness to them as well as tasting cold. The baked beans were cold too as was generally the case throughout our stay. Bottom line: if you eat breakfast here you're better off going for cold foods.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6466181245_04e2bf8079_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6466181245/)

After electing to jettison this concoction and find something edible instead it was time to set off for the day, Tenerife's largest city being our choice.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife:

Santa Cruz de Tenerife (hereafter known as Santa Cruz) is the capital (jointly with Las Palmas) and second-most populous city of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 222,417 in 2009. It is situated in the north-east part of Tenerife and is home to about one-third of the island's people. Santa Cruz is strange in some respects as most visitors to the island rarely bother to visit (preferring to remain in the purpose-built tourist resorts on the south of the island) and it has quite a bit to offer as long as you don't mind something more businesslike and urban. More in-depth information about the various sights that can be seen (most of them I didn't get time to see during my trip) can be found at the Wikipedia article on the city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_de_Tenerife).

Santa Cruz is also famous for being the place where Horatio Nelson lost his arm in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797. The assault was heavily defeated, and on 25 July the remains of the landing party withdrew under a truce with the loss of several hundred casualties. Nelson himself had been wounded in the arm, which was subsequently partially amputated by the people he had attempted to vanquish: a stigma that he carried to his grave as a constant reminder of his failure. Santa Cruz was an example of only a very few serious embarrassments suffered by Nelson in his entire military career. To find out more about this battle see here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santa_Cruz_de_Tenerife_(1797)).

Crime can be a bit of a problem here (as in any large city) so it does pay to keep a bit of an eye on where you're going whilst you're there. I would have liked to have seen quite a bit more of Santa Cruz but didn't get the chance. Maybe next time eh?

The Drive In:

Here are some shots of the journey up the road from Puerto de la Cruz, starting with this one on the Autovista TF-5:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6466183581_33acf16a15_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6466183581/)

And coming in to Santa Cruz on the Avenida de la Constitución:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6466186653_6939594775_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6466186653/)

Walking to the City Centre:

We parked our hire vehicle about half an hour's walk from the centre of the city. It was a bit of a way out but it didn't cost us anything and I didn't really mind the walk, although I was a bit tired by the end. Here's a photo of the street:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6467073555_118c0f43e4_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467073555/)

Here's some shots taken during our walk to the centre of the city:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6467079651_2f0b107a02_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467079651/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6467084249_9caf0775b0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467084249/)

And a side street:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6467089391_b47e2b7307_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467089391/)

This is the headquarters of a company involved in promotions called Organización Socas. They also sell wine I believe and I think they own a hotel in Puerto de la Cruz. I took this photo as I find their logo rather appealing. Their website (Spanish-only) can be found here (http://www.organizacionsocas.es):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6467132349_d1fe5cec13_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467132349/)

A CCTV camera at the rear of the CD Tenerife football ground (known as the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López on Avenida de San Sebastián):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6467776697_9c5743fddd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467776697/)

During my walk into the centre I found a few curious shops that sparked my interest a little, including the frontage of this business that sells kitchens. My main reason for my interest was the use of the German flag as their logo which I found rather bizarre:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6467783229_392259ac68_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467783229/)

And a black and white shot of businesses at lunchtime. I can't quite tell if that East Asian-looking chap in the right of the frame is giving the woman a grope or if he is trying to take a peek through the window of the door... or both:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6467788017_b38ce9b6bb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467788017/)

A view of a street taken over the way from the street I was on. This part of the city has a river that has run dry - Google Maps has it listed as a waterway but it clearly isn't one:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6467792243_bb81df8fa4_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6467792243/)

Which you can see a little more of here:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6468722837_77d678ef16_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6468722837/)

And especially here:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6472002511_dc6a33c789_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6472002511/)

Quick shot of a road that goes parallels the bridge here:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6472008969_a719422c87_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6472008969/)

And carrying on down towards the city centre, I rather liked the lettering on this DIY/home decoration materials shop so I snapped it:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7024/6472011771_7f4fd5aff9_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6472011771/)

The colours are unfortunately more than a bit off in these next few photographs.

This one is of an electronics and computer shop in Santa Cruz but I find it interesting in that this is more what like a 'real' Spanish electronics store is like rather than the garish stores you find in holiday resorts, many of them scam operations. I doubt it's especially cheap though and it's probably wiser to order off the web instead:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6472015065_f4018dd207_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6472015065/)

The Centre of the City:

And now we're coming into the centre of the city, finally. The tram you see on the left is the Tenerife Tram (the Tranvía de Tenerife (http://www.tranviatenerife.com)), a 7¾ mile line that links the Intercambiador in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with Avenida de la Trinidad in San Cristóbal de La Laguna. The cost of using the tram is apparently similar to buying a bus ticket:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6472581491_e339d8b326_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6472581491/)

Again, some more photos of shops on the main pedestrianised thoroughfare in Santa Cruz, including - shock! - C&A. C&A disappeared from the UK high street around ten years ago but they still have stores in Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey with new ones opening soon in Egypt and Serbia. This is one example:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6472585511_36b1c376c2_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6472585511/)

And, to conclude here's a shot of an election hoarding from the PSOE, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (or Partido Socialista Obrero Español in Spanish), Spain's second largest party. The PSOE are centre-left and social democratic in political orientation and therefore are the largest left-wing party in Spain. The PSOE were kicked out of office in November's general election (that occurred several days before this shot was taken) by the conservative and Christian democratic People's Party (or Partido Popular) who won a clear majority. I can't name the guy on the poster though - possibly the leader or some other senior PSOE politician?

The election slogan "pelea por lo que quieres" translates to something like "fight for what you want":

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6473049985_39a08919d0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6473049985/)

I hope this initial section of part one was worth the wait. I need to get on with uploading more!

chifleta
08-12-2011, 20:38
I think that's actually a "barranco" where the rainwater naturally flows when we get the heavy downpours, not a dried riverbed ... a sight to see in itself - being careful obviously not to be stood in a barranco at the time ... also not a good idea to park your car in a barranco, like the car parking area in Puerto De La Cruz on the attached photo :D

1978)

there is also a big C&A in the Al Campo shopping centre (near IKEA) at the Las Chumberas zone in La Laguna....

Loving your posts by the way, even us "adopted locals" are learning a thing or two ... sorry about the editing, I keep pressing post before i've finished reading the rest :-D ooops :devil:

AL JAY
08-12-2011, 20:49
http://www.electaweb.it/catalogo/scheda/978883706976/it?language=en_EN this link is Barranco de Santos which runs 8 miles from Santa Cruz to La Laguna

These Barranco's are formed over the centuries from water pouring down the landscape and then artificially re-routed to suit!

beerfan
08-12-2011, 20:57
These Barranco's are formed over the centuries from water pouring down the landscape and then artificially re-routed to suit!

I'd heard of the term very vaguely, half-confusing it with barraco (barraquito), the local coffee speciality of Tenerife that I didn't try whilst I was on the island and really should have. Perhaps next time.

andyb
09-12-2011, 10:52
Thanks for this excellent thread Beerfan. I live in Tenerife and am familiar with some (but by no means most) of your pictures and info (you must spend an enormous amount of time researching). Since August I've been ensconced in Qatar due to the eternal need to earn a living, reading this thread has been a delight, a great reminder of home. Thanks again.

By the way, I get paroled next Tuesday, home Wednesday evening!! Yippee!!!

beerfan
09-12-2011, 12:20
Thanks for this excellent thread Beerfan. I live in Tenerife and am familiar with some (but by no means most) of your pictures and info (you must spend an enormous amount of time researching).

I cross-post some of this information (but not all of it) to my Flickr photos as well. If you click on the images you get taken straight to my Flickr page.

If you read my Flickr entries you'll see just how much time I spend searching for, for example, street names and so on because I don't use a GPS tracking device. I do the same in the UK too. In the UK especially searching for businesses that can be seen in the shot is a big help. Some of the information for my photos I pinch from Wikipedia.

I would ask on here but I'd probably get some bewildered responses. (i.e. Why do you want to know the name of a tiny pedestrianised street in the centre of Santa Cruz that doesn't even show up on Google Maps and contains the backs of shops and hotels? Answer: Calle Alfonso Bethencourt!)


Since August I've been ensconced in Qatar due to the eternal need to earn a living

What's it like living there? That must be worth a couple of photos in a thread similar to mine. In fact, I looked into going there for a holiday (and then backed away when I researched it more thoroughly).


reading this thread has been a delight, a great reminder of home. Thanks again.

I still have section two of part one of day four (the rest of Santa Cruz) as well as the part two of that day to come yet... :)

primrose
09-12-2011, 18:14
Great Thread, Thanks

Ecky Thump
09-12-2011, 18:24
Section 5 of 7 para. 3 soon to follow from Beerfan.;)

Megaloo
09-12-2011, 18:52
Really enjoyable Thankyou

beerfan
09-12-2011, 19:11
Day 4 (Part 1b) - Santa Cruz de Tenerife (continued)

Much of the centre of Santa Cruz is modern in architecture but there are a few surprises to be seen along the way for lovers of older architecture such as the façade of this building on Calle Castillo, Santa Cruz's pedestrianised shopping street:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6475709511_a85af42ae6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6475709511/)

Having moved down the centre of the city I went to go and have a look at the oldest church in Santa Cruz but before I did this I took a photo of this Chinese buffet restaurant called Xin-Xin on Calle Candelaria. I saw a few adverts for them whilst I was in Santa Cruz around the city although I didn't go in personally. No need to after breakfast in any case:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6475711219_896202ec13_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6475711219/)

This is the infamous bell tower of Santa Cruz's oldest church, the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. It's a nice enough church (originally we thought it was a tourist information office!) although I didn't want to stay around here too long as I got the impression it was a little seedy with "lookey-lookey" men hanging about the place.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6475712759_b67d9a1960_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6475712759/)

After walking from one end of town to the other, I felt it time for a nice sit down. While I was relaxing for a few moments I spotted the crest of the ayuntamiento on this bin:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6477522395_28956c40a1_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6477522395/)

The Avenida Bravo Murillo, leading to the Cabildo de Tenerife, which functions as the government for the island:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6477525345_083569084f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6477525345/)

A billoard advertising the local strong lager Dorada Especial (5.5%). I bought a few cans of this whilst in Tenerife for consumption back at the hotel but couldn't finish them and ended up leaving them for the maid. It has a horrible sickly-sweet maltiness to it that I didn't get on with at all. Canned San Miguel (5.4%) wasn't that much better (tasted almost like a very weak whisky) but at least it was relatively drinkable:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6477528409_7ccbf6d1de_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6477528409/)

The tram line. This leads back to the city centre. It's on the Calle de Imeldo Seris immediately opposite the big government building:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6477532495_25eca2440f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6477532495/)

The main Correos (Spanish postal service) office for Santa Cruz is based just along this road and there is a small side street that is specifically set aside for Correos vehicles to be parked on. Here's a panel van (a Renault Kangoo) parked in distinctive yellow Correos livery:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6477534909_aa5752b35f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6477534909/)

And here we come to the venerable clock tower of the building that houses the Island Council of Tenerife (or Cabildo de Tenerife in Spanish) that is the governing body for this island. The local government of Tenerife, like the other Canarian local governments, has a number of powers gathered together in the self-governing statute of the Canary Islands as well as a series of powers delegated from the other departments of the national administration. More information on this building and its functions can be found at the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabildo_de_Tenerife) and at the Tenerife Government website (http://www.tenerife.es") (available in Spanish, English and German). Note the Canarian, Spanish and Tenerife (almost identical to the flag of Scotland) flags.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6477572771_c516aab6d8_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6477572771/)

A close-up of the tower part of the Monumento a los Caidos which is located in the Plaza de España. This structure is a memorial to Nationalist soldiers who died fighting during the Spanish Civil War (which General Franco won). One used to be able to go up the tower but it was closed to the public after a spate of attacks on it by Canarian nationalists:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6478612167_e9c80c8fb6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6478612167/)

Walking around the plaza I spotted this poster containing a glaring spelling error in English. Slightly amused, I photographed it. I think what is amusing about it is that this official government sign has been put up around Tenerife's capital city and no-one bothered to check to see if the the English spelling was correct before it went out. Perhaps when they realised their error after the event they perhaps thought the (mainly non-English speaking) local population generally wouldn't notice or care. Or perhaps I'm just being picky. Still, that's government for you:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6478615465_6742e2c756_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6478615465/)

A look back at another angle of the monument and the island government's offices. Note the man-made lake that stands as the central feature of the plaza at the bottom of the frame:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6478618931_6fbd64c1d2_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6478618931/)

And it was at this point that we decided that as most things were now closed for siesta that perhaps it was a good idea to slowly head back towards the car.

One of the small, shaded streets we ended up walking through was Calle Alfonso Bethencourt which hosts shops and cheap hotels and of course the island's branch of Marks & Spencer.

Here's a photo of the street:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6478624899_fb563d0f79_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6478624899/)

And the Tenerife branch of Marks & Spencer I mentioned:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6478628699_1eff155801_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6478628699/)

At some point we found our way back to the main pedestrianised street. Walking down I didn't spot this rather offensive bit of graffiti but walking back I did so I took a photograph. The offending word is the word that almost every foreigner knows and none more so than the Spanish (I was once insulted in classic style in this way once whilst I was in Spain for no reason whatsoever):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6478907289_ee4b290b37_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6478907289/)

A city centre café bar (by the strange name of "Snuupy" no less!) that I stopped at on the way down, attracted to the tempting offer of a beer at low-price. I paid €1 for a glass of beer around 250ml in size. I wasn't complaining; it was cold and I needed to use the lavatory:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6478908719_95b7fa1989_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6478908719/)

And finally, walking back to the hire vehicle we happened upon the police attending an incident that seemed to be about a kid who was in a bit of trouble - I couldn't tell if he was out cold or on drugs or something but he didn't look too good. His friends were talking to the police (who were wondering what to do I think) so while they were distracted I walked further up and took a photo of the police car. As for the car itself (Skoda Superb) I really like the design in use on this vehicle and I find it much more appealling than the horribly garish Battenburg design used on emergency vehicles in the UK and also in several other countries:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7016/6481308075_c89099e697_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6481308075/)

After this we got in the vehicle and headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest until the evening... which will be the subject of part two of day four of my travelogue.

I hope you're enjoying this series and I look forward to sharing my photos with you!

garlicbread
09-12-2011, 19:24
All great stuff beerfan

balcon
09-12-2011, 21:29
Really enjoying the photos and info beerfan, looking forward to the next part

primrose
09-12-2011, 21:41
Think I need to open my eyes when I am walking round Santa Cruz, must have walked past that Monument lots of times and never even noticed it, I will next time though.

beerfan
11-12-2011, 00:42
OK, time for the installment relating to the evening of Day 4 (and the first visit to La Maison Belge)!Day 4 (Part 2) - Puerto de la Cruz (including La Maison Belge)

(Photography note: these might be a little noisy due to me shooting flashless in order that the photos look as natural as possible. Apologies if the digital grain is a bit much on some of the photos. I don't shoot RAW and it's often a bit of a struggle getting the balance right between not letting the photos look too 'plasticky' because of noise reduction but also not introducing unnecessary noise into the image.)

A Look at Puerto de la Cruz by Evening:

After having spent the day in Santa Cruz it was decided that a little rest was a good idea in order to freshen up for the evening so at around 17:30 we got on the bus from La Paz to Puerto de la Cruz town centre. It's a place that comes alive a little at night what with the fairs and the busy bars and restaurants catering to (largely) German tourists as well as locals milling about the place.

A quick shot of a café and pizzeria on Calle Cupido in Puerto de la Cruz. I love shooting in built-up areas at night - usually there is enough light to get something presentable and it's good fun finding out the limits of one's camera (and photography skills!):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6483347205_81ebfa4947_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483347205/)

While walking to the beer shop we passed this busy street. The town really does come alive at night:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6483445681_229d79d3d5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483445681/)

A hotel we passed on the Calle Agustín de Bethencourt, which is on the same street as the main focus of this entry:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6483686539_d32c5e6c30_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483686539/)

La Maison Belge:

La Maison Belge (which translates as "The Belgian House" in English) is a chain of shops selling mainly artisan Belgian ales and chocolates. They have shops in Barcelona, Madrid and of course the below store, located in Tenerife. They originally were based only in Barcelona but have since expanded over the years. The Tenerife store claims they sell about 200 different beers with Hoegaarden being available (for the less discerning) on tap also. As well as being a shop there is both indoor and outdoor seating in this small shop for people to sit and enjoy a beer (most of their beers are refrigerated in the back of the premises). More information can be found on their website here (http://www.lamaisonbelge.es) (Spanish-only).

So here's some shots of their beer range: (If you're interested in Belgian beer it's well worth clicking on the photo to see it at full size.)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6483688597_33ced281c2_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483688597/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6483691445_a73d4cc726_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483691445/)

After walking around the shelves for what must have been a good ten minutes, I settled on a beer: Malheur 12, brewed by De Landtsheer, a potent but very drinkable Quadrupel beer (officially a Belgian Strong Ale) that tastes spicy with a mixture of dark berries backed up by hops. It's a lovely beer that tastes less strong than it is for its 12% ABV:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6483694251_80e83b5098_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483694251/)

After finishing this I took to looking at the shelves some more to pick another beer out. Whilst waiting for my beer (a gueuze) I snapped this as I sat down on the stool just outside the shop:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6486384225_45d0702476_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6486384225/)

And then I decided on a gueuze. A gueuze is a mix of young and old lambic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic) beers. Above all else, a gueuze should be sour and very complex. The best examples are the most complex beers in the world, and put most champagnes to shame as well. The finish should be bone dry. Generally, this style isn't too popular among Belgian beer fans as they find it akin to drinking acid. I love it though. I only knew of this style due to my experiences during a beer trip in Denmark some years before.

I chose Boon Oude Geuze, a 6.5% gueuze. It was typical of the gueuze style but really lovely. Like a sour champagne. Delicious:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6486385883_9680937f78_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6486385883/)

After that I had another beer (a Maredsous 6 Blond, a 6% blonde Belgian ale produced by Duvel; it was decent but not outstanding) and by that time I was starting to think about something to eat so it was time to walk back to the taxi rank not far from the marina, whereupon we saw a night fair complete with farmers offering (for a small fee) a taste of some of their produce:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6487262977_4e16be1d5b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6487262977/)

And that was that. We looked for a taxi and headed back to the Interpalace. The cost of the taxi wasn't much more at all than using the bus so whenever we needed to go down to the centre of Puerto de la Cruz, we just took cabs there and back instead.

Evening Buffet Food at the Interpalace:

By this time we were pretty hungry so I took a look at the buffet menu. Among the foods available that evening (the food served of an evening at the Interpalace varies more than the breakfast fare) was vegetable lasagne with chips:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6486387371_f08c383bcf_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6486387371/)

And that's that. After eating I retired to bed with a couple of beers. :)

Hope you enjoyed this installment. Day five to come shortly I hope!

Ecky Thump
11-12-2011, 01:39
OK, time for the installment relating to the evening of Day 4 (and the first visit to La Maison Belge)!Day 4 (Part 2) - Puerto de la Cruz (including La Maison Belge)

(Photography note: these might be a little noisy due to me shooting flashless in order that the photos look as natural as possible. Apologies if the digital grain is a bit much on some of the photos. I don't shoot RAW and it's often a bit of a struggle getting the balance right between not letting the photos look too 'plasticky' because of noise reduction but also not introducing unnecessary noise into the image.)

A Look at Puerto de la Cruz by Evening:

After having spent the day in Santa Cruz it was decided that a little rest was a good idea in order to freshen up for the evening so at around 17:30 we got on the bus from La Paz to Puerto de la Cruz town centre. It's a place that comes alive a little at night what with the fairs and the busy bars and restaurants catering to (largely) German tourists as well as locals milling about the place.

A quick shot of a café and pizzeria on Calle Cupido in Puerto de la Cruz. I love shooting in built-up areas at night - usually there is enough light to get something presentable and it's good fun finding out the limits of one's camera (and photography skills!):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6483347205_81ebfa4947_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483347205/)

While walking to the beer shop we passed this busy street. The town really does come alive at night:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6483445681_229d79d3d5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483445681/)

A hotel we passed on the Calle Agustín de Bethencourt, which is on the same street as the main focus of this entry:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6483686539_d32c5e6c30_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483686539/)

La Maison Belge:

La Maison Belge (which translates as "The Belgian House" in English) is a chain of shops selling mainly artisan Belgian ales and chocolates. They have shops in Barcelona, Madrid and of course the below store, located in Tenerife. They originally were based only in Barcelona but have since expanded over the years. The Tenerife store claims they sell about 200 different beers with Hoegaarden being available (for the less discerning) on tap also. As well as being a shop there is both indoor and outdoor seating in this small shop for people to sit and enjoy a beer (most of their beers are refrigerated in the back of the premises). More information can be found on their website here (http://www.lamaisonbelge.es) (Spanish-only).

So here's some shots of their beer range: (If you're interested in Belgian beer it's well worth clicking on the photo to see it at full size.)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6483688597_33ced281c2_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483688597/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6483691445_a73d4cc726_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483691445/)

After walking around the shelves for what must have been a good ten minutes, I settled on a beer: Malheur 12, brewed by De Landtsheer, a potent but very drinkable Quadrupel beer (officially a Belgian Strong Ale) that tastes spicy with a mixture of dark berries backed up by hops. It's a lovely beer that tastes less strong than it is for its 12% ABV:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6483694251_80e83b5098_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6483694251/)

After finishing this I took to looking at the shelves some more to pick another beer out. Whilst waiting for my beer (a gueuze) I snapped this as I sat down on the stool just outside the shop:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6486384225_45d0702476_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6486384225/)

And then I decided on a gueuze. A gueuze is a mix of young and old lambic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic) beers. Above all else, a gueuze should be sour and very complex. The best examples are the most complex beers in the world, and put most champagnes to shame as well. The finish should be bone dry. Generally, this style isn't too popular among Belgian beer fans as they find it akin to drinking acid. I love it though. I only knew of this style due to my experiences during a beer trip in Denmark some years before.

I chose Boon Oude Geuze, a 6.5% gueuze. It was typical of the gueuze style but really lovely. Like a sour champagne. Delicious:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6486385883_9680937f78_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6486385883/)

After that I had another beer (a Maredsous 6 Blond, a 6% blonde Belgian ale produced by Duvel; it was decent but not outstanding) and by that time I was starting to think about something to eat so it was time to walk back to the taxi rank not far from the marina, whereupon we saw a night fair complete with farmers offering (for a small fee) a taste of some of their produce:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6487262977_4e16be1d5b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6487262977/)

And that was that. We looked for a taxi and headed back to the Interpalace. The cost of the taxi wasn't much more at all than using the bus so whenever we needed to go down to the centre of Puerto de la Cruz, we just took cabs there and back instead.

Evening Buffet Food at the Interpalace:

By this time we were pretty hungry so I took a look at the buffet menu. Among the foods available that evening (the food served of an evening at the Interpalace varies more than the breakfast fare) was vegetable lasagne with chips:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6486387371_f08c383bcf_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6486387371/)

And that's that. After eating I retired to bed with a couple of beers. :)

Hope you enjoyed this installment. Day five to come shortly I hope!

Wonderful pictures and a great narrative, but the chips do not look that appetising.:)

beerfan
11-12-2011, 01:45
They were alright. Ish.

beerfan
13-12-2011, 17:39
Are we ready for another update? Day 5 will be quite a bit smaller than most of the previous days due to me not finding most of the places we went to that interesting. I found little of interest in San Cristóbal de La Laguna and the botanical gardens at Puerto de la Cruz so I apologise if this all seems a bit short. Shall we begin again? OK!(Day 5: Stout after Breakfast, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Meal Opposite the Jardin Botánico and La Maison Belge)

The day started with our usual padding down for the usual partially-edible breakfast buffet on offer at the Interpalace (hint: a little variety wouldn't go amiss). After the breakfast we decided to relax in the hotel room for a bit before heading out. Now, in each hotel room there is a fridge. An empty fridge. They're not all that cold but they're great for sticking in your own beers that you purchase while you're out and they don't charge you for the privilege either. So a partial thumbs up from me on that.

Imperial Stout After Breakfast:

Whilst retiring at our hotel balcony I decided to add to the feeling of general relaxation with a strong Belgian stout I bought at La Maison Belge the previous evening. Ellezelloise Hercule Stout is a 9% imperial stout, with various spicy sweet malty flavours within. It's not one of the most interesting Russian stouts I've ever had (it tasted a bit too lager-like for me) but it's quite drinkable. Note the 'swing top' bottle:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6487267587_9d47fa2286_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6487267587/)

After a period of dossing about the place we decided it was time to get on the road to San Cristóbal de La Laguna.

The Drive Up:

The drive up to La Laguna was busy but otherwise uneventful. I was a bit miffed because almost immediately after spotting anti-racist graffiti I was called a pirata by one of the locals. I took it in relatively good spirit but I wondered to myself who the real racists are. Anyway, I didn't like the town much but I digress.

A photo from the drive up the Autovista TF-5:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6493661553_bdf5c93a46_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6493661553/)

San Cristóbal de La Laguna:

San Cristóbal de La Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna) is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, situated in the Canary Islands (Spain). The city is the third-most populous city of the archipelago and second-most populous city of the island. It is a suburban area of the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The historical cetntre of the city was declared World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1999. La Laguna city is an ancient capital of the Canary Islands. It is home to the University of La Laguna which is home to 30,000 students; these are not included in the population figures for the city. For more information on La Laguna check out the city's Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Cristóbal_de_La_Laguna).

Anyway, having found somewhere to park up (not without getting into a bit of difficulty manoeuvring the van!) we walked slowly toward the centre of the city. Here are a few photos I took en route:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6493669601_013a218875_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6493669601/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6493673399_ca2949daf8_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6493673399/)

And a public seating area we spotted during our walk. There seemed to be something going on at least:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6493674539_95f79fa38a_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6493674539/)

A derelict building on Calle de Juan de Vera. I thought this building may in fact be quite interesting - despite what FM Ecky Thump may say, it's worth looking at these abandoned buildings in order to see just how much they may change in such a short space of time. Compare the photo below with the Google Street View entry for instance:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6495153635_002f0b446e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6495153635/)

A pond in the city centre with various birds in it:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6495520471_98fdf503dd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6495520471/)

I didn't find much of interest in the city centre. To tell you the truth, I thought the town was a bit grimy with not a lot to do. The Spanish seem to find it 'cultural' though. That said, I spotted this local camerawoman hard at work. I'm not sure who she may have been shooting for - local Canarian television or an Internet TV perhaps?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6495526921_a6efcf3818_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6495526921/)

A busy street photographed as we walked back to the van:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6495530573_178c7a783f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6495530573/)

Again, here's some more vulgar graffiti we found down one of the side streets just before we picked up the van to drive back to Puerto de la Cruz. Notice the addition of a gimp mask of all things!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6495936609_0d331e80f6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6495936609/)

Food in La Paz, Puerto de la Cruz:

Having picked up the car and drove back to Puerto de la Cruz we had a quick look at the Botanical Gardens. I'm not a huge fan of gardens and so I won't share the photos I took in there, although I may upload them to my photostream at a later date.

I was getting quite peckish by this point and needed something to tide me on until dinner. With this in mind, we dropped in at a restaurant just opposite the botanical gardens. I had chicken and potato squares with cous cous. It was reasonable enough food but relatively expensive (€11).

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7165/6495943089_e8cd19e6e0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6495943089/)

After having a look at the Botanical Gardens fatigue had more than set in so we elected to return to the hotel for a few hours.

Back to La Maison Belge:

Having got our things together and picked up a taxi we were down at Puerto de la Cruz by about 18:00 or so - more than enough time to sink a few Belgians before returning to the Interpalace for the nightly dinner buffet.

My first choice of beer whilst I was there was a bottle of Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor, an 8% Belgian strong ale which I was given when I asked the owner for something seriously hoppy. This beer is produced using four different types of hops and, while I found it to be a good beer in itself is actually a fairly tame beer in terms of pure bitter hoppiness as the hops themselves are fairly subdued in the end. Glad I had it though:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6501049007_3e0cce4443_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6501049007/)

Next up was a bottle of Slaapmutske Winterbier (Bruin), which is actually brewed at De Proefbrouwerij. It's a decent Belgian brown winter ale with a modest ABV of 6% but it doesn't exactly set the world alight.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6501053309_e3c1084c4b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6501053309/)

After the Slaapmutske I chose a bottle of Charles Quint Blonde Dorée, an 8.5% blonde that I frankly found underwhelming and which could and should have been better. It was certainly drinkable, just not very interesting:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6501056441_b11335e633_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6501056441/)

After the third beer I took it upon myself to go and take a few more photos in the shop. Here's a shot of their shelf of abbey beers which includes some very good ales indeed:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6501063787_98d00500e9_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6501063787/)

This was the last beer of the night, the St. Bernardus Abt 12. It's a strong - 10.5% - Abbey beer and is perhaps one of the best Belgian beers I've ever tasted. It's sweet and somewhat dark in colour, is full of dark fruity flavours and will very, very quickly send you loopy if you're not careful. I wish I could try more beers like this (perhaps a trip out to Hebden Bridge is in order). Amazing stuff:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6501066641_33541a3721_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6501066641/)

After that we picked up a taxi (which again costs about the same as taking the bus, and is much more convenient) and we were back at the hotel by around 20:25 or so in time for the evening meal.

And that's pretty much it! Hope you enjoyed Day 5. Day 6 should come soon I hope. :)

balcon
13-12-2011, 23:13
another good read, thanks again beerfan ..... hope there's more to come

chifleta
14-12-2011, 15:09
ahhhh "snuupy" is pronounced "snoopy" like the cartoon LOL I love how they spell things phonetically according to the Spanish alphabet....wondering if I've spelt that correctly now, but can't be bothered to grab my dictionary :-)

beerfan
16-12-2011, 23:43
I suspect some of you thought you weren't going to see another update from me on my trip to Tenerife, weren't you? Well, fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view) you were wrong. There's a lot of photos to get through in Day 6 so I'd best get started.

Off we go:Day 6 (Part 1a) - Walking Down to Puerto de la Cruz

After the usual morning breakfast we decided to wait in a little while and then take a leisurely stroll from La Paz into Puerto de la Cruz's town centre. Firstly, though, I took a few more shots of the hotel.

Outside Area of the Hotel Blue Sea Interpalace, Puerto de la Cruz:

One of the first things I spotted immediately after making my way from the rear lift was this broken window that had been hastily taped up. I wonder if they've repaired it yet? If so, not good going, lads:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6507055733_1291aed590_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6507055733/)

The outside area immediately by the access door to the back hotel room area:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6507060299_e35187d3e2_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6507060299/)

The pathway leading to the hotel's outdoor pool and sunlounger area:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6507068133_d973246150_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6507068133/)

The Interpalace's outdoor pool with a reflection of a palm tree(?) in the background. Strangely enough, no-one fancied going in the pool when this photo was taken probably because it was near the end of November and it would have been freezing. Quite a few people were out sunbathing though:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6507073375_240ff253d7_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6507073375/)

A shot of the swimming pool from another angle:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6507077539_94bc7174a1_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6507077539/)

The Interpalace does do an all-inclusive deal but having seen what this seems to constitute (seemingly little more than a drinks machine and probably a few burgers from what I could tell) I'm glad I didn't pay several hundred pounds extra for the privilege.

An Amble Down to Puerto de la Cruz:

Having left the hotel grounds we decided to wander down to Puerto de la Cruz but at a slow, unhurried pace, stopping along the way in order to take photos.

And one of the scenes I captured was a street named after Agatha Christie. Christie's only connection with Puerto de la Cruz in general is that she spent a week in the resort in the late 1920s in order to escape the attentions of the press.

The street plaque for Calle de Agatha Christie:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6507079625_f695db95c0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6507079625/)

And the street itself:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6507088461_fe4fea8bec_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6507088461/)

On the pathway that leads to the town one way and the other to La Paz and the Bellavista Hotel, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6508501159_c26b6292b6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6508501159/)

And a shot of the Autovista TF-31, taken using the zoom lens of my camera from the walkway:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6508507397_4449baf146_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6508507397/)

And a view towards the town centre and of course the Lido park:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6511300051_de6fcf7042_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6511300051/)

There's quite a lot going on in this shot as you can see - you have holidaymakers sunbathing on the beach with black sand with some bars and restaurants behind them. Behind that you have the enclosed Lago Martianez water park and casino (that not many people are using as it's November!) and at the back you have the Atlantic Ocean:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6511305965_018d0c7b61_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6511305965/)

A view of the Carretera del Este (the road that leads both into and out of Puerto de la Cruz):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6511547925_489f9ce020_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6511547925/)

Another view of this road. You can also see the rooftops of some of the hotels dotted around it too:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6512526803_42be539d0e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6512526803/)

Another shot of the high-rise hotels:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6512531333_88a7f71992_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6512531333/)

A view over the town's skyline. The pyramid building is the Las Pirámides de Martiánez shopping centre. The building to the top right is the Hotel Orotava.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6512540687_714b71632e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6512540687/)

And a close-up of those pyramids:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6512546007_d65539b521_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6512546007/)

The signage on a Chinese restaurant called Shanghai on Calle San Amaro - midway down the steps:
(NB: the menu in its entriety is available to view on my Flickr photostream. Simply click on one of the other photos and navigate around Flickr to find the scans.)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6516743521_160ff41804_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6516743521/)

A shot of the steps that lead down to the centre of the resort:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6518474331_e6dcd865cf_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6518474331/)

The road on the right leads into an underground car park, above which is the Las Pirámides de Martiánez shopping centre. The Hotel Orotava can be prominently seen in this photo also. The barriers have been put up to prevent traffic:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6518476969_bfd6ec7e2b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6518476969/)

And a shot of this scene from a different angle. The high-rise hotel in the left of the frame is the Hotel San Felipe:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6518479423_2f0cca75cb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6518479423/)

And, to finish, here's a photo of a bright yellow lily that I took on this same street, the Avenida del Aguilar y Quesada:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6518480435_b5c4f91499_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6518480435/)

Hope you enjoyed these and part B of my walk will be up soon. :)

beerfan
07-01-2012, 02:14
Bit late for me to add to this now but I plan to stick the rest of my journey on here in due course. I'm coming back to Tenerife in a few weeks' time anyway. :)

beerfan
07-01-2012, 15:37
After a long hiatus (after dealing with Christmas and New Year), I am back in the saddle, posting the rest of my trip to Tenerife. I hope to be back on the island within about a month or so (and I will be posting photos here). Until then, here are some more shots from Day 6.Day 6 (Part 1b) - Walking Down to Puerto de la Cruz

We are fairly near the town centre by this point, on the Avenida del Aguilar y Quesada. A bit further on, the main road into the resort can be spotted - the "Swiss bridge" you might call it as it's full of holes! It's on the TF-31 (the Carretera del Este) but I'm sure the bridge must have another name (if it is a bridge). Judicious use of the zoom lens here:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6518484023_83ea3b9d43_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6518484023/)

By now we've reached the Avenida de Colón, the main thoroughfare of Puerto de la Cruz. It's lined with bars and restaurants as well as shops and hotels. Here is one such outdoor attraction. It is a water walking ball and it works by the person entering the ball via zipped entrances and then using the ball to walk over the surface of a body of water:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6518485555_b425e92bbd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6518485555/)

Walking towards the Lago de Martiánez - a popular spot in Puerto de la Cruz for locals and tourists alike (€3 per person to get in and there are about eight pools and waterfalls as well as spa treatments, an on-site café bar and restaurant as well as ample places merely to sit and sunbathe; more information here (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g187481-d247283/Puerto-De-La-Cruz:Tenerife:Lago.Martianez.html)) - we spotted these two chaps fully enjoying themselves! The attraction borders the Atlantic Ocean and they were drenching themselves on the waves from the ocean:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6521969959_1c0e80f251_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6521969959/)

The outside of one of the Chinese buffet-style restaurants on Avenida de Colón. We looked at going here for lunch as by this point I was starting to get a little peckish. Charges €5.95 per person for a typical all-you-can eat deal but as is common with a lot of Chinese buffets it's fried food and very little else. A corpulent German I spoke to briefly said he enjoyed it though and in other circumstances I may have indulged. This not being what I was after I kindly declined and sauntered on:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6521973793_81fa1d4ac2_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6521973793/)

Walking a little further we were given a flyer by a young man on the street who directed us to a restaurant off the main thoroughfare, a streets away. The restaurant is called the Casa Pablo el Mano and I believe it's on Avenida de Venezuela. Anyway I looked at the menu and as I fancied something relatively light for my early afternoon meal I chose the house salad, which cost around €4.20:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6521977499_6e4bae791f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6521977499/)

And the person I was with had a pizza with ham, mushroom and shrimp on it:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6521980995_a069aeaf74_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6521980995/)

Before I finish discussing this restaurant there is a couple of points I'd like to mention on my experiences for any prospective visitors to Puerto de la Cruz or indeed the wider Canary Islands:

As is common in Canarian tourist resorts the restaurant attempted to overcharge us for items we hadn't drunk/eaten and in this they partially - but not totally - succeeded. For example, they placed bread on the table - unsolicited - and we ate it, thinking it was free (as it would be here in the UK). Cost? €1.60 or so. Since we had in fact eaten it I couldn't do much about this apart from simply chalking it up to experience. However, also on the bill were two bottles Dorada Especial (rather than the less expensive Dorada Originals I had actually drunk) that they tried to charge me for were a different matter (mainly because I wouldn't consider drinking the Especial again as I had several cans left back in the hotel room and I couldn't contemplate finishing them; I personally thought it tasted vile). Fortunately we managed to get this erroneous extra €0.80 difference taken off the total cost after I scrutinised the bill. It wasn't a huge amount by any means and they did remove them when asked but it is more the principle of the matter for me.

Moral of the story? Make sure you check your bill before you pay it.

After leaving the restaurant we continued our stroll around the town centre of Puerto de la Cruz. By this time it was around 15:00 and right in the middle of siesta so, as you might expect, there was a very subdued atmosphere.

Here's a shot of one of the main avenidas in the town centre, the Avenida Familia Betancourt y Molina:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6526429533_9813a9e76b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6526429533/)

And in the heart of the business district a black and white shot of a building at the Calle Valois crossroads:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6526432437_56a8df922d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6526432437/)

Walking up the road we ended up on the Plaza Constitucion where we spotted a tapas bar:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6526437909_190d2feb45_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6526437909/)

And that's it, at least for this part of the day. I'll stick another update on soon hopefully. :)

LeFrunk
07-01-2012, 17:46
Thanks very much , looked at every photo and read all the posts , first class .

balcon
08-01-2012, 00:22
Another good read, and enjoyed looking at the photos ............ thank's beerfan

beerfan
08-01-2012, 19:55
Should we go for another update? Yeah, why not! If nothing else, it might brighten up people's Sunday evenings if they haven't got anything to read. Plus it gives me something to do.

Anyway, shall we carry on? Here we go:Day 7 (Part 1a) - La Orotava

(This is going to be a very photo-heavy posts with not a lot of descriptions. I can't be bothered writing descriptions for the exhibits.)

La Orotava is a town and municipality of Spain, located on the north coast of Tenerife and lies within the Orotava Valley. It is located three miles east of Puerto de la Cruz and around 20 miles south west SSW of the island's capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The population of the municipality as a whole is around 40,000. It is a fairly quiet town that does seem to have more tourism than, say, La Laguna but isn't a major tourist destination in itself. Personally I found it a pleasant place to spend a few hours.

Anyway, on with the photos.

After having the usual (repetitive) breakfast in the morning I relaxed a little bit before heading out in the van to La Orotava. After parking the van in a private car park we took a stroll down to the main part of the town itself.

Here's some photos of the church tower and of the skyline, taken from Calle Calvario:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6545197537_0a88f68332_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6545197537/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6545202143_218425abc5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6545202143/)

A shot of one of the main roads in La Orotava's centre. The roads in La Orotava are often very steep - indeed, much more so than this one:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6555391809_84c68aed5d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6555391809/)

This is the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, one of the main plazas in the town. Over Christmas they were running a special nativity display, telling the story of all the necessary things that they would have needed in that period to survive. The following photos tell that story:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6555478103_be20a0afb9_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6555478103/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6555593625_ed48769ff1_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6555593625/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6555595973_be664cd8cb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6555595973/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6555598715_25ddb61f62_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6555598715/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6555603161_f6829b345f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6555603161/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6555607513_c65edf8d41_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6555607513/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6555610791_03d59fca51_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6555610791/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6556456285_eb7095eff5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6556456285/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7016/6556459427_34d5fd8f1a_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6556459427/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6556474851_0f803816ab_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6556474851/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6556478297_61e0ed5f9d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6556478297/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6560393695_4f874c6e48_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6560393695/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6560398227_f785529456_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6560398227/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6560404335_9efc6a2574_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6560404335/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6560408123_04106eb03b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6560408123/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6560411399_a2202606b8_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6560411399/)

This is looking over to Calle de Tomás Pérez. If you look closely, you can see a local music shop:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6560417127_a94ff37603_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6560417127/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6560421773_d089c2ed1d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6560421773/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/6565607939_fcd96520e4_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565607939/)

Day 7 (Part 1b) - La Orotava

The flags of Spain and Tenerife on the local ayuntamiento (council) building:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6565611817_d8631afb1e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565611817/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6565615957_d1fb4a735b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565615957/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6565618469_9f59d457f1_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565618469/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6565621741_2e3baaccec_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565621741/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6565626047_7a650eeeff_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565626047/)

Representing cheeses:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6565630499_f7309426cb_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565630499/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6565637837_5169596a7f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565637837/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6565834369_b2058af963_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565834369/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6565837517_a1214f1f10_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565837517/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6565840885_7aaa962248_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565840885/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6565844243_6448e1c93c_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565844243/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6565848031_7cbb00a20e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565848031/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6565852401_acfe91d947_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565852401/)

After finishing at the display at the plaza, we took the opportunity to continue our stroll round La Orotava.

Here's the exterior of the town's Correos, taken from down a side street:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6565902119_f89aca32e9_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6565902119/)

Soon afterwards, hunger was starting to reappear so it was time to head somewhere for a quick bite to eat. I chose a local Spanish bar on one of the main streets. Service from the woman was rather grumpy (I think she rather resented serving us) and the tapas was OK. It was a sort of potato egg confection:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6571608735_77c65928da_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6571608735/)

Heading back to the car, I took this shot of the mountains. They often loom large in Tenerife:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6571616885_28e6df331d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6571616885/)

And that's it for this update! Hope you like it!

TenerifeFanatic
08-01-2012, 20:50
Bit late for me to add to this now but I plan to stick the rest of my journey on here in due course. I'm coming back to Tenerife in a few weeks' time anyway. :)Superb thread! Thank you very much for your hard work and photos which rekindle happy memories!:thanx:

celine
09-01-2012, 18:53
thankyou for these lovely photos

beerfan
15-01-2012, 16:07
OK, I'm pretty much coming to the end of my photos of my November 2011 trip to Tenerife. This will be the last major update for this trip although there will be a few more odds and ends posted that I didn't manage to fit in the previous entries. I should probably point out that I'm back on the island once more in just over three weeks time for another seven-day stay there so once I get back I will have hundreds more photos to share for you to enjoy.

Anyway, shall we begin one last time? I think we should.Day 7 (Part 2) - Puerto de la Cruz by Evening and Dinner Buffet Selection at the Interpalace

Walk Down to Puerto de la Cruz by Evening:

After relaxing for a few hours back at the hotel we decided to take a walk down to the town area of Puerto de la Cruz for one last look round. We went the scenic way - i.e. down the steps and along the sea area. Naturally, whilst we were walking I stopped to take a few photos.

This is another shot (from the front this time) of the Apartamentos Bellavista hotel which appears to be fairly well-known in the resort:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6571957431_43201de113_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6571957431/)

And, not far from there and just along the path overlooking the sea, is another view of the Puerto de la Cruz skyline, including some hotels:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6574861701_85a5ff085c_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6574861701/)

Whilst I was walking a little further on down the steps to the town centre I spotted this pro-graffiti bit of vandalism bearing the slogan "GRAFFITY [sic] IS NOT A CRIME". Graffiti itself may not be a crime but vandalism certainly is. Anyway, I did my usual thing and snapped it regardless:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6574866465_90530fd1c6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6574866465/)

Walking further on down the steps on the Camino de las Cabras I spotted this excursions and car rental shop, which also appears to double as a local estate agent too:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6578768197_aa951ef085_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6578768197/)

After that we walked a little further on and right into the epicentre of the resort, ending up on Calle San Telmo, which is where a lot of tourist (and electronics) shops happened to be based as well as a few hotels. Here's a black and white photo of some of the electronics stores open for business:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6578771725_1a85b642fd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6578771725/)

Having made my way to La Maison Belge for one final time I was disappointed to be told that they had to suddenly close for the evening in order to restock (a large shipment of beer had just arrived from Belgium!). It was a bit of a shame on our final night on the island but the lady in charge at the shop redirected us to a Belgian bar called Pequeño Buda which is a five minute walk from La Maison Belge on Calle Iriarte. The bar wasn't open by the time we got there so we decided to have a little walk around and go for a beer somewhere else whilst they opened - I had a glass or two of Dorada at a local Spanish café which ironically happened to have the lowest price of any bar during the entire seven-day stay so it's definitely one to remember and return to next time. Anyway, after further killing time by visiting a textile shop we went to the bar:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6578774273_2effa53247_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6578774273/)

They have about 80 beers on at Pequeño Buda and obviously almost all of these are in bottle so the selection is far less than what is available at La Maison Belge. No gueuze available here either and I found the collection of beers slightly disappointing considering the choice available at La Maison Belge which Pequeño Buda is an offshoot of. I saw it wasn't on the list and I asked the chap who runs the bar and he actually asked me how I could like that stuff. Ah, some people don't have that acquired taste I guess. Anyway, I settled on a bottle of Van Steenberge's Gulden Draak (a 10.5% Belgian dark ale) and sat at one of the table and chairs outside on that balmy November evening. I wasn't keen on the beer at all - way too strong in taste for me and just came across as a bit nasty overall. Unfortunate really as some Belgian beers are considerably stronger than Gulden Draak and they taste absolutely heavenly.

Anyway, here's the beer itself:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6578776673_4d93cc1e5f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6578776673/)

After this we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel in order to get some food:

Dinner Buffet Selection from the Interpalace:

As it was the final evening I decided to take it upon myself to get some proper shots of the hotel dinner buffet and I don't think I made a bad fist of this all in all. You can judge for yourselves what you might think of the food. There was quite a bit more variation at dinner than what is put out at breakfast but the food here is still somewhat repetitive after about three days. The only part I didn't really pay really any attention to was at the hot foods counter but that was largely due to me not being able to set the white balance properly. Perhaps I should have taken my grey card down with me (or maybe I shouldn't be so bloody lazy and I should learn to shoot RAW instead!) for the purpose.

Anyway, without further comment here's the photos I shot at the buffet:

A selection of salads (I'd like to thank the anonymous male diner for posing for me completely unawares):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6583544559_c715b97eac_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6583544559/)

A mixture of mayonnaises and other condiments:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6583548929_6898434602_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6583548929/)

Pork and gherkins:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6583553915_011a7cb178_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6583553915/)

Sweetcorn and pasta salad:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6583559013_4041b71254_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6583559013/)

A chicken (?) pasta salad:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6583569079_d32ebd8db1_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6583569079/)

Another serving bowl filled with yellow cubes that I cannot quite put my finger on (cheese perhaps?):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6583571343_ae92eecdcc_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6583571343/)

A mix of peppers:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6583575021_bd31cee663_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6583575021/)

A selection of jelly and other (non-frozen) desserts:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6588677703_2cab100ab1_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6588677703/)

Each evening the Interpalace puts out a selection of four different ice cream flavours - chocolate, vanilla, mint and something else I can't quite remember now. Here are two of them (the other two tubs were empty, so not a lot of point photographing those):

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6588680427_f0b9db4f39_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6588680427/)

On the last night we were there goat was an option at the buffet. I tried some and I have to say that it was by far and away the best-tasting meat I ever had during the entire week of eating here. Really decent stuff. I like goat anyway so it was a pleasure to have it again, although goat obviously isn't popular with everyone:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7030/6588681885_f252192d7a_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6588681885/)

And a shot of spaghetti, pasta and chickpeas:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6588685397_6825058a56_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6588685397/)

After that we went out for a couple more beers if I remember rightly - we would have drunk in the hotel bar but the prices down there were very expensive which didn't exactly make it an attractive proposition.

And that's it for Day 7. The day of our departure from Tenerife will be a very short entry, so I will combine it with random photos taken from other parts of the trip to make it a little more interesting and to flesh it out a little.

As I say, I'll be back in Tenerife (and Puerto de la Cruz) soon anyway so there will be a sequel to this very thread so if you like what I've posted here, my second trip to Tenerife will be along very similar lines. :)

Until next time (my final part): ¡adiós!

balcon
15-01-2012, 17:35
Really enjoyed the photos Beerfan, look forward to the next selection ......

celine
16-01-2012, 20:12
excellent photos..thankyou for sharing them..(they are such a good quality)

beerfan
05-02-2012, 19:24
Well, I'm due to fly out to Tenerife once more tomorrow morning so I thought I'd best finish up this thread. When I return from my trip, I'll post my photos in a similar fashion to this thread. :)Day 8 - Leaving Tenerife (Tenerife South Airport)

Not really much to see here as there wasn't much to take photos of. The airport departure area is extremely expensive (a can of Coke was cheaper on the plane than in the airport!) so one doesn't necessarily want to spend any money there. I do have three photos to share from this experience, though.

Here's a black and white shot of the airport coffee vending machine:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6589494623_bc92f07874_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6589494623/)

Another black and white shot, this time looking towards the large airport window and view of the planes outside:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6588690113_4e87e23a54_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6588690113/)

And finally the one of being on the tarmac, being ready to board the plane:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6588693931_b542195520_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancashire/6588693931/)

And that's it! Not much more to see really although if you're that interested you might find some bonus photos not seen here knocking around on my photostream.

I'll see you all in about nine days time! :)

balcon
05-02-2012, 19:34
Love the black and white photos
Look forward to seeing you're next great selection after your holiday
Hope you have a great time..