Sun, Sand, and Speedos

This weekend Luke and I traveled to Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. I was very much looking forward to the sun and sand and the tagline of "The Land of Eternal Spring." Tenerife is located off of the western coast of Africa. I was told you could drive around the island in an hour-hour and half. It boasts of two climates. The north is mainly mountainous and rains a lot during the year. In the winter it's not unusual to have snow. The southern part is where most of the beaches and resorts are. It plays around the 65-70 degree range in the winter.

So, off we go at 4:30 am to catch our flight. We arrive and the weather is brilliant (key vocab for some of our British friends). You can't really beat 65 degree weather when you've been living in 30 degrees. It's like a late spring/early summer morning where you can feel a tinge of humidity but it's still refreshing. A slight breeze. We arrive to the hotel (boasts as a resort) that we only paid 30 euros a night for and go straight to see the new pad. Oak closets, newly refurbished bathroom, flatscreen tv, and....where's the bed? Apparently,all our "studio" suite has was a pull out couch/bed. No worries. We are on an island and it's beautiful. That morning we enjoyed a 3 euro full English breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, and tomatoes).

Friday was entertaining at the very least. We discovered that we were the youngest (not counting grandchildren) people on the beach (dare I say island). I think Tenerife becomes a retirement community during the winter where lots of British and other Northern Europeans come to escape the cold. This vacation was pretty much a study in geriatrics with lots of these questions finding answers: What do you wear for sandals when you are older? How old is too old when wearing a bikini? (no limit) Does "if you've got it, flaunt it" refer to wearing speedos? How many people can you see wearing socks with sandals in one day? and Is that lady wearing a swimsuit top? (no). People watching couldn't have been better.

We bummed around Friday and just took in the sites. Saturday morning it rained. Then it rained at lunchtime, and then again during the afternoon. No tanning for us, which I 'spose was good for me as I would've certainly come back with a burn instead of a tan. We watched a lot of Spanish t.v. and read books. Not your typical island adventure but fun to relax in a different environment. We topped off the day with a dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Our appetizer: Chicken Nachos. What appeared: 4 (yes, f-o-u-r) normal-sized tortilla chips with a little piece of chx and some cheese on them. 5 euros. Where else can one tortilla chip cost you over a euro. Although that was mind-blowing, we had some good fajitas and called it a night.

Here we are, back in Madrid and ready to start the week. Hope everyone is well and had a restfull weekend.

Blessings,
Katie