April 2nd, 2023 Day 89 of 128

Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Good morning from Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It is a new country, Spain, a new climate, about 75 degrees, and a new and welcomed sense of security as we pull into a new port. Of course we are always aware of our surroundings and others around us, but I do feel like a weight has been lifted. We started our morning off rough. We didn’t get much sleep after last nights festivities and I have a bit of a headache this morning. (And it has wine written all over it). Also somehow our phones self changed the time last night so we woke up later then we had hoped to cause the alarm went off an hour later then we had planned.  We grabbed a quick bite from the Neptune lounge and ate it in the Main stage while we awaited our number to be called for our excursion.  A little bit about the Canary Islands. They all have a rare Micronesian climate that is controlled by the trade winds that usually blow from the North. There are varied microclimates throughout Tenerife alone that changes between northern and southern Tenerife. You can experience all four seasons in a 2.5 hour drive. They have no hurricanes on the Canary Islands. But due to the climate here and the and mountain ranges that form the island, the Canary Islands actually create them and from here they hear to the Caribbean.  There are other islands in the distance but we were unable to see them due to the Calima which carries the fine particles of sand from the Sahara desert here to the islands. This is a phenomenon we experience the other evening and I didn’t even know it existed till now. The desert is about 90 miles from where we are now and the sand has been known to cover the entire town with a light dusting periodically. Our first stop was the pyramids. They are actually a giant macro calendar where the sunset is aligned perfectly during the summer solstice and the sunrise is in perfect alignment during the winter solstice. There are legends as to how they came to be here and we were told all the possibilities and then we were left to make a decision for ourselves. There was a lovely cafe in the property and Megan and I had a recommended leche leche coffee drink. It was so delightful.  Next, we took a drive to Candelaria to visit the Basilica there.  They are known for their black Madonna. Every year on Augusts 15th, Dia de La Candelaria, the statue is carried through town in a procession to the fishing dock where she sails around the bay before returning to the dock and then carried back to the Basilica here. It was Palm Sunday today but the services had ended before our arrival. The church and altar was decorated beautifully for the Holy Week ahead. We had some free time after to walk through town. Megan had an ice cream and bought some Oreos. We both purchased some wide legged pants, they actually look like skirts. We will be visiting some churches in our upcoming ports and there is a dress code that says we can not show bare shoulders, mid drifts or knees. We only have shorts and jeans with us. So these will be cool and can be worn alone of thrown over our shorts. We drove through the downtown area on our way back to the ship and some of our highlights were the Bull Fighting Stadium, which is no longer used and anticipated to be torn down soon. Beautiful blooming Orchid trees, a statue called the Fallen Angel and the theater building (that reminded me of the Sydney Opera House). We were back to the ship by 1:00pm. There were some shops at the pier but we had already grabbed our magnet and our keychain so we opted not to go back out. I changed my evening massage appointment to this afternoon and enjoyed some time pampering my body. Megan went and played Volleyball.  We had dinner in the main dinning room this evening. We saw a change in the menus as promised and there were some new items and the menu set up is now reminiscent to how it was on the previous world cruise. It was comforting to see it back. Due to the time change after dinner the sun was still quite bright in the sky so Megan and I put on our swimsuits and went for a swim and then a soak in the hot tub. Then it was home to shower and get ready for bed this evening. I am pooped after our late evening last night and our lovely day today. I absolutely loved this island. I had been reading about other people’s vacation here for years. It is a regular vacation destination for Europeans especially from the UK. I can most definitely understand why. I would come back here for an extended stay in a heartbeat.  Enjoy thumbing through all my photos from today. Hugs!!