Spain, but not Spain

[Mac]

Sue James´ account of their holiday in Tenerife in 2006
http://groups.google.com/group/travelspain/browse_thread/thread/db478f5f33ea7de/bdca1170d145f4ae?lnk=gst&q=Tenerife#bdca1170d145f4aee
put Las Islas Canarias to the bottom of my places to visit, but recent
unrelentingly awful weather in the UK (rain and gales and floods and
brief dark days) kicked it right back up again, so here we are in the
small workaday coastal town of Alcalá in Western Tenerife, after a red-
eye flight and a huge hike in temperature ( minus 6 Deg C in
Edinburgh, 25 Deg in Tenerife).

The eponymous Pension Alcalá is an eccentric monument in decor and
cuisine to Papa Domingo, revolutionary freedom fighter and primitive
artist, now sadly 'en el cielo'. His widow and three sons are
cheerfully welcoming ('mi casa es tu casa') and when she learns we are
from Scotland, the room suddenly comes down to €25 because she had
been to Edinburgh and 'loved Scotland and its people'. This has never
happened to us before, but provides a head start towards our usual aim
of €40 per night average!

Across the water the island of La Gomera, where we hope to be next
week, lours beneath its cloud bank, glaring at the huge invisible
Teide above us, hidden in swirling dak mists, the highest mountain in
Spain.

But it's not in Spain, is it?

Ahora a mi cama - it's been a long, long day,

Mac

[sue james]

Hi Mac
I'm glad I didn't put you off Las Islas Canarias entirely as we in fact
remember it as a great holiday - it was just a holiday of two halves
(and all within the space of 8 days). We spent the first three days near
the coast with a lot of drizzle feeling generally let down by the
weather and aggressed by traffic but eventually drove up through the
clouds (and it wasn't a pleasant drive until we got through them) to
find ourselves in brilliant sunshine (plus crisp snow) near the top of
Teide. We never made it to the top as high winds closed the cable car
but we drove up every day for the rest of the week and had some good
long hikes, which is what we enjoy doing. We spent the final night in
the Parador near the top of Teide and the sunset was unforgettable.
Neither Mike nor I can remember our meals there which is unusual as we
can normally recall special meals.
Currently we are in Almeria hiking with a recently acquired 20-year old
Jeep. With it we can drive up ramblas and on the abandoned lead mining
and forest roads to get further into the mountains around here than ever
before. We thought we had explored the local landscape - but it's so
extensive we find new bits on every outing. It's not what most visitors
to Spain come here for so we rarely encounter anyone except shepherds.

I look forward to a complete account of your travels.

Saludos
Sue & Mike

Mac wrote:
> Sue James� account of their holiday in Tenerife in 2006