Archive for June 6th, 2008
Back to nature in south Tenerife

If I close my eyes, I can still see Hot Gossip dancing to Supernature by Cerone, not a confession, just tenous link number 457, to get me onto the subject of nature’s bounty here in Tenerife. Today I popped over to the lovely fishing village of Las Galletas, and after frightening the fish I went to see the opening of the 3 day Plant and Flower Fair.

Plant and flower showThis annual show takes place in Las Ramblas (straight on past the beach) and features stalls of local flora as well as honey, mojo sauces, cactus etc. It’s well worth a look, even if you are not tempted to buy, during the weeekend, 10am until about 8pm, there will be various music and dance offerings on the stage, and the judging of a local photo competition.

Whizzing back to Los Cristianos, I caught the opening of the evenings Wine Fair, just before the dock area. All the exhibitors were bodegas (vineyards) from Tenerife, only 5 are listed in the official programme but I counted 8 stalls. Despite the arid soil, Tenerife has a history of producing some fine wines, Guimar, La Orotava and Abona, were among the areas showing off their produce. I was of course hoping to do some sampling, and had specifically taken along my pint glass, but they weren’t making free with the vino. I believe the idea later, was to buy a ticket for a nominal fee, to sample wines, and then that price would be knocked off any purchase. By the way, the young lady in the photo isn’t miserable, she’s just popping one off – a cork that is. If you are into your wine, many of the islands bodegas do tours, followed by sampling, just check your local tourist information or cultural centre.

Wine Fair

Well, as this seems to be turning into a weekends “What’s On” I might as well cover a couple of other things. On Sunday, there is a big cycle ride starting from Guia de Isora at 9 am and ending back there at about 1.30 pm, after going through Chio, Tamimo, Santiago del Teide, Arquayo (high point 1,250 m) , Tejina, Armeñime, Alcala, and Playa San Juan, that’s a total of 71 kms. It’s organised by the Chineje Cycle Club, click on the name for more details.

And Sunday is a sad and worrying day for me, the last home game of CD Tenerife’s football season. With promotion chasing Malaga away in next weeks finale, we still need a point to make sure we can’t get relegated, so there will be plenty of singing juice imbibed before the 5pm kick off. Vamos Tenerife.