In the pretty hamlet of La Montañeta the church only has four pews inside the small building; the rest are under a roof but exposed to the elements on three sides.
You can be pretty sure that on cold January mornings you’ll be killed in the rush to get to mass early. But when the temperatures soared into the 40 degrees in May’s intense calima as I explored the hiking trails of the upper reaches of Isla Baja, the shady open air pews of the church of San Francisco de Asis were as close to heaven as they were no doubt intended to be.
In June’s Walkabout you can find out how I coped with the heat and why, having been outpaced by a tortoise, I now have a yearning for carrot cake.
Where on Tenerife, without the aid of hallucinogenics, can you watch an Iguana in a tree house being stroked by a feather duster on the end of a long pole; caterpillars turn to chrysalids and chrysalids give birth to butterflies and a moth the size of a small bi-plane sleeping on the bark of a tree?
Answer: in Mariposario del Drago in Icod de los Vinos.
Gen up on your Malachites and your Monarchs in the June issue of Living Tenerife and then head off to Icod to add ´watching the birth of a butterfly´ to your list of top ten things to do on Tenerife.
Last night I went up to La Laguna University for the City Centre FREE concert which had Echo and the Bunnymen headlining.
Support band ‘The Mistake’ warmed up an audience of around 3,000 already sweating from the 30 plus degrees of calima-induced night air.
Earlier this month the band’s official website had referred to the upcoming venue under the headline ‘Echo and the Sunnymen’ which had made those of us familiar with La Laguna’s normally ‘fresh’ April temperatures smile. And obviously Ian McCulloch had been given the tip off because he took to the stage in a T shirt, a hoodie and a coat.
But last night our knowing smiles melted into the night as La Laguna turned up the heat.
Despite the electric fan placed at his feet, throughout a set which included some new songs as well as trademark favourites like “Killing Moon” and “Lips like Sugar”, Ian McCulloch never even removed his coat and still managed to look cool throughout. Now that’s class.
Next month Jack and his camera lens take us on a breathtaking journey through the narrow streets of La Orotava’s old quarter to witness the creation of Tenerife’s most transient works of art.
Using petals, seeds and coloured sand, the Alfombristas (carpet makers) of La Orotava create vast biblical masterpieces alongside intricately detailed patterns along the streets and in the main Plaza of this stunning Renaissance town, solely for the purpose of having them walked over by the evening’s Corpus Christi procession.
Witness the incredible tapestries of La Orotava and find out why Jack took the rap for the Cuban Revolution in May’s issue of Living Tenerife.
Now call me Mrs Prudish if you must, but if I’m contemplating a spot of public naked sunbathing anywhere other than on a nudist beach, I’m going to opt for a location as far away from the beaten track as I can muster and then I’m going to lie quietly down and not draw attention to myself.
But not everyone it seems, shares my natural reserve.
From the new extreme sport of volcano surfing to naked buttocks amongst the plovers and curlews, Tenerife’s east coast may not make in into any walking guides but it comes up with a few choice surprises in the May issue of Living Tenerife.
Isn’t it just typical? On the day I get a last minute call to head over to the other side of the island and interview the dishy 1987 Wimbledon Singles Champion Pat Cash, I’ve got a spot on my chin and my roots need doing. This is the work of the little vanity imp who goes around teaching vain people a lesson and it seems I always need ‘just one more’ lesson.
Cosmetic crisis notwithstanding, I’ve been over to the Abama Resort in Playa San Juan where they’re holding the Tenerife Senior Cup; a reunion tennis tournament bringing together some of tennis’s best known names. As well as Pat Cash, the tournament has Björn Borg (looking like he’d already had a little too much Tenerife sun), Michael Stich, Albert Costa, Emilio Sánchez Vicario (now one of two resident tennis coaches at the Abama) and Carlos Costa.
The Tenerife Senior Cup takes its first serve at the Abama tomorrow (Thursday 17th April) at 4 pm with the two Costas followed by Pat vs. Emilio.
Björn Borg takes on the winner of the Costas on Friday (18th April) at 4pm followed by Michael Stich vs the winner of the Pat/Emilio match.
The final will take place on Saturday (19th April) at 5.30 pm.
Pat was relaxed, tanned and clearly enjoying his first visit to Tenerife. On the beautiful terrace of the Abama we sat and chatted for half an hour about his career, tennis, music and his family. You can read the full interview in the June issue of Living Tenerife.
That just gives me until Saturday to get my hair done and my complexion back to normal. (Please don’t tell the vanity imp I said that!)
Check out some photos of tennis legends at the Senior Cup tournament in the Abama Hotel
P.S. Tickets are €10 Thursday and Friday and €15 for the final, available from Intersport in Playa de las Americas or from the Abama Hotel, phone 922 126 000 and ask for Guest Relations.
When you grow up in hotels like Grosvenor House and the Waldorf because your father worked there, then your standards are bound to be high.
But Adrian Padina didn’t just walk into his job as Hotel Manager at the 5 star, deluxe Abama Hotel, he started from the bottom, collecting glasses in a holiday camp on the Isle of Wight, and worked his way up.
I wonder how many glasses he would have to collect to be able to afford just one night in the Abama’s Presidential Suite? At €3,000 a night, I doubt that many glasses exist on the Isle of Wight.
Luckily for those of us who aren’t ex or current Presidents of anything, double rooms start from €308; just a couple of month’s worth of glass collecting.
You can read about Adrian’s career and his philosophy for excellence in customer service in the April issue of Living Tenerife.
On Friday 28th March, Chuck Berry played the Palacio Municipal de Deportes in Santa Cruz to a full house which included our Art & Production Director, Jurgen Koch.
Jurgen declared that, despite a few “dodgy guitar moments” it was a good concert and well worth going along, especially to hear the original guitar anthem “Johnny B Goode” live.
Playing for almost an hour and at one point inviting a dozen girls on stage to dance with him, the octogenarian rock n’ roll legend proved that his Ding-a-ling is still in working order, although mercifully it wasn’t on the play list.
It’s true what they say about old rock stars, they never die. They just end up playing Tenerife. I expect to hear of a forthcoming Stones date any day now.
In one of Casino Royale’s heart-stopping moments, 007 reaches under the dashboard of his Aston Martin DBS for the defibrillator that can save his life after he’s been poisoned by a digitalis-spiked cocktail.
Unfortunately, neither the defibrillator nor, even more unfortunately Daniel Craig, come as standard on Aston Martin’s latest release, but the V12 engine, carbon-ceramic brakes and a body almost as sexy as Craig’s, do.
This month Living Tenerife test drives the new Aston Martin DBS and decides whether it’s a sports car or a GT – that’s Gran Turismo, not gin & tonic, which incidentally, should not be the preferred tipple of a DBS driver. Clearly it should be vodka Martini, as you’re unlikely to be shaken, but most definitely stirred.
This month’s special feature has been a stroll in the park…literally.
With watches poised to move to British Summer Time, I’ve been checking out nature’s offerings in what some believe to be the site of the Greek mythological Garden of Hesperides – this beautiful island of Tenerife.
I have, at various times over the past two weeks, found myself doing a passable impression of Alice in a jungle Wonderland amongst the Giant Strelitzias, towering palms and Triffid-like branches of the Australian Banyan Tree in the Botanical Gardens in Puerto de la Cruz; been reduced to a smirking idiot at the antics of ducklings who’ve clearly been raised on cute sandwiches in the beautiful water gardens of Risco Bello and played the endlessly amusing game of ‘trick the waiter’ in the bohemian setting of café Chocolaté in Parque Los Lavaderos in El Sauzal.
Enjoy the sensuousness of spring in my report on the best of Tenerife’s gardens in the April issue of Living Tenerife.