Always check your holiday insurance, does it cover you against a bombardment of boiled sweets? if not you could have been in trouble with the Reyes eve arrival of the 3 Kings. January 6 is Epiphany, the day the 3 kings or wise men arrived at the stable with gifts for Jesus, and in Spain it is the biggest celebration of the festive season.

Tenerife relishes any excuse for a party, and all over the island last night crowds gathered to welcome Gaspar, Melchor and Balthasar on their camels  to many towns and villages. In Adeje the kings arrived at the local football ground by helicopter, it takes quite a while to cram the camels in and put their seat belts on, while in Santa Cruz 20,000 people queued up last week for free tickets to CD Tenerife’s Heliodoro stadium for a spectacular show. Normally the capital kings use a helicopter but this year they arrived from the port in a big parade (cabalgata) which included some of the CDT players.

Down here in Los Cristianos the ferry port is always the starting point, then the procession works its way up through town to the cultural centre where a stage awaits the kings and a makeshift manger and stable adds to the festive feel. The parade was headed last night by dancers, a snow machine, acrobats and a whole series of costumed youngsters. There was much jostling for key viewing positions in the packed streets as the excitement built, as the camel mounted kings came into view there was some good natured scrummong as the wise men threw handfuls of sweets into the crowd. Parents seemed equally as excited as the kids, at one point I was pressed between a group of yummy mummys, how nice.

By the time the procession reached the stage, a massive crowd had built up and after some music and dancing, the kings took their thrones and children began to go up to collect their presents. The police seemed much more relaxed this year, people were allowed through most of the barriers, families were able to pose for photos in the stable area with the donkey, chickens and goats while Mary and Joseph waved from the manger. I saw one little rascal throwing small stones at the chickems to make them run around their pen, bless.

Reyes is a great tradition, enjoyed equally by locals and tourists, today is very much a family day as presents are unwrapped. Phew that’s all the festive stuff out of the way, just time to draw breath before Carnaval season begins.

Before the game the groundsmen forked the UK style quagmire of a pitch, but after 90 minutes it was CD Tenerife who were well forked off, not offering enough in a 2-0 defeat. Racing were just below CDT with the leakiest home defence in La Liga, they were there for the taking, but Tenerife looked lightweight up front, Ayoze (below)Â being the pick of the bunch.

Tenerife relied on the offside trap and it saved them after 3 minutes when their defence opened up and Racing put the ball in the net, only to have it ruled out. Neither side shone in the first half, Alfaro has been the big let down of the season so far, and had another quiet game, Kome showed why Cameroon haven’t picked him for their African cup squad, and Nino was again crying out for some decent support.

Juanlu filled the right back slot again and was exposed a coupl of times, but there were chances for Tenerife. Ricardo went close after 30 minutes with a long range fierce free kick and Kome missed his chance after Nino unselfishly let the ball threw to him in front of goal. Sicilia had to come to Tenerifes rescue with a timely intervention in the box and Bellvis made a good late clearance, but at half time a 0-0 draw looked favourite.

Ayoze was bundled down in the penalty area just after the break, worth a half jearted shout, and kome couldn’t clean up after the home keeper failed to hold the ball. Tenerife played some of their best football at this stage but there was no end product. Angel replaced Kome, Mikel had a strong shot tipped over but Colsa found himself with no Tenerife defender near him, to make it 1-0 after 72 minutes. Three minutes later the frail Tenerife defence was caught on the break as Xisco marched through to seal the game at 2-0.

Dinei, on for Ayoze, just about squeezed the ball over the Racing goal line but was clearly offside, and Juanlu looked more at home when he went forward and set up Nino, who put his shot over. A flat start to 2010, January is a hard month with Barcelona and Valencia the next visitors to Santa Cruz, the lack of an away win is hanging heavy on Tenerife, a transfer window addition would be very welcome.

Where was I before I was rudely interrupted by christmas? oh yes, planning more trips and adventures. My over indulgences at christmas have shamed me into action and today I tackled another of my must do list, Montaña Roja, the red mountain in El Medano, that imposing rock at the end of the Tenerife South airport runway.

A 470 TITSA bus took me from Los Cristianos, past Los Abrigos where I jumped off at the camp site near the Playa de la Tejita beach. I had packed a snack but was pleased to find that the Cafeteria at the site had a nice cheap range of goodies, and the young lady serving would make any young man pitch his tent. The site has bungalows, or just small plots to  go native under canvas, and it’s a lovely area.

So off towards the mountain, with a slight detour to the beach just below the imposing rock face. Oh blimey, it’s a nudist beach in the far corner, weren’t those blokes ever told that it’s rude to point, wait till the sunburn kicks in tomorrow morning. I had hoped to catch some of the wildlife on this nature reserve and some of the 100 species of birds duly obliged by landing near enough for me to snap them.

The walk up to the 171 metre high peak was not too gruelling and once I found the main track it was easy to follow. It’s great to meet other people on these walks, there was a fair few about on the trail today. I heard some yodel type singing approaching me, very jolly, and saw a couple walking down, the lady providing the musical interlude. I stopped for a chat and found that they were from the extreme north of Norway, and the song is a traditional reindeer song called a joik,  from the Sami people. They said they had left behind temperatures of minus 20 and a metre of snow, I felt too ashaned to say that in the UK everything stops for a mere sprinkling.

Pushing on to the peak, I was rewarded with great views over El Medano and La Tejita beaches and way beyond into the mountains, sadly it was a bit cloudy higher up and Mount Teide was in hiding. Â Finding a suitable rocky seat, I devoured my cheesey nibbles and then had a little walk around the summit. There were some people perched on the edge of a sheer drop, I was much more reticent, staying well back from the edge when taking pics. One walker came up the path with a yellow towel over his head and the peak of a baseball cap peeking out, I thought it was a giant canary and was going to shout Pio Pio Maricon but he unveiled himself just in time. There was a white pole atop of a stone stack and I was dismayed to see that it was covered in graffiti, what sort of twat hikes up a small mountain just to scribble rude messages!

The planes were in and out of Reina Sofia airport, and were so low I felt I was shaking hands with the pilot (that’s not slang for a young mans leisure activity). Â Inspired by the view I set off down the path at a sprightly pace, hoping not to slip and make a show of myself, thankfully I was sure footed and quicker than on the way up. The whole return journey took just under 3 hours including rests, photos stops and detours. A good way to start the new year, now the trick is to make these walks a regular thing. For a fuller report and more photos go to www.tenerifemagazine.com

Snow driving in from the mountains, icebergs floating towards the beach, and penquins with bobble hats and scarfs on. Well, not quite, but the Tenerife night had a little chill in the air forcing me to wear jeans instead of my usual shorts – Â oh what hardships I endure. After a very liquid christmas, I was determined to tone down my New Year celebrations, and didn’t go out until 11pm.

In recent years the local council have tweaked and fine tuned the arrangements for the big night, this year there was no stage and fair in the old car park by the Valdes centre. Things were a bit more spread out with a stage set up outside the cultural centre and several temporary bars in the nearby area, sealed off to traffic. It worked well, the stage area drew people in and even before the magic hour, locals and tourists were dancing happily as the giant screen made sure everyone got to see, as well as hear the music.

Onward to the beach, and it was pretty busy, people were grabbing vantage points ready for the fireworks. The restaurants were getting a welcome boost to end a poor years trade, and there was a sprinkling of kilts and fancy dress. Many brought their own drink, bags clanking with bottles and glasses, and bunches of grapes ripe for eating. The Spanish tradition is to sip champagne or Cava, and eat one grape for every strike of midnight. Supermarket chain Hipertrebol, offered a slight twist on that, selling cheap satsumas and cider for the day.

The anticipation grew as midnight approached, there are no audible bells near the beach so it was a very rough guess as to the precise moment, but once a few cheers went up and the first colourful rocket ripped through the sky, everyone started popping corks, hugging, dancing and showering their neighbours with best wishes for 2010. The fireworks were impressive as ever, volleys of light shot up from several launch pads, on Montaña Chayofita overlooking the beach, and out along the bay by the bigger hotels. The show lasted a good 15 minutes with necks craning to catch all the displays at the same time, as the last shower of colour faded, rapturous applause rang out and the serious dancing and drinking began.

I bumped into a few of the Armada Sur and we reflected on the past mammoth year for CD Tenerife, raising a glass to hopes of stability in La Liga. I threaded my way back past the stage, by now a swirling mass of dancing bodies, and called into the Apolo centre to join the Blues Brothers party at The Don John bar. My good intentions were eroded a little and I eventually got home at 4am but it was a nice way to launch 2010.

Phwoar there I was surrounded by birds, I was charming them out of the trees and they were nearly eating out of my hand – ok I’m not fooling anyone, these birds were of the feathered variety and they were in the new Katandra tree tops aviary at Loro Parque.

Todays main mission was to see the Special Orca Show at Christmas (directly from the USA) at Puerto de la Cruz’s famous park, and I was kindly extended a press entry. The 343 Titsa (strike over now) from Los Cristianos whisked me there in just over an hour, giving me time for a stroll in the town and then a walk along the seafront to Loro Parque. The weather may have behaved at football in Santa Cruz last night, but dark clouds were hovering and the sea was wild and lashing the shore.

It’s been just over a year since my last visit to Loro Parque and I was desperate to see the penguins, I have always been fascinated by them. Planet Penguin is a great setting with imitation ice flows and light settings that mimic the seasons, all my favourites were there stood to attention, waddling, grooming and diving into the water. I’m sure they find the constant stream of visitors fascinating, we must look very peculier to them through the glass.

As their little wings waved goodbye, I headed for the Oracarium, eager to see how the whale show had been updated for this special 2 week run. The show was wonderful, but the same wonderful as always, the only concessions to christmas were on the giant screen where the music was overlaid with carols and animated snowflakes decorated the film. Everyone lapped up the majestic jumps and tail splashing from these huge beautiful creatures, but I was left a little let down.

Never mind, I had yet to see the new Katandra treetops aviary that was opened in September and took the chance to plug that gap in my knowledge. Loro Parque seems bigger than it is, due to very clever design that sees it twist and turn on several levels, this skill was also employed on the design of Katandra. A large pool is enveloped by a small jungle of trees and wooden walkways that take you up among the branches where the many colourful birds flit between their feeding bowls and nests. They are all quite tame and are quite willing to preen themselves and chatter away at close quarters. It’s a great addition to the park, a real squawking, screeching, whistling paradise.

The menacing clouds decided to do their worst just as I went to leave the park, thankfully they have a nice “Noddy” train that snakes through the streets of Puerto de la Cruz back to the seafront near the town centre, and with the protective covers strapped down, it proved pretty waterproof. I’m sure I will be back again and again at Loro Parque, the rain and time restrictions meant I didn’t get to see all of my favourites this time but I can sleep easy knowing that my penguins are cosy and cold.

It was so close, CD Tenerife matched Athletico Madrid all the way in an exciting clash in Santa Cruz, but they will look back on the 1-1 draw as a great opportunity missed. Nino was buzzing and caused the visitors loads of problems but Asenjo was the star for Madrid, crowning a fine goalkeeping display with a penalty save from Nino.

The north put the south to shame for once, dry and no sign of the heavy rain we left behind  in Las Americas, a near full house only had to wait 2 minutes to rejoice. Juanlu’s free kick found Alfaro and he flicked the ball on to Nino who placed it perfectly for an early lead. That sparked some great creative play from both sides, Mikel Alonso was bag pulling the strings in midfield for Tenerife, and Athletico had 2 sharp forwards in Jurado and former Man Utd player Diego Forlan.

Alfaro hit the post after 10 mins, Forlan flashed a shot past the CDT goal shortly after, and the fabs were lapping up a feast of football. Jurado and Forlan combined after 21 minutes and opened up the Tenerife defence, beating Bellvis down the left, and ending with Jurado hitting the equalizer. Just before half time Tenerife were gifted a penalty when Dominguez handled the ball, Nino hit a weak shot and Asenjo saved it with some ease.

The second half saw both sides chase the game, Ayoze, Nino and Alfaro created plenty of chances but found the visiting keeper a tough barrier to beat. Both sides tried to spaice up their attack, Angel came on for Tenerife and former Liverpool front man Pongolle left the bench for Madrid. Kome, having one of his quiet games, went close on the counter attack after 86 minutes, but the best chance came in injury time. The ball came across to Nino in the area and he tried an overhead kick that just missed the target, what a finish that would have been.

If pre season you had asked offerd Tenerife fans a 12th place for the festive break, they would have gladly settled for that. The transfer window flies open in January and a couple more key players would be very welcome, but we know that money is tight at the club. A strong end though to a mighty year in the history of CD Tenerife.

A few weeks before my first christmas in Tenerife, my editor asked me to cover an event where the mayor would be unveiling his bell end. What sort of debauched island had I come to? then I saw it written down and realised it was a belen, a traditional Spanish nativity scene. Well today I headed to Santa Cruz to see more of these traditional scenes.

First stop was the Caja Canarias bank in the Plaza del Patriotismo, they hold regular art exhibitions and the belen was suitably impressive. This one featured the main castle residence of King Herod, some 13 kms south of Jerusalem, set in the rolling hills, complete with trickling streams. The sprawling hillside had the usual shepherds and of course the manger complete with animals, as carols played in the background, and the lighting faded and flared to show day and night. It’s open until 5 January from 11.30 am to 3.30 pm and 5 pm to 8.30 pm, apart from Sundays when it’s open 10 am to 1.30 pm.

Moving down into the Plaza de España and the Cabildo (government) building, and they had an interesting twist, the nativity was mixed into a traditional Canarian setting, with old farm buildings and houses surrounded by figures performing ancient crafts. The baby Jesus was being serenaded (above) by timple playing visitors. All the belens were free to view, but as always the Cabildo had a voluntary collection point to donate for local charities. The times to note here are 9 am to 3 pm, and 4 pm to 9.30 pm, except Christmas and New Year Eve’s 9am to 3 pm, and Christmas and New Years Day’s 4 pm to 9.30 pm.

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At this point, with thoughts of a few new art expositions in La Laguna, I jumped on the tram and whizzed up there to have a look. The street decorations showed a bit of flair, especially in the side streets (above) , noone had resorted to a Blue Peter advent crown made with coat hangers. The former church and convent of San Augustin is now the Cabrero Pinto Institute and a great art centre, I found an interesting display of work by Ernesto Valcarcel in the main hall. Called Jugetes del Tiempo (games of time) it features deep rich textured painting on wooden backgrounds. Next door in the open air Patio de Los Cipreses, there was an unusual work , called Patrimonio, featuring life sized dummys addressing graffiti and other impromptu art. While in the main hall, a downpour had soaked the patio adding an extra quality to the work.

Time was pushing on, so it was tram time again and a return to Santa Cruz, getting off at Plaza Weyler. Heading down the Calle Castillo shopping street, I was suddenly surrounded by Shakin Stevens singing Merry Christmas Everyone, he seemed to be everywhere, finally I noticed the small speakers tucked in with the decorations strung across the street at various points, that’s good, I thought he was haunting me. At this point I noticed another belen, inside a disused shop and thought I might as well add it to my list. Another variation on the main theme awaited me inside, the scenes were all set in Santa Cruz, moving along the display I could pick many landmarks among the more biblical scenes. This one opens 10 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 9 pm daily, except 10 am to 5 pm on the 2 big Eves and 4 pm to 9 pm on Christmas and New Years day’s.

Maybe I could just squeeze in one more stop, the ferry building is always worth a visit to see what ships are in, todat though I was lured downstairs by another art exhibition. Paintings and sculptures from the Tenerife Siglo XXI group (21st Century) had a more contemporary feel and were certainly providing a welcome distraction for waiting ferry passengers. This was one of my favourites, they were all for sale, some at outrageous prices, but good to browse.

With my camera and notebook bursting, it was finally time to head south, passing the dockside I could see the huge stage and tiered seating taking shape for the 25 December FREE classical concert with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra from 10 pm, that will be a pretty impressive way to end Christmas Day. More details on that and other festive events at www.tenerifemagazine.com

…it’s been a few years since I wrote to you, but I thought I would drop a line this year. What I want for christmas this year is peace and goodwill between all people, an end to all war and bloodshed, no more famine or droughts, and love and understanding between all nations of the world.

BUT failing that, I will settle for a CD Tenerife home win over Athletico Madrid this Sunday, and a crate of Dorada!

I’m sure the girls room was all sweetness and lavender, but in the lads Madrid hotel rooms there was snoring on the richter scale, so I did well to hear the early morning knock on the door. I was just at the dream stage where Sue Barker was about to ravish me, and a glance at my watch showed it was 10am and all thoughts of an early start had evaporated.

At 30 euros a night our rooms didn’t include breakfast but a nice coffee and bakery cafe next door did the job. Sluggish was the word of the morning, so as the girls hit some more museums, and The General chilled out, 4 of us walked up into the city centre, braving the cold. It took us just over an hour but we took our time and savoured the delights of the city. Atocha station (above) proved to be very distracting, a huge indoor garden included turtles playing in the pond and a few suitable statues for us to pose with. Heading up the road, we saw the Villareal team out for a stroll in their team tracksuits, they were playing Athletico Madrid later that night, but with the TV cameras following them, we couldn’t resist showing our colours and singing a few Tenerife songs, hope we made the news reports.

Madrid is a very arty vibrant city, there was a big market on at Parque del Retiro, but we pushed on to near the centre as our beer taste buds were tingling. The Cathedral restaurant bar beckoned us in with its warm historic allure, what a lovely place, big, ornate and grand, we settled at the bar and tucked into the bottles of San Miguel, each round was accompanied by a plate of tapas – hmm we could get quite comfortable here. Time sipped by and we had to head down to Atocha station to meet the others and take the 10 minute mainland train to Getafe, a mere 1.35 euros each. What a dump of a place, like an old industrial estate, with an anoying lack of open bars, we crossed the wastelands and eventually found the stadium to buy our 40 euros (rip off) tickets. Thankfully with 90 mintues to go to kick off and the temperature plunging, we found some other CDT fans and tracked down a nice warm bar with a very welcoming barmaid, honestly I was only looking at here bar nibbles.

Into the game and we joined the 300 CDT fans on the freezing terrace, the ground was very open and we were just behind one goal. The game followed a familiar pattern, Tenerife dominating much of the early play but failing to make it pay, Nino went close on the half hour and Richi put the ball in the net only to have it ruled offside – well it was – just. Of course it came back to haunt Tenerife, a few minutes later Sergio failed to hold a cross and Albin bundled the ball in the net for a home lead.

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Another mistake in the second half effectively killed the game, Manolo Martinez tried to take on a Getafe forward instead of clearing the ball and let Albin in for an easy second. Oltra tried his subs and Juanlu, fresh on for Richi, pounced on a home mistake after good work from Nino, to make it 2-1. Tenerife were running out of time but tried hard, the fans continued to spur them on, at least it was a way of keeping warm, but the game was gone.

There were some moments of light relief, when the ball went out of play into a netted moat, a young lad had to fish it out with a net, of course we didn’t make fun of him or give him any abuse – well not much. Trying to get our blood moving again, we marched back to the train station, stopping off for a few beers at a bar, and then on to the city centre again for more beers and the inevitable kebabs. With a view to our 4am taxis to the airport, we headed back to the hotel and indulged in a few late cans while watching the football on tv in our rooms. The early start was tough but we managed it with time to kill at the airport, many of the Canarian lads had crashed overnight at the airport after a heavy session, but thankfully we overcame a 40 minute take off delay as blizzards swept the airport. It was so good to get back to the early morning sun of Tenerife, but I cant wait for the next away game.

Some offers are too good to miss, pre christmas Ryanair flights to Madrid for 26 euros return, to take in a CD Tenerife away, I couldn’t say no. Sitting on the tarmac at Tenerife South airport, waiting an hour for take off due to fog in the Spanish capital, wasn’t the ideal Saturday morning start, but we eventually got the ok.

I was in a group of 7 fine ambassadors from the Armada Sur,we soon found plenty of Canarian friends from the other peñas (fan clubs) some had made an early start on the booze, before boarding. Putting our watches forward an hour after the 2.5 hour flight, we bundled through Terminal 4 and found the Metro, loaded up on tickets and made a couple of changes on the way down to our hotel NH Atocha (another bargain at 30 euros a night)  near the Pacifico stop. Once we were out in the open, the cold started to bite and on went the extra layers, the remains of the fog lingered in the air, but we soon found our hotel and checked in.

Hey, we didn’t just throw this trip together, The General had sussed out that Second Division Rayo Vallecano were at home early evening, so as Kirstie and Nikki went up town to explore museums, the Freezing Five walked through the run down and strangely quiet neighbourhood, looking for bars on the way. Watering holes were scarce so we ended up at a bar near the ground, previously invaded by Tenerife fans last season. As we thawed out, the beer and tapas started flowing, it was fairly empty at first but a hoard of Numancia fans (above) descended, complete with drums and turned up the volume. We of course proudly uncovered our Tenerife colours and both the home and visiting fans were very friendly and welcoming.

Armed with our 15 euro match tickets, we grabbed a last cheeky beer opposite the entrance and took our place on the chilly terracing. Rayo is a 3 sided ground, flats are built at one end, the 11,500 crowd were pretty subdued, only breaking into song once they were 4-1 up well into the second half. We mingled a bit and tried to stop our feet from turning to ice, the Numancia fans up in the corner of one stand, did their best to life the atmosphere but lost heart as their team lost goals.

Heading back to the hotel, the streets had filled up, evening shopping seems the in thing at Rayo, we managed to resisit buying any of the tat on sale at the market stalls. Back at the hotel the girls were happy with their afternoons browsing and ready to join us for night time in the city centre. The metro system is clean and efficient and delivered us quickly to Sol, slap bang in the centre. You can never get enough football, so we found a large lively Irish bar with big screens showing the evenings games and set about demolishing a few cold Coronitas. Hunger was kicking in by this stage, so we found a big kebab restaurant, that worryingly had a huge painting of a horse on the wall-I was assured by those who indulged in a large kebab that the meat seemed true to its menu description.

Madrid is a lively and busy city, especially on a Saturday night, we had a little wander around the main square to take photos and everyone was friendly, enjoying the pre christmas lights , living art displays, and bustle. Three of our party went back to the hotel at a reasonable hour, while we headed to a rock bar, Parada de Los Monstrous, Â a short metro ride away in Iglesia. The beer was reasonable, especially the 6.5 % Yuste, and we even got a seat near the DJ, so we could feed him requests for old classics like New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen,he found most of them. By 2.30am we were flaging, even though the bar was just getting going, so we piled in a taxi and back for some sleep before the big day.