Love Island

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After a quick four hour plane ride to the northwestern coast of Africa, Lloyd and I arrived on the beautiful Canary Island of Tenerife. The weather was flawless upon our arrival. We decided to live by the seat of our pants and arrived without one reservation to stay. So we rented a little speedy Seat Altima and sped around the windy roads of the island hoping for an opening in a "casa rural." Just our luck, they were all taken... apparently it pays off to plan ahead. As the sun started sinking behind the mountains, we came to terms with the realization that we may be spending the night in our car. Luckily we found a dingy hotel and set up shop for the night.

We spent the better part of the week exploring the island. Using our trusty car rental map, we managed to see a good portion of the island, mostly exploring the southern coast- where the sunshine was. Our favorite spots were the ones that were less obvious. We strayed from the tourist route and discovered our own Tenerife. We were very taken by the towns of Cherche and Vilafor. Both beautiful towns on the side of the mountain with winding streets and gorgeous gardens.
The second day we found a wonderful little place in the tiny town of El Draquito near Grandilla. It was so small that even when we got to Grandilla people there had not heard of it.
The casa was called Anton Piche, it had a lounge, kitchen, b room and double bed which is all we wanted. It had an incredible garden, amazing flowers and a fruit garden with massive avocado trees. For better or for worse we spent the last 6 nights there. The ladies that ran the place were so so so sweet. The old lady could only speak spanish and she would go into these in depth conversations with us and we just talked back in english usually saying that we did not understand and gave the occasional chuckle.
What did we do.
- Went to the beach. Sam may have shown a little more skin than usual.
- We ate lots of food. Especially bread, cheese, jamon and olives. Oh the olives were divine. Eating out however was very disappointing.
- Played Boggle. Once again King Lloyd as he became known dominated the affair.
- Drove all over the island, 800 km in 7 days. Saw so much of the island.
- Went hiking. In amongst the volcanoes near Del Tiede which was incredible. Sam was a true walking legend. What a walker!!
- AND do what Team Smooch do best. Absolutely nothing!

All in all it was an incredible time. We loved the tiny town of Masca, had the worst meal of our lives at a restaurant HIGHLY recommended by our hosts, almost died driving the narrow narrow and very windy streets of Tenerife, ate a lot of goods from the bakery in Grandilla, lay in bed a lot, worked on our tans a bit and had a wonderful last lunch served by a Frenchman who made knives.
But most important of all, we enjoyed every minute of each other.

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Photos

Our Ride
Driving from Casa to Casa looking for a place to stay.

View from the top.
Just another sunny day on Tenerife.

Our kitchen away from home.
Our cute apartment was done in classic Canarian decor with yellow-washed walls and lots of wooden shelving. It was quite homey indeed.

Our bedroom.
Where all the magic happened...

Lloydie boy.
"I look really good there" -Lloyd

Alcala!
Lunch normally consisted of cheese on a baguette. We mostly avoided the pigs feet, tongue, and liver.

Masca.
A town located at the base of a giant gorge. The town was only conneted to the rest of the island in 1991 by a single narrow, windy road.

View from Masca.
The photos will never do it justice, but the view from Masca included the blue ocean bordered by the mountaneous Canarian backdrop. Beautiful.

Friends?
Sam talking Spanish to her new friend, Pedro.

Kitty cat.
One of the two cats that resided in our Casa de love. Lloyd had a big crush on/connection with this one in particular. This cat acted more like a dog than a cat it was crazy.

Mt. Tiede.
We almost made it to the top. Almost. Yeah.

Vilafor.
Just a taste of how narrow the streets were... they were barely big enough for two cars.

Vilafor.
Typical Canarian home.

Playground fun.
This was in between the swings and the sea saw. Yes, he's 24.

Hiking the volcano.
We did a three hour hike through this volcanic rock. The scenery changed color with every 10 steps.

Surreal.
As we were driving around Mt. Tiede the fog crept in over the mountain. We could see La Gomera, which looked as if it was floating in the fog.

Tangananananaanana.
We never could quite work out how to pronounce this town, so we just added a bunch of extra A's and N's. Sound it out now.... Tanganana.

Mucho bueno Dorada!
Lloyd's last cerveza for the trip. Back to pints and spirits.

Comments

[LIZ THE SISTER]

i miss you two.
1. come visit rochester. 2. you are both disgusting. in every sense of the term. you're disgustingly in love and distgustingly dirty- take a shower. 3. sam is heckof cute in these and she looks excited [as i know she was first hand] 4. i love you. both of you. lloyd come back to the states. it can't be THAT great over there. love, liz