TENERIFE part 3, ANNIVERSARY

TENERIFE

part 3

ANNIVERSARY

We were on Tenerife the day of our wedding anniversary, January 28th.  We were celebrating 44 years of marriage.  Gloria wasn't feeling well, and Ana was spending the day with a friend.  We decided to have a special day together doing things that the others were not interested in.  We took a beautiful drive to the center of the island where the tallest mountain in Spain is located.  It is a volcano peak that is over 12,000 ft.  We drove through beautiful pines while we could see the ocean below.

The pines started disappearing and desert-like rock formations began.

Finally, we found the lava fields.

The Volcano, El Teide

Interesting stacks someone must have spent a good time constructing.

This kind of reminded me of southern Utah.

The sky tram to the top of El Teide.

This looks like a guy with big lips, a large nose and eyes wearing a top hat.

A little church at the bottom of the volcano.

The landing at the top.  It was a beautiful day with shirt-sleeve
weather below.  But on top,  about 30 degrees.

It looked like the edge of the world.

The round circle is another volcanic crater.  

The walking trail.

This looked like people ready to step off the edge.

Greg had to give it a try.  I was ready to stop where I was.

The dormant crater.

The active crater.

Back at the bottom.

We then went to the darling town of La Orotava. It was charming and fun to see,
 but it was built on steep hills.  It was a rough climb up and down the streets.

The town is famous for its balconies.

The main church.  It was undergoing some major renovation.

The inside of the main church.

An interesting tap for the holy water.

I think there were 6 of these beautiful crystal
chandeliers hanging over the altar.

This little park was in front of the church.

This is a monument to a famous "carpet maker."  For special festivals,
talented artists create carpets of patterned flowers and sand.  I've seen them
 before and they are amazingly beautiful.  They will create them down the streets.

                                                              Beautiful carved balconies.

He was getting a little weary of the hills.

This is the most famous building in town.  It is called
The House of Balconies, and was built in 1632.
 It is now a museum, restaurant, and artisan shop.

This is the inner courtyard.

A sample of the work done here.  Handmade lace is their strong suit.

This is an example of a sand carpet. Really pretty.
All the colored sands are in boxes in the foreground.

I missed the explanation for this.

This interesting fountain looks like the
faucet is getting water out of the sky.

                                            Guanche Indian warrior. The geezer on the right.

I couldn't figure out what this is.

Two more dragon trees.  They must have
 had a lot of dragons on this island in the past.

The smallest church I've seen.

We ended the day with a great dinner at a nice Italian

 restaurant in the beach town of Puerto de la Cruz. It was a great 

anniversary and one to remember.