Postcard from Tenerife - 3

Tenerife is an island, there are many beautiful beaches around coastal areas where one can spend hours. The restaurants along the coastal areas sell the best fresh fish and it’s a great way to spend a day with family and friends.

But one has to be careful during swimming in these waters because not all the beaches are safe to swim. I have heard of many stories about people being swept away by wild waves. Those are the people who are not careful about the precausions one has to take and are willing to take risk in such water.

If you are in Tenerife, It is important to identify the safety of the beaches by the color of flag that you see at every beach. Different beaches display different colored flags. It is important to understand their significations by their colors before taking a plunge.

They are red, green, yellow and blue. 

The beach with blue flag is a five star beach. It is clean, has all the safety precautions, has active life-guards, has instant first aid services, restaurants, clean toilets, sea beds and all the facilities to enjoy the day at the beach.

When you see a green flag, it indicates that it is safe to swim. 

Yellow flag indicates that you have to make your own decision and swim at your own risk. All the safety precaution might not be available and you are in charge of making your own decisions.

But when you see the red flag, don’t even bother changing into swim suit.

Postcard from Tenerife - 2

Icod de Los Vinos is the quiet town where I have lived for many years, it is in the north of an island, far away from the city. A walk down the main road is quite pleasant with coffee shops dominating the street. Many people come here from different parts of the island mainly for shoe shopping and for typical Canaria cuisine. The lane is narrow, one-way street with foot path separating the cobbled motorway by only a different smooth tile, there is no elevation, no step, it's a very comfortable walk, with plants and benches, at regular intervals, all the way.

The streets become alive at 9am. Every shop owner takes the responsibility of cleaning the area around his shop and that includes sweeping the foot-path outside his store too.

The cafeteria along the path, have their chairs spread on the foot paths. Parents, who leave their children to the school, come for a cup of coffee and a little chit-chat with their friends before they can get back to their routine work. 

All the stores are closed during lunch hour from 1pm to 5pm, it’s the siesta time, people have their hearty lunch and settle down to watch their favorite TV soap or watch a game of football. Market becomes alive again from 5pm to 8pm.

All shops close by 8pm, the locals will either head towards the night clubs, social groups, casinos or go for long walks along the coastal areas or simply settle down to their quiet life in pajama to watch the TV programs till their eyes droop off to sleep.

Postcard from Tenerife - 1

I moved to Mumbai from Tenerife when I realized that there is no other place like Mumbai. I love Mumbai because it offers me independence and freedom to live my life on my own terms. But I do visit my brother regularly and each time I go I see the city with new perspective.

I shall start with Mount Teide, which I can see from my balcony. This is brown during the year but dressed in white during winter. The best sight is during sunset, when Teide is coated with red cloak of red sunrays against the blue cloudless sky

Mount Teide, a volcano at the height of 3718 meters (12,198feet), it is the highest summit in Canary Islands and a largest volcano in the world. It remains active and its recent eruption occurred in 1909, destroying the surrounding villages of my town. This volcano is surrounded by National park with an area of 73 square miles. It was declared as the world’s heritage site (by UNESCO) on June29, 2007. In winter it makes a beautiful sight when dressed like a widow in white..

Sagrada Familia - An Architectural Beauty

The first time I saw Sagrada Familia, I was stunned by its beauty. Late evening, it was my first day at Barcelona and my BIL and my cousin took me for a drive to show me few monuments around the city. Even in the dark, I could not help gaping at this artistic architecture. My BIL promised to bring me back the next day.

Sagrada Familia is the Roman catholic church designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. It looked incomplete and there was some construction still going on although it is the world heritage site, BIL informs me that the construction has been going on since many years, since its commencement in 1882 and it will be completed in 2026, the centennial year of Antoni Gaudi’s death.

The present design is based on restructured versions of lost plans as well as modern adaptations. In the 20^th century the stones were carved by hand but the current technology allows the stones to be shaped by milling machine. You can see the contrast in the type of material that is used and the color of the stones.

We made one complete round around the church, it was late evening, so we waited for light to brighten up the church and give it 3D effect.

The interior is complete with light seeping in through stained glass windows and artistic carved high pillars.

Worth a visit.

An evening at Rambla Walking Plaza

It is the pleasant evening, there is a soft breeze and the sun is warm and golden. I am walking down the Rambla walking plaza for a leisure walk with my cousin. The first thing that attracts me is this woman dressed in gold, from head to toe, standing on a golden box with her golden wings spread out, looking like some sculpted fairy from outer space. I wouldn't have noticed her if she hadn't moved. While she stood still in the stiff golden garment, her head moved slowly, while her hands moved from her sides making a smooth curve in the air, till they came together in front, near her chest and joined in a greeting.  

There were many more street performers on this street. It must take a great skill to be able to stand still for a long time, without moving a limb and having a controlled movement, staring into empty space appearing to be in a pensive mood. What must be on their mind while they stand still? Will they be thinking about what dinner they will cook when they reach home? Whom did they meet? What did they chat? Are they happy people? or they have too much of a complicated life?. What if some bird sat on their head and poo, thinking it is a statue? Aha, here they have advantage of shooing the bird. Otherwise they stand still, not speaking a word, just staring at empty space for hours. How boring it must be? Is this better than holding 9 to 5 job?

Little further, I saw another performer who was still painting his body with oils. This is the risk they take of using oil paint on their skin. Does it cause rash? It must an effort to wash off the paint at the end of the day. He looks into the mirror and  paints around his eyes, working on every stroke to get the right expressions.

There is creativity in the design of their costume, in the colors they use, it might resemble some science fiction character or a known personality from a hollywood film.

Many people, (mainly tourists) stop by to click a picture, paying the artist for a pose. "I was there with this artists on the streets at Barcelona" will be their caption when these tourist will update their Facebook status. Many of their friends will 'Like' and some may even 'Comment'

We passed many such street performers as we walked down the plaza, admiring their creativity and their discipline in standing still as statue.

Further down the street are another set of artists who paint beautiful designs and caricatures on their canvas, some paint, making strokes with a great ease, creating designs in seconds. I am awed by such intricate designs which I know, it would take me hours to create such designs. 

There was a wax museum in this street too, wherein I had just met Picasso. He was such a great artist that he was frozen in wax for eternity. 

Lucky are those artists whose art-work lives for hundred years after they are gone but here, there are some who struggle and have a humble beginning……not sure how long they can carry on…..

The street is also dotted with artistic water fountain in bronze, placed at regular intervals that had clean drinking water, I know it was clean because I saw many people stop by to take a sip

It was an interesting walk. On the either side of the street were buildings with beautiful architecture and a typical grill-iron balconies. 

There are many bars along this path too, where I see people enjoy the Spanish cuisine and drink coffee or soft drinks or just relax and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the street. The street is crowded with hundreds of people walking at their own pace as if in a carnival parade.

After a long walk down the Rambla walking plaza for more three hours, We look around for some place to sit. We find the heavy iron chairs, all in row, but all are occupied. The tiredness shows in my eyes as I look at the people comfortably seated, do they see my tiredness? Should I ask somebody to get up and let me sit? I decide against it because they look too comfortable and are very relaxed. 

I walk a bit further, in a distance I see someone vacant the chair, I speed up my pace to occupy the chair before somebody else grabs it, (I am reminded of the musical chairs that i played during social events and my cunningness in grabbing the seat), soon one more seat is vacant next to me and my sas too sits next to me. For next one hour, we sit, people watching, catching up on our chat and enjoying the cool breeze that sweeps over the city of Barcelona.