Groceries were within walking distance so we picked up some essentials and sojourned to our balcony to watch the first sunset.... This is the view from our rooftop patio.
Day 1, absolutely beautiful. The wind stayed up for most of the week so we were always deceptively cool. Unfortunately this resulted some severe and uneven burns as the week progressed.
We stayed in a town called El Medano. It's definitely a tourist town but it wasn't too busy while we were there, sometimes it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
This is the town, and just to the left of this photo is many meters of beach.
Some of our fellow tourists.
The first couple days, the beaches were sunny but looking up toward the volcano was reminiscent of Mordor. It was locked in cloud and till our second last day!
Checking out the tide pools. We saw some HUGE crabs and lizards and fish. It was good hunting.
This is where the lizards roamed. The sand was HOT. Rachel didn't put on sandals during her first wander here and burnt her feets. I didn't actually catch any lizards. Probably for the best.
A couple days in we decided to take the beautiful drive up to the volcano. It took us a while to finally get on the right roads ( the GPS we rented was moderately retarded).
So the south side of the island is apparently the "desert", whereas the north side of the island is the lush tropical side.
The crew.
We finally surfaced through the clouds and found a) that it was bloody freezing, which i should have known, and b) mars on earth. This is the highway to hell....
A better picture of highway to hell.
Volcano battle.
Rachel among the brush.
The volcano's name is El Teide and is the highest elevation in Spain. It is counted among the 12 Treasures of Spain and was also made a UNESCO world heritage site.
Heaven and earth?
Ah church on a mountain.
Picnic on a volcano. Check!
This was a beautiful conical flower that seemed to only flourish on top of the volcano.
Purty.
This is mars.
Road to nowhere.
This is the beginning of black sand beach photo shoot.
Our second big drive day we headed up to the northeast corner of the island where the mountains and greenery reminded me of what movies have shown me of some Chinese mountains. The winding road that brought us swirling into the clouds was enough to make me want to expel certain major organs. The ride was absolutely stunning. This was part of the afore mentioned road.
Looking north at the top of the ascension.
crew number 2.
Rocky beaches on the northeast coast.
Kite surfing and windsurfing on our local beach. A flock of gangly uncoordinated butterflies.
A relaxing week. Things i aquired: more sand in my ears than ever before. A red ass. A level of relaxation as yet unheard of this year. Ok not really but it was lovely!
