The Beautiful Island

My well rehearsed apology for not being able to speak a language turned up trumps yet again, but not in Spanish as you may think? I’m no Inspector Clouseau, but if I was, I may have detected the early signs? 

Three guys were taking their seats at an outside table of the restaurant adjoining my apartment block, two duly sat, whilst the third stepped away to remove his top and reveal a perfectly bronzed and honed torso. Why is it that it’s only blokes that seem to do this to me, maybe I’m giving off the wrong vibes? Still, it’s nice to know that at 65 I still ‘have it’! We exchanged pleasantries, used the universal term ‘moto’, whereupon they invited me over for drinks.

It was obvious that these were the three motorcyclists I had overtaken ten miles previously, and being on Spanish plates I made the obvious, and yet again wrong assumption, that they were of Iberian origin. But Fabio, Luca and Giuseppe were of course Italian, living and working across in Tenerife, so once I’d slipped into something a little more comfortable, we had some beers together. The usual motorcycle craic followed with some useful tips coming from them on food specialities and where to eat in Tenerife. As I had another social engagement looming, I thanked them for my beer, which they insisted on paying for, and after they told me to look them up when in Tenerife, I bid them fond farewells.

To keep you in the loop, I depart this island on Wednesday afternoon for seven nights in Puerto de la Cruz, followed by four in Santa Cruz, before my ferry back to mainland Spain on 3rd April.

Big ride around the little island

Today had all the makings of what I was hoping for. The forecast was suggesting it would be clear so I hit the road at 8.30am. That turned out to be a little early, good in one sense, not so good in another. Good in the way that the few tourists (comparatively speaking) on this island, were still in bed, so it meant I could stop the bike pretty much wherever I wanted to get a decent photo without fear of causing a traffic incident. Not so good in that at 9am I was riding in 9c in the cloud yet again between 3,500 and 4,500 feet, it was too early for the sun to burn it off!

One of the many differences between this island and Tenerife is that the roads here don’t go over 5,000 feet, so just as you can see the faintest suggestion of blue sky above, the damp road then descends back into cloud. I knew that it would eventually get warm as I headed for the coast, but by half nine I just had to pull in to a cafe for early elevenses, cake, two coffees and a thaw out. Once refreshed, everything improved and I could at last see views no longer shrouded in mist.

The Relive video is to complement the other photographs in the blog, many are doubled up, take what you will from it all.

I hope this post gives you a good flavour of the island, if not, you’ve lost your taste! 😆