Speaking Spanglish

We were just admiring the magnificent view of Mount Teide from the putting green outside our gate this morning when José and Glenn came wandering past. There followed a short conversation during which each showed due deference to the other’s native tongue.  So Glenn, Jack and I spoke in Spanish and José answered in English.
It [...]

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From Tie-dye to Black Leather – Saturday Night in Tenerife

It’s a weird thing about Los Silos. Venture there during the day and you’ll find a sleepy, picturesque village with an Art Nouveau bandstand, a church that looks like it’s constructed out of icing sugar and egg whites; and beautifully restored traditional architecture. But go there for one of its fiestas and you’ll find yourself [...]

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Tenerife Dreams

“Sweet dreams are made of this.
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the World and the seven seas;
Everybody’s looking for something.”

If you’re thinking of moving to Tenerife, ask yourself this; “What am I looking for?”
We were invited to a barbeque last weekend, in an exquisite contemporary villa in the south of the island. It was a sumptuous [...]

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Driving on Tenerife – it’s better than sex

A new survey conducted in May by Confused.com has come up with some rather surprising statistics for what Brits get up to in their cars. Apparently, of the 2000 motorists surveyed, 47% of Southwest drivers admitted to having sex in their car, hotly pursued by the South East (44%) and Scotland (43%).
It’s not entirely clear [...]

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Helicopter Crashes into the Harbour Car Park in Puerto de la Cruz

Yesterday a helicopter lost control and plummeted into the tarmac of Puerto’s harbour side car park scattering pieces of shattered blades during the air display which marks the end of the July Fiestas.
Thankfully, it was only a model copter and the only injury was to the pride of the pilot who had been doing a [...]

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The Sardinada-or Life on Mars with Sardines

To queue or not to queue, that is the question.
It was around the hour of 9pm and a few dozen bodies had already begun to form a line from the ticket man at the top of the steps on San Telmo to the long bar backed by rows of red hot barbecues laden with smoking [...]

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The art of Zen healing, or, “Darling, do you mind of I stand on another man’s buttock?”

I need someone to stand on my thigh for me,” said Jésus.
It’s not a request you hear that often.
Jack, Jo and I looked at each other. No-one said anything.
It was approaching midnight on the dying embers of my birthday and the three of us were sitting on the back terrace after a very pleasant evening [...]

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Tenerife Goes Native Across the Pond

Last week on our Going Native in Tenerife blog we had a virtual house guest and he was such a success on Going Native that we thought we’d invite him over to Real Tenerife for a quick sojourn. Mike was the sort of guest who’s a real pleasure to have; he ate whatever we were [...]

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Corpus Christi Flower Carpets

Some aromas just make you smile.
For me it’s the scent of hot pine needles which remind me of hiking through sun dappled forests; freshly mown grass which conjures up camping trips to Cornwall, the Lake District and Wales; candyfloss and toffee apples which transport me back to childhood fairgrounds and …toasted grass seeds. No, not [...]

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Lost in Translation

Last week Jack and I visited ExpoSaldo in Santa Cruz; a huge annual market of stock clearance items where you can grab a bargain in anything from tights to Toyota Land Cruisers and everything in between.
It was very hot and a bit breezy, which is about par for the course in Santa Cruz, and it [...]

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