In the olden days we would have been looking forward to a well-earned vacation in July, but of course our life is very different now. The entire month is spent at home, enjoying many simple life pleasures along the way.
First-off we celebrate our wedding anniversary on the first. We also have a second one on the third of July but we don’t push it by demanding a second dinner! We’ve chosen Chez Lolo, which is just across the barranco from our house, and the venue where we’ve previously enjoyed Thursday cabaret but not a regular dinner. We enjoy a classically French menu from frog’s legs to crêpes alongside some rather good Bordeaux.
Next morning we’re off to visit a nearby attraction we’ve ignored thus far. The Barranco del Infierno (Hell’s Ravine) is one of the few restricted zones on our island where for the most part free-wandering, regardless of risk to life and limb, is the accepted right. There are several reasons, most significant is the need of the National Park to protect the numbers walking into this beautiful natural environment, but also to ensure that said visitors wear the obligatory head-gear as falling rocks will happen.
We park in Adeje near the new theatre and make the tough climb, possibly the hardest part, up to the entrance more than 100m above us. Then there’s a safety briefing and soon we can head off. The barranco has a clear path built by the park rangers, who are also around to ensure safety, answer questions and prevent stupidity. It’s only two miles / three km each way, so not a hard walk, but quite beautiful. As we head in we suddenly hear the trickle of water, it’s almost like being back in Yorkshire. There are no rivers on Tenerife, despite the rain and snow up the mountain, yet here is the nearest thing. There is permanent water in the barranco, not enough to reach the Atlantic, it has evaporated long before, but for a mile or so it behaves like a stream. There are even frogs chirping (sorry about last night’s starter!) and the lush green is wonderful. Finally we reach the waterfall, one of just nine on the island, which in the right weather circumstances can be 200m tall, but is nothing like that today.
The same day we have friends for dinner, roast beef etc since it’s Sunday we have a fabulous evening as always with Mike and Jaqs, making future plans too.
Next week we visit Restaurant 88 in La Caleta, which is almost certainly one of the best Chinese / Japanese fusions nearby. We enjoy the Emperor menu which we can’t when there’s only two of us. It’s a real gut-buster but every course is fabulous.
One Sunday we enjoy a drive up into the hills 1km directly above our house, to walk a bit of PR-TF-71 which is one of the famous routes hearabouts. We’ve been here before but we did climb it last time, which makes it a full day job. Starting at Barrio Taucho we do a lovely circuit to Boca del Paso where the views back over Adeje and onwards to our coastline are spectacular.
Another Sunday we decide to walk Los Gigantes from a different perspective, so we park high at one of the viewpoints and wander around the parts of town that are built on the cliff-edge. We pass an apartment complex I did shortlist at one point. Regardless how impressive the views, I can see now why it was later rejected – crawling back up the hill wouldn’t have been fun after a lovely dinner!
That evening we check out cocktails in our latest resturant addition – Legendary on the top floor of Rosa Centre just 50m from home. They are good if a bit expensive, so we decide to return the following weekend for birthday celebrations.
The week is punctuated by a final visit to Seven. We are devastated that our favourite restaurant has failed, but it’s not really surprising, it was just in the wrong place for such an imaginative and sophisticated idea. The send-off is emotional and sad but we say goodbye after yet another incredible mea.
Mark’s birthday weekend arrives and we’re driving to Loro Parque to celebrate with a day at the zoo. We were last here in 2002 so a repeat is well over-due. The drive is lovely, but we don’t get to see Teide as it is cloudy on the drive, but when we get to Puerto de la Cruz the sun is back. We have a wonderful day at the world-famous park. Some people find zoos difficult to reconcile, but we firmly belive that the ethos here is exemplary and the work done is fantastic.
Birthday Sunday is quite low-key, but in the eveing we re-visit Legendary to celebrate, enjoying chateaubriand with a lovely view and sunset.
Our final weekend of July is quite different – Saturday we pop up to Adeje for Les Mis at our new local theatre which is remarkably good, and then on Sunday we do a modest walk to Alcala before hitting the typewriter to record it all.
