Tenerife forever!

Hi everyone! January in Tenerife, the thermometer reads 22° while you know there's snow back home! Well, I don't know if you're used to spending winter holidays in the warm, we certainly aren't unfortunately, and for anyone like me who is crazy about sun and beach, doing it is wonderful, an excessive delight!! Our trip is completely do-it-yourself, we did everything online: the booking for a week's parking at Bologna airport, the Ryanair flight, the apartment, the rental car and the excursions in Tenerife. For us it was a spectacular holiday, we had six days of sun out of seven, the ideal way to break up the long, sad Modena winter, especially if you don't have much money to go, say, to the Maldives and don't feel like facing those 10-12 hours of flight (only 4 hours of flight to the Canaries).

And I'll tell you more: the climate of the Canaries is stunning, they are the islands of eternal spring; what sun-lover wouldn't feel like living there all year round?? We chose to stay in Costa del Silencio because it's a quiet area and hasn't been touched too much by the wild construction that in our opinion has wrecked the coast, for example at Los Cristianos, Las Américas and unfortunately in quite a few other areas of the island. We like to be in peace, enjoying nature, the sun, the beach and the view; gigantic buildings looming over you on the beach ruin the atmosphere a little too much.. We found a very nice, well-kept little apartment, perfectly matching the photos we had seen from home. As soon as we got home we threw our bags here and there, a quick trip to the bathroom and, without even having lunch, we went out in search of a beach.

Which we promptly found, though rocky, no sand, but such was our longing for sun and sea that we found the rocks we lay on very comfortable too..... ah what a lovely feeling, the sun on your skin! Then at a certain point, though, hunger got the upper hand, we got up and headed towards a small trattoria I had noticed while going towards the sea and which appealed to me a lot: LA TABERNA DEL POLLO. My instinct wasn't wrong: besides being a very welcoming typical place, both for the setting and for the people who work there, you eat divinely at very reasonable prices! It became an unmissable stop for us, we went there almost every evening, and we couldn't wait to sit at our table and let our taste buds be pampered by their exquisite dishes.

We recommend the roast chicken and the “La Taberna” grill, and even though it isn't a typical Canarian dish, they also make a paella that's far too good and generous! At this point, the next day, we had a huge craving for beach, fine sand and of course sea, and so we chose one of the most beautiful and largest beaches in Tenerife, one that wasn't overlooked by big buildings, hotels and resorts: LAS TERESITAS, in the north of the island, you find it just after passing the capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Although I'm always and only for what is natural, and this beach is “fake”, I must admit it turned out really well: yes, in the sense that in nature it was much smaller and had black sand, whereas now, after the enlargement work, with tonnes of golden Sahara sand shovelled in and quite a few brand-new palm trees sprouting from the sand, the result is remarkable! And you also find calm, quiet waters because, while they were at it, they also built an underwater barrier to protect the beach from erosion. Recommended! One day we decided to spend at PUERTO DE LA CRUZ, combining a visit to the town with the pool.

Yes indeed, a sea obsessive like me, going to a pool for a day! But here, as in many other places in Tenerife, there are pools with salt water from the ocean (nicely cool!), which thus combine the natural world of the ocean with the comforts of swimming pools, and this time too, faced with something artificial, I can only confess that it's really worth going for a day! The “Lago Martiánez” pools in Puerto de la Cruz are among the most beautiful and famous on the island.

The ocean waters crash at various points against the outer part of the structure, creating truly spectacular sprays! Be careful not to stand too close to the edges of this area if you don't want a lovely ice-cold ocean-water shower! Yet there are some daredevils who swim there! As for the town, I want to skip over the gigantic buildings that disfigure the outskirts and prefer to focus on those in the old part: some are truly splendid, with magnificent wooden balconies. In short, PUERTO DE LA CRUZ is, in my opinion, an obligatory stop if you're on the island. Another day in Tenerife was drawing to a close and we were preparing to enjoy our dinner at La Taberna del Pollo! We then tried to spend a day at LOS GIGANTES, a very famous tourist resort, above all for the spectacular gigantic cliff, precisely Los Gigantes, that runs along the town's beach. This time it didn't go too well..

We set off as usual in the morning from Costa del Silencio. Meanwhile, the south-west coast has been completely disfigured by the wildest and most unscrupulous construction you can imagine; we passed the monsters of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Américas, and the view seemed a bit depressing to us. And then, when we finally arrived at Los Gigantes (there's crazy chaos in this little town, traffic galore), we found the access to the beach closed; yes, you heard right, the beach was walled off, there was work in progress and we couldn't even see it from a distance! Deeply disappointed both by the journey and by the destination reached, we turned back and consoled ourselves with a bit of sun on the beach next to our house, at Las Galletas.

And of course with the delicious dinner at La Taberna;) Here's another important stop to which we devoted the whole day: absolute relaxation at PLAYA GRANDE in Poris de Abona. We deserved a day like that after the chaos of the day before! The beach is very beautiful and quiet and, if you feel like a little walk, a bit further on you'll find a rocky area with incredibly green water! Highly recommended beach! The second time we went to Las Teresitas we stayed only a few hours because we had planned to go in the afternoon to visit LA LAGUNA, the most beautiful town on the island, protected by Unesco as a World Heritage Site. Its buildings are stupendous, and the wooden windows irresistible; I would have photographed them ALL! If you're on the island you absolutely must devote at least a couple of hours to it. Man does not live by sea alone....

And then we allowed ourselves a break from the Taberna rule: we went to eat fish at EL PRIX, a fishermen's village perched on the hill. On the main street there are various bar-restaurants; at first glance they don't make a great impression, especially the one we chose, the last one, GONZALO, but in reality, if you overlook the appearance, in these places you eat divinely well, wonderful fresh fish. And at reasonable prices. When I look again at the inevitable photos taken of the “chipirones” and the fish with “papas arrugadas”, I feel as if I can still smell them.. I'd like to tell you many more things but I fear I don't have enough space here, so I invite you to our website:

..and happy travels to everyone!