Pictures to follow

Pulling in to Tenerife

Yesterday we were in Lanzarote, a volcanic Island off of the coast of Morocco.  It wasn’t a sparkling place to go.  Madeira, the day before was delightful.  At dinner we all agreed that we would all go back there in a minute.  At Madeira we rode the gondola to the top of the mountain (600 metres), looking into everyone’s gardens and at their roof tops.  The view was spectacular.  Then we walked to past the botanical gardens to the church a where men in straw hats put us in willow toboggans and slide down the asphalt streets for 2 kilometres with us.  It was quite a ride. I accidentally called Mandy after the ride and woke her in the middle of the night.  Sorry, Mand.

Five of us got in a taxi to go back up to the church.  That was a bit tight and with the 80 degree angle of the slope and the windy roads it was as much fun as the ride down in the toboggans.  We took the gondola back to town and had wonderful beer and cod fish for lunch under the cable of the gondola.  The people of the island were very polite and pleasant and at the end of the meal we were served Madeira wine from a small wooden cask that had been home made.  It was a great meal and the little shops were wonderful too.  We bought some Christmas table runners in the market that was full of lace and embroidered table linens.

Top of the hill with our ship in the background at Madeira

The waters are calmer now and the outside temperature is pleasant.  We are pulling into the harbour at Tenerife as I write and it is time to go for breakfast and visit the town.   There is a rainbow on one of the peaks right now.  This is also a volcanic island with lots of peaks and valleys.  It is the biggest of the Canary Islands.  More about it tonight…  Thanks for staying tuned.

Lanzarote

Lanzarote, which seemed a little barren, also had stalls in a market.  We wandered through and then sat and had beer and conversation until we got back on the bus for the ship.  The ships satellite was down yesterday so there was no internet.  Hopefully today I will be able to access and post this entry.  So far it has been a travel log, not as insightful as past entries.  It seems to be a whirl wind of activity with not enough time to just sit and think.  I am sure that will change once we get to sea.

Tenerife

The church where we left our new back pack.