DONG! Every 15 minutes the bells of the Torre de la Concepcion chime, but it still made me skip a beat as I looked out over the panoramic views of Tenerife´s majestic university city of La Laguna.

The seven storey time piece didn´t have a mammoth ascent but contrasts stretched out in all directions as a chill breeze wafted in between the stone masonry windows. The three parralell main streets of the city were bustling with visitors and residents as commerce rubbed shoulders with religon, theatre, and history.

On the day of my latest visit, several smaller connecting streets were sealed as part of the European Day Without Cars, a welcome chance for the area to take a well earned breather. Looking out from my high perch, there were other signs of change, such as solar panels on roofs of old beautifull buildings.

Tenerife North airport, the original landing strip for the island, was busy as ever as planes skipped just above the tall green hills. There have always been storys about the poor choice for this modern addition, even now the clouds sometimes settle so low they cause cancellations in high summer.

The tower is great value at 2 euros, which includes a look inside the old church next door, opening times are Monday 10 to 2 pm, Tuesday to Friday 10 to 5pm. . For modern splendour, the La Laguna cathedral is a must to visit, and only a short walk back down into the main streets. At the other end of the construction range, the old bus station has been bought by the coumcil (ayuntamiento) and may well be demolished. It was replaced by a gleaming, modern building a decade ago, that dove tails nicely with the tram service between La Laguna and Santa Cruz.

I had mixed feelings about this old interchange, but the churros and chocolate bar was always a favourite of mine. Hopefully the balance between old and new will continue to respect the importance of the city to the spiritual and educational history of Tenerife.