Weekend explorations

Due to work etc I have had a reasonably quiet weekend. I went to the markets I found on the way to the Palm Gardens Friday. They were jut shutting then so I headed back Saturday morning. They aren't very fair from my hotel and the building the markets are in is very pretty.

Lampposts on the bridge crossing.

Market building

Outside the markets

They are around a court yard, and there were lots of different shops. I managed to stop myself from buying anything, though when I found the tea shop, it was not easy.

Court yard

Central clock tower 

Flowers!

Walkway

An entire shop devoted to goats cheese!!!!

And the pastries and cake looked amazing! I once again restrained and had just a coffee instead. (I am liking the coffee here, though they give you 2 large packets of sugar for a very tiny cup so I am not sure how everyone else drinks it. Personally I like my teeth.)

s

Cakes

Plants

I ended up back at hotel fairly early in the day so had a nice siesta and spent some time working and watching films on my laptop. During this time, there appeared to be a demonstration of some sort in the park outside the hotel. I have no idea what for but the police were out in force. So I took a few photos from my window and stayed out of it.

Just a few, getting ready

Protesting something

They spent a lot of time yelling, cheering, making speaks and singing. All very loudly. At one point it sounded like a 3 yr old was leading the protest. Which was kind of cute but a little bit weird and creepy to be honest.

On the evening I found a tapas restaurant on the water front (such as it is). The dish was very nice but the menu said it was langoustines (large prawns/shrimp). But I know for a fact that they don't have tentacles so I am pretty certain they mixed the (expensive) langoustines with (less expensive) octopus. Luckily I also like octopus. I have been eating lots of seafood and intend to continue. :)

This morning I went to another park, Parque de la Granja. I really should have taken the tram as it turned out to be a long walk than I expected and there was no shade on route. At 10.30am this morning it was already 29 C.

Parque de la Granja

This one wasn't as nice as the last one but more practical I guess. There were a couple of skate parks and there were lots of people running and walking their dogs. Despite the "lease your dog", none were. And there were some very yappy little dogs around. One came at me, barking and seriously I was going to kick the thing if it came any closer. I have no problem with dogs now for the most part as long as they are well behaved (which to be fair most were). But some needed some training and a serious attitude adjustment. Santa Cruz is also the land of the little dog.

Skate park

pathways

These trees are out at the moment with some really pretty red flowers out. The flowers are just starting to die off. :(

I wandered and people watched. (Some of the runners were, well, pretty!) There was one guy doing push ups. Well I do have eyes!

good view

 They also had some odd sculptures around that I couldn't quite figure out. But were interesting to contemplate while having a coffee. (for a few seconds, before I turned to my much more interesting book.)

I got the tram home!
I spent the rest of the afternoon skyping home and watching tv.
I have just finished my dinner at the hotel restaurant. I don't normally put pictures up of food but it was very impressive. I got a 3 course dinner for 12 euros ($10.50 or about 8.50 pounds) which included a glass of wine and a pot of tea. And they didn't skimp on the wine pour. The starter was mussels (a bowl of a dozen), the main hake stuffed with plums and leaks (so good!) and for dessert, caramelized fruit skewers (which were just fruit with the caramelized sugar drizzled over).
Once again I was the only one in the restaurant. Which considering everywhere else seems closed, was surprising. Especially as the food is that good and that cheap!

Stuffed hake 

Dessert

Palm gardens

Last week, I took a walk to the Palmetum, which is a palm tree gardens. The walk was only about 25 mins but it has been really hot here so I was happy to arrive and found a spot in the shade to cool down. Thankfully the views from the gardens (which are not he top of a large hill) are very nice.

Across the bay

Nice place to sit for a bit

I didn't take any photos of the coast line, which is an oil refinery. :( But there's no smell thankfully and you can just ignore that. (Apparently they are trying to move it but no one else wants it and it does provide a lot of jobs.)
The palm gardens are on a area of reclaimed land which used to be a land fill. They were pretty but could have done with more shaded areas. Like I mentioned, very hot!

Giant Palm tree

Some of the palms had some lovely flowers on.

One of the best views was over Santa Cruz. There is a large pool complex near the gardens. Unfortunately I didn't have my swim suit, as it looked extremely inviting. I am definitely going to try to find time to head there next week. :)

View over Santa Cruz

Looking over the auditorium I think

They had some great plazas but I didn't take a lot of time enjoying I must admit.

Baking Plaza

They had Palms from all over the world and some of the plants I recognized from my trip to Australia and the botanical gardens there.

I could go anywhere.

Chainsaw flowers from Australia

Throughout the whole trip, I could hear and occasionally spot little lizards chilling out in the sun. But I only managed to get one photo. Theywere very cute and super quick!

Gotcha!

The best part was the central area which seemed more thought out than the rest, with shaded areas, benches and streams.

pathways

Big waterfall

Little waterfall

The gardens were nice but they didn't have a lot. I was desperate for a cold drink by the end. Just the other side of the pool from the Palmetum is a concert hall of some kind (which from the right angle looks like Professor X's helmet!). All I know is they had a cafe! It's right near what looks like part of a castle but there were no signs around.

Concert hall

View to sea

Some people had decided to ignore the swimming pool and just use the ocean which looked very inviting. 

On the rocks near the concert hall were the portraits of musicians, with some great groupings. 

Classical, pop and rock

Sinatra and Britney Spears?!?!?

Either way it was a very nice view over a cold drink. Before the long walk back!

Looking towards the Palmetum.

Santa Cruz

Today I had a slow day. I explored Santa Cruz a bit this morning and worked this afternoon (after a long nap!). I think I have made the right choice moving to La Laguna in 10 days time. Though Santa Cruz is very nice (and I think the weather may be better here), it's very similar to La Laguna and doesn't have a real sea front/harbor/beach which would be it's greatest selling point to me. So I have just saved myself the 1hr round trip every day.

I do love the buildings here. They are so colorful. (You can expect to see many more photos of lovely old buildings in the next few months I am sure!)

Colorful

:)

The first thing I did was go down the the water front. Unfortunately it is basically an industrial commercial port. Not the nicest place to be. I was hoping at least for a nice marina with restaurants but it seems the prettier parts are the small streets.

The water front

View along the "harbor"

Not very pretty. :(

I have been very surprised by the amount of graffiti everywhere. I don't ind it if it is artistic. But most seems to be gang style tags - not pretty and very unimaginative. However there are some which really are art and well done. 

I ended up stumbling on the museum of Tenerife. It was cheap and cool (both literally and figuratively) and had a cafe. So I walked around (after a coffee) and pretended to understand it. The lady at the front desk said there were English translations (at least I think she did) but I couldn't find them. So I probably didn't get the most out of the trip but it was fun all the same. They had some interesting exhibits (even without the language). I found out there are scorpions in Tenerife. Just when I think I have moved somewhere where things won't try to kill me!

Giant scorpion (in case you missed the point)

My hotel is uncomfortably near one of those dots.

They also had an amazing fossil collection. Yes. I geeked out. But seriously, some of these were the best I have ever seen. I think anyone in their right mind would geek out. (And I wasn't the only one there doing so. OK, so the others were kids, but still...)

Plants

Tiny dinosaur maybe

Lizard.

Mineral collection

There was a section on the ocean wildlife around the Canary Islands. I am not sure if they were all to scale (the dolphins seemed extremely big) but maybe. I loved the shark and fish heads. Which sounds weird. I think they were trying to show the teeth (it all got lost in translation) but I just liked the expressions. :)

Happy shark (or fish)

Shocked!

I finally went out to eat tonight. I am always slightly amazed and often disappointed by the attitudes of restaurants to people (or women - not sure which) dining alone. I have found this particularly in Spanish countries, but Europe in general. Tonight I thought it might be because of me not speaking great/much Spanish, but the couple next to be didn't even try! At least I gave it a go.
I get a lot less courtesy and attention than couples and often have to repeat multiple times that yes, it's just for one person. Yes a person can be single and still go out and enjoy herself. Sorry. It really irritates. But guess I am going to have to get used to it. Because I have to eat. Sigh!