Walking down the Promenade

The sun is still visible behind the thick light brown clouds; the cool air from the sea makes it a pleasant walk. Sun normally sets at 9:30pm, the big open space is full of people, out for fresh air. There are few shoppers too and there are many souvenir shops surrounding the plaza. On weekends there is a big crowd of tourists and locals, watching the street puppet show. Its 6:30pm summer time; I am walking down the street called Martinez in the town of Puerto de la Cruz.

On my right I see a tourist holding two parrots in her hand, the photographer speaks to the parrots giving them some instructions in Spanish The parrots obey and one stretches on her one arm, pretending to sleep, while the other parrot lifts its head giving a peck on her cheek. The photographer is satisfied on striking a deal.

The path is broad and clean, lined with palm trees. There used to be motorway many years ago but now it is renovated and converted into a walking plaza. This strip of promenade has no traffic at all, sea front on one side, with small inlet with stone seats and row of restaurants and other souvenir shops lined on the other side. 

There are some artists who will paint or do caricatures from a live model or just from photographs.

The fish tanks on my right distract me and I walk closer to have a look and I see some tourist having their fish pedicure done in one stall. There are many more such tanks and I am tempted too. But no, it’s my evening walk, some other day, perhaps.

As I walk further, I see a couple dancing. They are dancing on a live music. Many restaurants have spread their furniture outside in the open space where people can sip their coffee or enjoy the Canary Island meal, as well as enjoy the fresh sea air. I sit down and order coffee and enjoy the vocal music that the artist is singing, some old numbers of the eighties. I sit longer to hear some more of this music before I get up to continue my walk.

The end of the path opens to a large beach of black sand. It is actually an artificial beach with sand imported from another island. This is the best place to relax and watch the waves, and the people at the beach and the beautiful view the other side.

There used to be a large water fountain here which use to light up with colorful lights, but today, there is shortage of water, or electricity or recession perhaps.

I sit relaxed on large wooden seats, watching the sun as it sets slowly, coloring the sky to pink, then dark red and finally disappears behind the waves of the sea leaving behind the dark shade of blue..

Tenerife - My holiday home

Flowers grow wildly here, creating a colorful tapestry on the edges of the road; the dividers on the express highway have different shades of green dotted with colorful specks of tiny flowers. One side of the motorway runs parallel to the bluish sea while other side slopes upwards towards the green and brown hills. I have lived in the North of the island of Tenerife for ten years, and during those years all I have dreamt about is to come back to Mumbai, I could never adopt that place, although I cannot deny that it is one of most beautiful cities in the world but still, Mumbai has a special place in my heart and staying in any other part of the world does not hold my fascination. Whenever I had expressed my desire to my guest of moving back to Mumbai, they would always lecture me about my foolishness and implore me to change my mind and live comfortably there forever, but I just couldn’t. I found my peace only when I moved back to Mumbai.

Tenerife is now my holiday home and I visit it whenever I need to relax.

The day I reach the island, I take a walk down the street where my brother owns a store. People are very friendly here and I have known them for many years. Whenever they see me, they come out from their shops to have a friendly chat with me, they try to talk to me in broken English and I in broken Spanish, its fun when some of them will even cross the road from the other side of the road to just plant a peck on my cheeks and a big warm hug, a great feeling! yeah!

This is a small town called Icod de Los Vinos, My brother has a tourist business very close to 1000-years-old tree called ‘Drago Millinario’ (a dragon tree). Just opposite my shop is a plaza which has beautiful plants and trees with the botanical name printed under each tree. There is a small church and also a small cafeteria where they sell cortado, a strong coffee. During my regular walks in this plaza, I am always fascinated by this tree.

While in Mumbai, I suffer the most during the month of May, when not even the AC  can bring me any solace and it is during such moments that I miss Tenerife the most, its’ mild, spring climate with an average temperature of 20degrees centigrade throughout the year. Outside my balcony in Spain, I can see the mount Teide on one side that rises to more than three thousand meters and remains snow-covered for most part of the year and on other side of my house are the grapes and cabbage plantations that slope down gradually towards the ocean. Every evening I watch beautiful sunsets behind my kitchen windows, inbetween my daily chores of cooking and washing dishes.

Tenerife is the city of siestas and fiestas. Our shop opens at 9am then closes for snooze and lunch from 1pm to 5pm and then work a bit more, the day is done by 8pm. This sleepy town comes alive only during festivals which occur throughout the year. Spanish people just need a reason to celebrate, to dress up in their traditional clothes, carry their musical instruments, sing their folk song and dance till late nights.

Tenerife has more than 30 different festivals with Carnivals being the biggest event. The streets come alive during carnival season which lasts for more than 20 days, moving from one pueblo to another within the island. There are parades on the streets, with children and adults, all in festive mood enjoying during the selection of carnival queen in every suburb, drinking, dancing and partying at every lane. Another big festival that we all look forward to is Reye, when people go crazy shopping, and children are made to believe that three wise men had dropped their gifts for them on their way to bless baby Jesus. It fall on 5^th of January and the business that we do on these days can cover our yearly expenses. Besides these there are many more festivals like Corpus Christi, when the streets are decorated with colorful sands and flowers creating a carpets on the road, San Andres, when every slope is occupied with youngsters sliding down on wooden planks, ´Dia de Candelaria´ when pilgrims all over Tenerife walk or trek to a shrine of Virgin Mary at Candelaria and many more festivals celebrated in different suburbs of the city. Cristo de calvario is the festival celebrated in my pueblo.

When in Tenerife, I would enjoy the most when my family would visit me. Many evenings we would walk down Puerto de la Cruz, near the portside and have hot chocolate, Sometimes I would take them to Santa Cruz de Tenerife for shopping and sight seeing and sometimes to South of Tenerife to enjoy the marine sports and night life.

There are many places of interest where one can enjoy with family and friends all day. Many holidays, we would get together in a bigger group and spend all day at the beach or at the park.

Yes, we did have fun and life was good. But then I wasn’t born there, so for me Tenerife will always be a holiday home.

How to get there:


Spain’s national airlines ‘IBERIA’ have regular services to Tenerife. Charter services are also available, any reputed agent can advice you. There are two airports in Tenerife. ‘Los Rodeos in the North and ‘Reina Sophia’ in the south of the island. Frequent buses ply from airport to different parts of the island. Tenerife is also linked to the other six Canary Islands by jetfoil services.

Evening Walk by Puerto de la Cruz

The evening stroll from Playa Martinez to Lago ( in Puerto De La Cruz ) makes an interesting walk. The streets are even tiled and well-lit path; it is a no traffic zone, it is laced with waterfront on one side and rows of shops and restaurants on other side.This place is a walker’s paradise Puerto De La Cruz is the interesting place in the north of this island. The climate in Puerto de la Cruz is pleasant throughout the year and is flooded with tourist all day long. In the mornings, you will see them bathing at the beach or at Logo (which is the group of swimming pools) and evenings, you will see them jay walking, enjoying the sea breeze. There are lots of activities in this area, even during late hours when the restaurants host live musical shows that are not only entertaining their customers but also to people out on the streets. The restaurants have chairs and tables spread out on the streets. I was tired of walking so I sat and enjoyed sipping coffee and the cool sea breeze and watched the continuous stream of tourist walking at easy pace, It was interesting to stop by to watch the street performers or getting the picture painted by those street painters.

Walking down the streets in Puerto de la Cruz

This week end I decided to pass my week-end with my niece at Puerto de la Cruz, which is on the north of the island about 20 minutes away from Buen Paso where I am staying. Going to Puerto de la Cruz and sitting indoors is not a good idea. So even though I am still afraid to walk freely with a broken arm, my niece insisted that we go for a short walk down the street. Puerto de la Cruz is bustling with activity. There are people everywhere. Narrow streets of the Old Town, packed with colonial architecture, make walking a safer bet than driving. The city is packed with tourist during this month of August. .There are cafes and restaurants in every street that has no traffic or walking plazas. The stores display their article outside the shops and attract the passer-by. This is a town of two halves. To the west of Plaza del Charco, whitewashed houses and cobbled lanes reflect the serenity of years gone by. Whilst to the east, the excited chatter of holidaymakers reverberates around the labyrinth of cafés and restaurants. Just a short walk in any direction, and I am surrounded by quaint stores that carry local handicrafts, cafes and bars, produce stores (the bananas are absolutely delicious), fantastic wine stores and the old harbor. San Telmo is a neighbourhood that bridges old Puerto to new Puerto. That "bridge", Paseo San Telmo, is dense with tourists, stores, gelato shops, and restaurants. The hotel lined streets and avenues behind the walkway reach out like arms, encouraging travellers to rest. We walked, rested for coffee and pastries, walked again, stopped for hamburgers and sandwiches, walked the bridge through San Thelmo, resting a while, watching the world pass by. The short evening walk lasted four hours actually and was not tiring at all.