The island of eternal spring.

I finally sorted all the pictures from my vacation. And that not even a week after I came home. If you could see me now you’d know how a proud and happy face looks like. A tap on my shoulder and on we go. There are so many pictures and I always find it hard to choose. So many great memories. I tried to group them and make collages instead of posting every single photo full. My boyfriend and I had the most relaxing and still interesting holiday since we go on holiday together. The main reason for that was the warm and sunny weather. (We seem to always have bad luck with the weather when on holiday. I blame my boyfriend.) Due to the sea and the high mountain (the highest volcano is over 3.700 m high) you can always find a sunny spot on the island – even if that means that you have to drive up to 2.500 m sometimes.

I had such a great time on Tenerife (did I mention that already?). A friend told me after the vacation that Tenerife is called the “island of eternal spring”. I was actually really surprised how many flowers bloomed. While I was there, I called it the “island where the houseplants are still free”. I saw so many plants that I only know as potted and domestic versions. Even the poinsettia. It’s actually a real big bush (did you know that?). I was smitten with the versatile landscape overall.

Black and white beaches around the islands, forests on the hills and mountains in the middle and the almost desert-like plateau around the volcano Teide.

The pine woods are famous for its misty fog which is quite mystical and gorgeous if you ask me.

Most of the times we spent half of the day at the beach. My boyfriend went surfing while I was reading a book or wandering around. Due to strong currents and bigger waves swimming was forbidden most of the time. I like the sea from afar (or on a plate) the most anyway.

The other half of the day we explored the island, went hiking, visited little villages and not much bigger cities, went up on the volcano (after waiting for 2 hours in line to get on the cable car), ate and ate some more.

You probably won’t believe me now that I really don’t like hiking. I sure write a lot of blogposts about it for not liking it at all. This is true. Maybe because I tend to forget how exhausting and steep a hike can be on the way up. When I start I’m always quite enthusiastic and over-excited. “Look at that flower!” “Did you see the view now that we walked for 10 m?” “Wow, a butterfly!” and then my mood goes downhill from there (downhill, get it?!). With every further step my happiness decreases until I start complaining: “Everybody who falls behind will be left behind.” “Don’t worry that’s not a steam engine following you, that’s just me.” “Behind that curve is the end of it, right?!” And the further we get down, the happier I become again. Maybe the thin air is just not for me.

The food was actually quite cheap – for European standards and so we indulged as much as we could. We had breakfast at home, ate out once a day and cooked at the house we rented via Airbnb once a day as well. From the pictures I took it looks like we mostly had desserts and coffee. Well it’s an essential part. At least for me.

We stayed at a house in Punta Brava which is a part of Puerto De La Cruz. We walked almost every night into the city where the people gathered on the street to drink and eat and play music. We ate almost every day chestnuts. I didn’t know that Tenerife is famous for it’s roasted chestnuts. They do have a special technique though using a old beer barrel, a chimney out of a metal pipe and a clay pot. And I must say: I’ve never eaten such delicious roasted chestnuts!

On the way back home we walked by the beach Playa Jardin and had the most amazing view on Punta Brava.

One of the days we went to visit the capital Santa Cruz. It’s a really nice little city and definitely worth a visit. You saw me already at the museum (which we didn’t visit because the weather was too nice to stay inside) here.

However La Laguna is even nicer. It’s actually a World Heritage site and has a long history. You can explore the city by foot and walk into most of the historic buildings for free.

Overall I can only recommend Tenerife in November. It’s still warm and sunny and without the thousand of tourists that crowd the beaches and sights in summer.