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Published: November 27th 2007
The 3 of us on a tour
Those are "Los Gigantes" in the background - some of the tallest cliffs in the world.Shelley, Jonalyn, and I (Gary) are in London until 1 January 2008. We’re having a great time and would like to share some of our adventures with you. Thanks for visiting our blog.
A Relaxing Week in Tenerife The school system in the UK consists of “terms.” There are 3 of them: Fall, Winter, and Spring. (This is different from “semesters” of which there are only 2. I don’t know why this difference in terminology exists.) The “terms” are about 15 weeks long.
In the USA many people are familiar with “Spring Break.” It’s a week off of school in the spring. In the UK there is a Fall break called “Half Term.” Essentially it’s a week off about halfway through the term. This is so ingrained in the culture even Shelley’s university program (in London and many of the other foreign areas) take a week off too. On this trip Jonalyn’s and Shelley’s Half Term were during the same week so we could take a longer trip than just a weekend someplace. Since we have a week, it’s possible to travel farther than a couple hours in an airplane. (Most of our trips are places you can
Hotel Gala Pool
We spent a lot of time sitting in the sun, reading, and sometimes swimming in the pool. go in 2 hours or less. Otherwise you spend so much time “getting there” you don’t have much of a chance to visit.)
On our previous times staying in London we’ve gone to Greece during Half Term; once on Kos and once on Rhodes. I wanted someplace different this time. I did some research on fun places to go. I also wanted to go someplace
warm. (We’re used to living in Southern California where it doesn’t truly get cold until January. In London we’re already starting to wear scarves and jackets in late September.)
We thought about Morocco. It is pretty far south, exotic, and relatively inexpensive. In fact, maybe it was a bit too exotic. I also looked at Madeira, an island in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa but owned by Portugal. It looked like it would be a lot of fun, but maybe not as warm as we might like.
However, I had heard of some friends who had gone to the Canary Islands (Las Gran Canarias) and had a lot of fun. It’s even farther south than Madeira and a little offshore from Morocco. When we looked at the average temperature in
Jonalyn and a loro (parrot)
The bird was told to "play dead" in her hands. They could do a lot more tricks too. October the decision was clinched.
These islands get most of their income from tourists. We were able to find a combination of airfare and hotel (including breakfast and dinner) at a pretty good price in a 4 star hotel on Tenerife: the
Hotel Gala. This is located in a tourist area known as Playa de las Americas on the southern shore of the island. Because the volcano in the middle is so big and most of the winds come from the north, the southern part is dry and warm all year. In many ways (being volcanic, black sand beaches, some tropical areas, warm water) it reminded me of the “big island” of Hawaii where we have enjoyed vacations a few times in the past.
Our goals were to relax, soak up some sun, read a few novels, eat some great food, and maybe see some of the sights. We were successful at all of them.
In order to get the best price, we got a “package” which included flights, hotel, and meals. Some compromises had to be made. For example, we didn’t arrive at the airport until 1am and weren’t in the hotel until about 2:30am. Since we
The view while running was great
I love to jog along the ocean. Every morning we had nice warm weather and a gentle breeze to keep me cool. were not in a big hurry, this didn’t matter so much - we slept in and just made it to breakfast before they closed at 10:30am. Most of the food available was similar to an “English Breakfast” but that was fine for us.
We spent most of the next 3 days sleeping in, laying in the sun, reading, eating at the hotel, and catching the “entertainment” offered each night.
I went jogging most mornings, taking off in a different direction many days. It was a great way to see what else was on the island and get a little exercise in too. The sea air was warm, clean, and smelled of salt. I loved it.
Shelley and Jonalyn would sleep in until about 9:30am and be ready for breakfast about 10 or so. I usually was back and ready about then too. After that, it was time to lie in the sun and read, sleep, and maybe take a dip or two in the pool. This is just the kind of relaxing time we wanted.
Yes, Shelley caught up on some of her reading for school as well as for a new research project. Jonalyn did
Soaking up Sun and Cerveza
We even went to a nearby beach. Here I am catching a few rays and drinking up some of the local brew. some homework for both her school in London and in California. The hotel has a very good wireless Internet connection, so I was able to get a few hours of work in every evening too. Since there’s a 9 hour time difference between Tenerife and California, most people didn’t even know I was spending much of the day in the sun. With our “voice over the Internet” ability we were even able to make phone calls cheaply. Things sure have changed over the last 10 years or so. (When we went to Greece on our previous trips, we’d stop by an Internet Café every other day or so to check on email, that’s all we got to do for work.)
Even with that, we got a lot of relaxing in the warm sun by the pool. It was wonderful.
Each night the hotel had some entertainment. We had a bird show, a “Charlie Chaplin” entertainer (mime), an acrobatic group, a “Loro Show” (trained parrots), a ballroom dance show, a “singer in the Cuban style,” a fashion show, and a Beatles tribute band. Were they wonderful? I won’t say any of them will be headlining in Las Vegas any
Shopping in Puerto de la Cruz
Yes, shopping includes somtimes picking up a treat. time soon, but we only had to walk down the hall, plop ourselves into a comfy chair and enjoy the beer or sangria we had bought at a local supermarket to see the show, so it was certainly a fun way to spend an hour or so each evening. There were no reservations, no entrance fee, no rushing to get there, plenty of seats up close, and most of the time either no talking or English translations, so it made for a great diversion each evening.
Yes, we did some shopping. The Canaries are a part of Spain but they don’t have any VAT (Value Added Tax - almost 20% in most European countries.) This makes the shops a pretty good bargain compared to London and other places we normally go. For example, Jonanlyn got her "winter coat" at a great price. (OK, the prices for things are probably higher than in the USA, but some of the items you can’t get there.)
We also took a “tour around the island” on a bus. We got to visit a cathedral, the capitol city, the 18th century capitol (on the more tropical side of the island), and some other
Sunset in Tenerife
Catching the sunset was a favorite pastime in the evening. A gentle breeze, the sound of waves, and the dimming glow of the sun was fun out on the edge of the pool area. sights. It was a great way to break up the regular day of sun, novels, and swimming.
For a hotel (and buffet) the food was wonderful. Each night there was a different emphasis and there was always plenty of everything. We had thought about going to some of the nearby eateries instead, but each night the food was just great. We had gotten an “upgrade” to “half board” from bed and breakfast, so it wasn’t costing us any extra for dinner and we didn’t have to decide between multiple restaurants each night either.
Did I mention “compromise” earlier? One of them is the fact our return flight left at 10pm on Sunday. This means we didn’t get home until about 4am on Monday. Jonalyn still had another 2 days off though and Shelley got enough sleep to go to work a bit late.
Yes, there are LOTS of other things to do on Tenerife, but we wanted sun and relaxation - that’s exactly what we got. We didn’t even interact with many of the other hotel guests because most of them were from Germany, Holland, Iceland, and Italy, so there weren’t many other people who spoke English.
Our last minute trip to the airport
We look so much better before the 6 hour flight to New York with 2 little kids to keep happy the whole time. This was so much fun we may have to go to Hawaii again "just to compare" what it's like. I'd certainly recommend Tenerife to anyone who wants a bit of "fun in the sun" almost any time of the year.
A Quick Trip to New York City When we got back to the UK only 6 of about 200 people on the plane were not from European Union countries: the 3 of us and another family of 3. Getting in at 2am and not having many people to check (the Europeans just wave their passports as they walk by) means the immigration people have plenty of time to ask
us questions. While we got back in the UK just fine, one of the other professors had a bit more trouble. This prompted us to find out what was truly necessary to be in the UK for an extended period of time while our spouses (and parents) were legally working there: we needed an “entry clearance.” This required us filling out some forms, getting some necessary documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate) and leaving the country.
(Many people have asked me why we had to leave the UK.
The Greenwich Village Halloween Parade
There were plenty of unusual groups and floats. There were also plenty of people - I never got very close to the street. It is my
guess it has to do with the fact the people who handle immigration are already at the border. Thus, you go out, come back, go through the normal channels, and get your papers cleared. Also, if they decide not to let you back in the country you are already “out,” so they don’t have to deport you.)
For various reasons, it was decided we would get our papers from the British Consulate-General in New York City. The 5 of us (Jonalyn and me along with the professor’s spouse and their 2 children) got an early morning flight to New York on Halloween morning. We quickly went to a special agency which helps expedite such things and turned in our paperwork. Well, almost all of our paperwork. Our daughter Randi had done a great job of getting Jonalyn’s birth certificate and our marriage certificate into an overnight package. Unfortunately it didn’t make it there in one day! After many phone calls I was able to convince them to redirect the late package to their local “sorting center” in Manhattan which happened to be about 2 blocks away from our hotel. I picked them up “just in time”
Lunch with Aaron and Robyn
The Carnegie Deli was a great side benefit of going to New York. the next day to get them to the expediter.
In the meantime, Jonalyn and I got to see Robyn, who is currently living in New York! We went to the Halloween parade in Greenwich Village (
see a 20 second video of the Zombies, my favorite part ) and also had lunch with Robyn and Aaron on Thursday. While at lunch I got an email saying our application was approved. Wow! One day turnaround! (Unfortunately, the other professor’s spouse and kids’ application took an extra day.) Jonalyn and I got on a plane back to London Thursday night. We returned early enough Friday morning she was still able to get to school even though we took the red eye. What a trooper!
We’re back to our daily routine now and looking forward to more visitors. My mother, sister and her 2 children are coming over the Thanksgiving break in the USA. (We’re still working here, but they have the time…)
To once again answer the most often-asked question: We will be back in the USA in January. Please feel free to call or email us with an update on you; we love hearing from our friends.
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Robyn
non-member comment
I love the pictures! It's amazing how Tenerife has been completely transformed into this literal "island paradise" that's basically just for tourism, stripping the Canary islands of any cultural value they might have had. Ah, well. It looks like you had a great time! But you neglected to put up any pictures of the enormous slices of pizza! I guess we were all too tired for those pictures to be posted!