Went to see Shirley and Catherine at their wonderful hotel in London. Sunny enough (although probably not quite warm enough) to have lunch outside. First time we’ve done that on Christmas Day since New Zealand in 2014.
Also drove through London – Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Sq (not necessarily in that order)!
Happy Christmas.
It was great. Drove back what seemed to be close to a monsoon from Gatwick to find the boiler had packed up so no heat or hot water. Welcome home!
Just a few reminders
We drove up and down this road so many times on the way to Tazacorte.
Found a couple of friends
I said we could see Venus
Last morning walk when it’s dry warm and sunny
And if you’re waiting at an airport, why not this one?
On the outdoor terrace, except we had to go back inside ‘cus it got too hot 🥵 . Feels like a lifetime away as I write this on a grey cold morning back home.
Ground to a complete halt. Loving the warmth and the daylight.
Tazacorte is the favourite place for morning coffee and a stroll – it’s flat.
Getting used to the drive. Essentially it’s over the mountain ahead – only 15 minutes but it’s 2000 feet.
Sunset (obviously)
Dinner and another stroll
On a clear day you can see the Xmas decorations in Denmark!
And actually we think we can see Venus – very bright star low down in the west in the early evening.
Ok, so it’s sunny and 70 degrees in mid-December, so I’m guessing that most will think that today wasn’t that bad. And you’re right. But in that context, it was a bit below par.
Headed off to Santa Cruz – the capital. Decent architecture but unfortunately two mammoth cruise ships had just spewed out their (English) cargo. Hence the photos pointing upwards to avoid the crush.
The Lonely Planet guide book described the Casa Goyo as the best restaurant on the island. View from lunch
Yeah – convenient for the airport! And our Spanish isn’t great (i.e. awful to non-existent), so having successfully ordered fish (excellent) and said frites, that clearly meant fried rather than a side of chips, so lunch was fish!
But who cares. Let’s stop at a supermarket on the way home and have a nice dinner at home. Who knew that 6th December is Constitution Day and all shops are shut. That’ll be omelettes then.
But the coast is gorgeous.
Rainbows
Swimming (b****y cold but had done a 5k run)
Listening to the rather incongruous White Christmas in Spanish and it’s about 20 degrees
Food is pretty rubbish. House is fantastic.
Given we set out at sea level, that’s quite a climb – about 7,800 feet in old money. We knew there was a cluster of telescopes on La Palma (including the world’s largest – who knew?) and we knew we were heading north to some viewing points.
Amazing views (and b****y cold with a strong wind)
Stopped for coffee
And had a climb – stunning eh???
Sunset before rain forecast tomorrow
High point – literally (and the coffee was rubbish)
Very very long wait at the roadworks
So enjoyed the view
As we enjoy the sun, the warmth and the daylight, I can see that there may not be any point in updating the blog every day. But we will see if there is anything new to add.
Today, the highlight was probably coffee on the beach – and the coffee wasn’t great!
And it’s seriously hilly around here – and when I say seriously that means getting out of puff walking up and knees hurting walking down. Here are a few views to try and show that:
That’s Tazacorte down there, and I’m standing by a footpath sign that says it’s just over a kilometre – which is essentially vertical as far as I can see. Didn’t attempt it but did see a guy running up.
That’s the view while hanging around outside the local supermarket. It’s a bit of a banana monoculture around here – the plastic is all covering bananas.
Lots more bananas!
And that’s the view from lunch.
So where are we? On the west of the island of La Palma
And if you go west, next stop is Florida.
I showed the view from the terrace at sunset yesterday – here’s the house.
I thought it was 4 separate apartments, but it’s actually all ours, so plenty big enough.
Mooching around all day – found the port town of Tazacorte – not far but there is an enormous mountain in the way, so about a 15 minute drive.
It was mid 20s today which is fantastic and a bit unexpected, so we enjoyed it. And it’s not just the temperature – it’s also light until nearly 7.00 which is a wonderful tonic in the middle of a dark winter.
Hoping to get some winter sun after the trauma of the builders. It was only a bathroom, and only took a couple of weeks, but was still pretty awful. Can’t say we welcomed the 4am alarm call, but it’s a small price to pay. And, of course, at that time of day it will be a dead easy trip to Gatwick – apart from the roadworks and motorway closures that added half an hour …
Then going round in some fairly stressful circles before we found where we’re staying. But enough moaning. Sitting on the terrace when it’s 22 degrees is more than enough.
I suspect more of this for the next few days.
