I just got back from the Canary Islands. Feel free to be a little jealous. We had a long weekend due to some particularly notable Saints and so two friends, Monica and Laura, and I left rainy Madrid on Friday morning after sleeping on the chilly, uncarpeted airport floor. Our flight was at 6:15 a.m. and the metro doesn't re-open until 6 a.m. each morning so as an alternative to paying for a taxi in the middle of the night, we decided to hop the last metro at 1:30 and wait it out in the airport. That turned out to be quite an unoriginal idea, as the check-in terminal was already chock full of half-sleeping, penny-pinching travelers wrapped in overcoats and sweatshirts to keep warm. So full, in fact, that there weren't even any good wall spots left; we ended up having to find a nice support beam to wrap ourselves around!
Once in the Canarys, all thoughts of peacoats and scarves ceased to exist as we changed into flip-flops and short sleeves. We rented a car, a Renault Clio, and as I was the only one who knew how to drive a manual shift, I got to drive all weekend long! That actually turned out to be quite a feat, given the steep declivity of some of the roads I had to maneuver us up. For reference the island where we stayed, Tenerife, goes from sea level to over 12,000 feet (at the volcano Teide, the highest altitude in Spain) in only 794 square miles of surface area. Needless to say, I may have burned rubber on more than one occasion.
On our first day we drove northeast from the South airport along the brim of the island, stopping off in various beach towns to see the sights, walk along the volcanic sand beaches, stick our feet in the ocean and eat some local food. We made it to our accomodations in the north near La Orotova around 4 or 5 p.m. Our hostel offered spectacular views of the ocean and the Teide along with the smells of horse manure and the sounds of a rooster's crows. We laughed at the fact that our beds were actually above horse stables (with live horses in them) and remembered the disclaimer on the website that actually read, "Abstain persons that dont like the animals and the nature." Our host Manolo, quite the lively fellow, was great at offering us all kinds of information that was usually about 70% correct. We spent about an hour wandering around looking for a restaurant he recommended that night when we finally gave up and ate at a basement joint offering a little of everything. He was kind and his intentions were good so we called it even after I destroyed him at pool.
On day 2 we went up to see the Teide, where the weather was sunny and hot while it was cloudy that day in the low lands. We were well above the clouds and from the top it just looked like there was a white cloud floor. I don't know the last time that the Teide erupted, but there were black volcanic rocks everywhere we looked. This island boasts all kinds of ecosystems- in the south, the air was dry and the landscape desert. In the north everything was green and lush with lots of flowers. As we climbed in elevation there were pine trees and then at the top we reached the lunar-like landscape of volcano land. On our way down from Teide we stopped off at a restaurant and had a great meal of fresh fish, patatas arrugadas or wrinkly potatoes, and salad. The wrinkly potatoes are a Canary classic and are soaked in water with sea salt, which gives them their wrinkly look, and then eventually boiled.
Day 3 was spent mainly at the beach. We went one of the few beaches on the island without volcanic sand, Las Teresitas. The reason for its absence, however, is not because volcanic eruptions somehow magically missed this little aclove, but because the sand was imported from Africa! So for a short time this weekend I was on the sands of Africa- HA! On the way to the beach we drove through the northeasternmost point of the island which gave us amazing views of the ocean in all directions. It was just splendid.
Sadly, yesterday, we had to return our beloved little Clio and head back to Madrid. The flight was uneventful (thankfully) and we made it home in time for lunch. Back to school tomorrow for a two-day workweek and then three-day weekend again. ¡Olé!
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