“You had your time, you had the power, You’ve yet to have your finest hour “

Sometimes going through the entrance of the Los Cristianos Cultural Centre is like passing through a space/ time vortex. You never know what will greet you, at the moment there is an exhibition of Scandinavian culture, mainly paintings, but there are also photo displays and talks over the next few days. This is very understandable as Los Cristianos owes its early discovery as a tourist destination to ailing Scandinavian visitors coming to reap the benefits of the sunny climate.

That does little to explain to me why there is currently a small exhibition of some 10 antique radios and radiograms, just inside the entrance. They are the old valve powered type with the big dial type faces that list all the bizarre foreign stations that could be picked up. Sadly they were not plugged in so that eerie glow (if they still work) could not work it’s magic.

“I’d sit alone and watch your light, My only friend through teenage nights”

My parents still have a radiogram (that’s a cunning combination of a radio and gramaphone – record player to you) it’s a huge long wooden cabinet with a speaker at each end, and a radio that received VHM, Long, Medium and Short Wave. It has long since been gutted and now the shell is all that remains, the inside stores DVD’s, talk about rubbing in its lack of modern relevance!

My how times have changed, when I was younger (so much younger than today) I got a hand held transistor radio for passing my Eleven Plus exams (you what?) and I thought I was Mr Cool cos I had this modern technology. It was a more innocent time and I could get away with telling friends I had gone to bed early to cuddle a tranny, or even that I spent many hours twiddling my knob to get turned on – nowadays someone might take it all the wrong way.

Anyway, back to the Cultural Centre, I found a small leaflet that explained that the antique radios are from a collector, Vladimiro Regalado Armas from Calle Las Cuevas in Guaza. It didn’t make clear whether he has a shop or it is a private collection – I wonder how many more he has? So if you pop in to the Cultural Centre, I would ask you mere youngsters not to pour scorn on these outdated relics, and anyone of a certain age, maybe you could lean a little closer and just whisper a few words of encouragement like “Radio, what’s new? Radio, someone still loves you“ I promise I will come and visit you in the little room with the rubber wallpaper.

How many ways can the waves meet the shore, you might as well ask how many shades and hues the sea has, or how many shapes and textures do the rocks have.  All these questions occupied my little pea brain today as I took a stroll along the coastal path from Alcala to El Varadero, on the west coast of Tenerife.

It must be at least a year since I followed this delightful route, so after a refreshing cold drink at the plaza in Alcala, I set about retracing my steps. When I worked for The Tenerife Sun from their office in this small fishing village, I would take a swim in the bay each dinner time. A couple of years ago it was given a spruce up and a protective dyke added to calm the waves, and new easier entry points were added into the water. There was a healthy number of bathers taking a dip today, and a few lone anglers perched on rocky outcrops.

Rounding the first point, the influence of the huge and luxurious Palicio de Isora Hotel is soon felt, the walkways have been widened and made safer, a good thing for walkers, but at a cost of large concreted seating areas added to please the tourists. This last long weekend was one of the major Spanish holidays and would normally have attracted a big influx from the mainland and the north of Tenerife, but this year it was very quiet. The hotel pool was hardly disturbed by a ripple, and only a handful of guests loitered around the edge, given the place a slightly eerie and empty air.

The newly sanitised area soon gave way to the more rugged path as shingle and stones guided me down the crescent bank and along the waters edge. The waves were mighty and rolling in majestically, the hot sun and blue sky meant clear views out to La Gomera, interupted only by the odd passing boat. There is a point where the shore line plunges down a little into the rock pools and I had to clamber around the edge to pick up the path again, it has a reassuring wildness to it and I could see that since my last visit some of the path edge had subsided, but there are plenty of variations to mix and match with some careful footwork.

Coming up the other side and back on wider walkways, I was in the area where campers used to descend in vans every holiday, it’s strictly illegal but enforcement was always a bit half hearted, in recent years there has been a clamp down but the tell tale tyre tracks showed that at least a few had pushed their luck. This stretch leads to Punta Blanca, a wild stretch of coast favoured by surfers, and sure enough there were a few bobbing like corks out at sea, gripping their boards and waiting for the big wave.

The land along here used to be filled with banana plantations but as prices dropped and foreign competition rose, the fields were abandoned but the sturdy plants are still standing firm in some quarters, and the old border walls are crumbling but just about holding their own. The views here are wonderful as the cliffs of Los Gigantes appear in the distance. The coastal path and the main road start to converge but there are still a few twists and turns before surfacing in El Varadero. The walk took me about an hour, going at a leaisurely pace and stopping to snap photos at every new natural wonder.

Keeping christmas tucked away at the back of my mind, I’m out and about looking for new stories for www.tenerifemagazine.com . As well as bringing you all the best articles from Tenerife we also have some great competitions, we’ve just given away a weeks holiday at Sands Beach Resort in Lanzarote, and have now lined up a week at Pearly Grey Resort in Callao Salvaje, on the west coast of Tenerife.

Pearly Grey is a lovely place, perched on the cliff top looking out to La Gomera, and they have a great range of restaurants, bars, a gym, a sauna and a sun trap pool area. The prize is a one bedroom 5 star apartment with a sea view, on a self catering basis. It couldn’t be easier to enter, just join the Tenerife Magazine Facebook group ( many of you are already members) and we also need you to sign up to Pearly Grey’s Ingane Yami charity page  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ingane-Yami/158647944443?ref=ts This is a special project to build a village for AIDS orphans in Durban, South Africa.

After those 2 little clicks you can sit back and wait to see if you are the lucky winner, and you will also be settled in nicely into our Facebook group for future competitions. The draw will be made on 11^th January 2010, and is for a one bedroom luxury self catering apartment for one week. The prize is valid for one year, subject to availability, and is not exchangeable for cash. Good luck, and don’t forget to spread the word about www.tenerifemagazine.com it’s the only way to keep me out of mischief.

Life doesn’t get much better, CD Tenerife back to winning ways, Nino looking sharp and scoring goals, and CDT up in 12th position in La Liga, hmm wonder why my head hurts this morning. Coach Oltra surprised many people by recalling Hector to left back to replace the suspended Bellvis, but he played a strong part in this tremendous 2-1 home win over Sporting Gijon.

The game was just 2 minutes old when the 19,281 crowd erupted as Tenerife seemed to take the lead. Sicilia headed the ball at the goal and it looked to have crossed the line before former Tenerife goalie Juan Pablo clawed it back, the referee was having none of it and waved play on. Within a minute Sporting took the lead, Diego Castro beat Juanlu and fired the ball past Sergio for an early lead.

Tenerife reacted well and fought hard to control the game, Mikel Alonso was having another great game in midfield and Ricardo was on top of his game, spreading intelligent passes to pick out his team mates. Nino had a couple of chances but couldn’t quite convert them, it was clear that he was feeling more confident and looking like the player that led the scoring charts last season. Oltra got banished to the stands after 19 minutes, the referee said afterwards that he was shouting and screaming too much – sensitive soul.

Tenerife dominated the second half, Ricardo beat his marker and unleashed a goal bound strike from outside the area to level the scores after 54 minutes. Angel was brought on for Kome to add to the attack as Tenerife went in search of the winner. It soon came when Nino shrugged off the defence and fired a hard shot past Juan Pablo from an acute angle to make it 2-1. There was only one team in it now, Sporting couldn’t match Tenerife’s hunger and hard work, Angel had 3 decent chances to increase the lead, the nest just before the final whistle.

The several hundred Sporting fans went home empty handed, but for Tenerife fans it was another convincing victory. Next Sunday is Getafe away, I will be in Madrid for the weekend with a large selection of hand picked ambassadors for our island, confidence is high, even if the temperature will be chillingly low.

It took CD Tenerife 60 minutes and a 3-0 deficit to realise that Valladolid are a poor team, but after that they roared back to draw 3-3 for their first away point of the season. This was a weird game, Tenerife were awful in the first half and looked like they had given up before they started, in the end they will be able to draw a huge confidence boost from a spirited fightback.

Tenerife looked supect down their left side from the start and Valladolid exploited that, a 5th minute raid by Costa went all the way to the goal line before a frantic CDT clearance. Another break followed but this time Sergio Aragoneses was there to make a great save. Omar and Alfaro were having quiet games leaving Nino with a lot to do on his own but he had a good charge after 17 minutes but ran into a defensive wall. Just before the half hour Valladolid took the lead, Costa shrugged off Bellvis and Alonso trying to cover the middle, and powered through to score.

A few minutes later it got worse, Alonso fouled Canobbio in the box and he slotted home his penalty. Nino had 2 more chancs before half time, the best a header from a great Omar cross, but Tenerife could hardly complain at going in 2-0 down. Valladolid started the second half strongly with 3 good shots on goal, Sergio’s point blank save again saved his team mates but Costa rose above the Tenerife defence to make sure the next chance brought a goal.

This was looking very bad, thankfully CDT dug deep and came back into the game, coach Oltra brought on Angel for Omar and it livened up the attack. Nino took advantage of a defensive mix up to nip in and pull one back, Alfaro spurned a clear chance soon after, but the home side were looking jittery. Tenerife broke forward again, this time Angel was sharp and made it 3-2, he nearly followed up with another but his final touch let him down. With 5 minutes left  Ayoze’s cross beat the defence and an attempted header by Luna and tied the scores at 3-3. There was time for more drama, Luna got a second yellow card and was off, and Angel sliced a shot wide after good play from Nino. After such a poor start, Tenerife will be feeling they could have shaded it 4-3, still a point is very welcome.

Next Sunday Sporting Gijon visit Santa Cruz for a 4pm kick off, and the week after we will hope for that elusive first away win at Getafe, I will be there with a selection of other hand picked ambassadors for Tenerife, can’t wait.

Some days you don’t always get what you are after, but there are always consolations. I headed up to La Laguna via Santa Cruz, to try to track down British artist Dave McKean. This talented chap from Maidenhead is an accomplished painter, illustrator and photographer, but famous as a comic book artist. I had heard the name vaguely, he wrote a series called Batman, Arkham Asylum. The La Laguna connection was as a photo artist with an exhibition called Pholk, at the Estudio Artizar, his website is being revamped so I couldn’t contact him, and just took a chance of an interview for www.tenerifemagazine.com . I soon found out that Dave is back in the UK freezing, so I purused his work at the small quaint gallery, an old traditional Canarian house. The photos are all based on traditional English dance fiqures, but with a bizarre twist added – interesting. You have till 12 December if you want to check out the work.

That could have been a blow to my day but Great Aunt Matilda always said “a day spent exploring is a day not wasted” that was just before she was shot for trespassing. So crossing the Calle San Augustin to the old convent of San Agustin, I sought out some more art at the exhibition hall. Rosa Munoz was the artist and as soon as I entered the hall, her paintings hit me, bright vibrant colours, all based on living scenes, some in a living room and some in a rural setting, but all boosted by screaming, loud colour – I liked that. For this show, you have unitl 10 December – both exhibitions are FREE.

Christmas is just a month away, time to plant the poinsettias, there were a few of these gorgeous red and yellow plants around La Laguna, but back in Santa Cruz, the borders and flower beds were bulging with them. Although a well worn christmas tradition, poinsettias are known in Spain as Flores de Pascua (Easter Flowers) , Santa Cruz council has bedded in 87, 112 of them, mainly red, but some yellow for contrast, there are also 3.500 persian violets adorning hanging baskets. Parque Garcia Sanabria was looking and smelling  particularly fragrant, especially the flower clock.

Santa Cruz port is always one of my stop off points, always some interesting ships in, and yesterday it was one of the smaller vessels taking centre stage. Petrel is a drug enforcement ship for the Agencia Tributuria, tracking down smugglers, and confiscating their loads. Since it launched in 1995, Petrel has carried out 47 major operations including in the waters off Venezuela, Brazil and even southern England. Their haul has included 84,000 kilos of cocaine, 8,000 kilos of hachis, and 725,000 packets of cigarettes, I bet their christmas party is pretty lively. Oh well that will do for another day, hopefully my next visit will see the christmas shopping frenzy in full swing.

Sometimes in Tenerife, getting up on a Sunday morning can seem like hard work, but usually it is self inflicted. Here’s a rallying cry to stir yourselves and make a special effort for Sunday 13 December for an 11am start to do the Walk For Life, the annual breast cancer charity appeal. It’s just 3.5 kms from Mediterranean Palace to Sal Y Tien plaza, both in Playa de Las Americas, and the dress code is – wear something pink.

This is where I hold my hand up and say, I wont be there, due to a previous booking in Madrid to see Getafe v CD Tenerife, otherwise I would have done the walk armed with my camera for www.tenerifemagazine.com . I had the pleasure last week to meet one of the organisers of the Walk For Life , Gina Case, who broke off from hot footing the streets to deliver posters, to explain events. It’s the 4th year of the Walk in Tenerife, last year 2,000 walkers raised 20,000 euros to split between Spanish cancer charity AECC and Tenerife breast cancer charity Amate.

The walk unites both Spanish and British communities in Tenerife, and at the start and finish of the walk, there will be music and coverage in both languages. I also spoke to a British lady I know, who has recent personal experience of cancer, and her story gives a very encouraging and uplifting insight into cancer treatment in Tenerife, please have a look at www.tenerifemagazine.com

Ok here is the hard sell, the Walk For Life is free and everyone is invited, they would like you to make at least a nominal donation or better still get yourself sponsored. Don’t think that this event doesn’t concern you as it is driven mainly by breast cancer, the AECC deals with all varieties of the disease. Cancer can strike anyone at any time, supporters of CD Tenerife are well aware of this as our goalkeeper Sergio Aragoneses has fought off two bouts of testicular cancer, and is now fully recovered and playing some of the best games of his life, in La Liga.

For more information on the Walk For Life  and sponsorship forms check the website or call 600821100 and if you intend to pop along on the day, pledge your support at Facebook.

This was a much better performance from Tenerife, but Sevilla looked a class act full of skill, speed and power, but they were still a little lucky to win 2-1. The pre match signs weren’t good Kome (injured) and Alfaro (his loan forbids him playing against his parent club) were missing and Sevilla were in a hot vein of form. Just before kick off there was a minutes silence for German goalkeeper Robert Enke, on loan at Tenerife in 2003, whose depression fuelled suicide shocked football.

From the off Sevilla showed their attacking flair, former Spurs and West Ham forward Kanoute dominated up front and speedy wingers Perotti and Navas were a constant threat on the flanks. Tenerife coach Oltra had another go at filling the problem right back slot, this time putting Luna there, and he had a torrid time. Mikel Alonso came back in midfield and had a great game for the home side, directing play and prompting his team mates.

Konko went close in the 2nd minute heading past the Tenerife goal and Kanoute had a great chance 10 mins later but fired it at Sergio Aragoneses in the CDT goal. Mikel forced a save with an ambitious long shot as Tenerife matched their 3rd placed visitors. Sevilla turned on the style at the half hour mark, Bellvis lost the ball at left back and Navas nipped in and cantered down the flank before crossing for Perotti to score. Ricardo ended the first half, forcing a save out of the Sevilla keeper.

Tenerife raised their game in the second half, Juanlu headed wide and Nino was flattened in the box, but no penalty was given. Sevilla made it 2-0 with a thunderbolt from Renato, and Tenerife were facing a near impossible task. That didn’t deter them, Nino was isolated up front but seemed to be relishing the challenge, showing some of his old confidence, he blasted a strong shot just wide and the 20,552 crowd responded, urging a hopeful revival.

Sevilla were always dangerous on the break due to their lighning reflexes, Navas fired a shot high over the Tenerife goal. Tenerife stuck to their task and got their reward after 74 minutes, Juanlu came in from the right and set up Nino who struck the ball perfectly to pull a goal back. Tenerife tried to get a deserved equaliser but Sevilla sat on their lead as the game ticked away. With just a few minutes to go Luna picked up a booking that will sideline him for next Sundays game at Valladolid, but Tenerife showed enough character and determination in this game to give then renewed encouragement for the next few games.

Music, wine and food, what more could you ask for (without being rude) if you take a stroll down to the promenade in Los Cristianos on a Thursday evening, you will find all of these at the Canarias Folk Fest, Arona council have started these weekly gatherings all the way through to 25 March 2010.

The first shock I got was they started bang on time at 8pm, that’s not very traditional, everything starts late here, in fact we are expecting Christmas Day some time next April. There was a large gathering and the restaurants were all benefiting from the interest, there was a real buzz about the seafront. The musiacal action centred on a small stage in the plaza where the fisherwomans statue holds court. Singers and musicians in full Canarian costume were belting out some fine tunes as dancers glided across the cobbles.

There is a whole range of dances, described in the official tourism leaflet, here is one example, the Folias. “A dance of love, it is slow and unhurried. The young men show their respect towards the ladies and never touch them.” Wow that sounds just like the scene in a Newcastle nightclub, well almost. As well as the music there is a row of food outlets, selling sauces, cakes biscuits, and of course local wine, all with plenty of FREE samples.

The entertainment lasted for just over an hour and ended with a volley of fireworks. It’s a good initiative to boost the local economy, tourists learn about culture and tradition, while Canarians learn that it takes a brave person to stand between a Brit and free food.

Ahoy me old ship mates, this is Captain Colin here fresh back from Santa Cruz, it was awash with tourists from Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain, as 5 cruise liners docked. It was too good an opportunity to miss, so armed with my camera and notebook I stalked the streets of the capital looking for a story for www.tenerifemagazine.com .

The ships were lined up nicely at the far side of the port, trouble was security guards were posted at the entrance to the area where they were moored, so I had to be content with pics from the ferry reception building. The biggest of all the ships, MSC Fantasia has called in before, but still looks impressive with its 18 decks, 3,274 passengers, and money oozing out of every port hole. The Grand Mistral weighed in with 1,100 passengers, the Astor 590, a 4 mast sailing yacht, Sea Cloud with about half that, and Island Escape adding another 1,690 floating wallets. Personal service is the order of the day on board these ships, so crew numbers only lag slightly behind the paying public.

Thankfully the weather behaved, leaving me to chase passengers around the streets of Santa Cruz with a big net, it just needed the Benny Hill music in the background and it would have been perfect. A lot of passengers didn’t want to talk, probably thought I was selling something, and others pretended to speak French or Italian just to get rid of me, probably from Scunthorpe but good at accents. At least a few were chatty, give it a few days and you can read the full article at www.tenerifemagazine.com , we are cramming so many stories in at the moment, some have to adopt a stacking formation and wait for a space to become available.

All this activity didn’t keep me away from my favourite food places, I nearly always have some churros de pescado (fish in batter) at the Plaza del Principe cafe, and it would be rude not to have some coffee and chocolate doughnuts along the way. All the streets were busy with beggars and artists, some are a pain, but I can’t resist stopping to watch the living statues, and the reactions they get from startled members of the public when they suddenly move.

I was ready to make my way back down south, this time along the Avenida Maritima, the dock front road, but loud music and gathered crowds alerted me to the slip road bordering the docks, brightly coloured race cars were gathering for the Tenerife Rally. All 96 entrants were going through last minute checks before Friday nights 3 quickfire stages could take place in Arico, Icor and Fasnia.

Feast you eyes on this Porsche 911 997 GT3 , I’m told it is favourite to win the Tenerife Rally after the 2 further Saturday runs on the same 3 routes. The driver is Santiago Concepcion Acosta from La Palma and his co pilot Nazer Ghuneim Olivares. I must be honest and say that the technical wizardry of the cars is lost on me, but I did appreciate the dolly girls dishing out the race programmes. The full article is already up on www.tenerifemagazine.com and you still have until the end of November to win a weeks holiday at Sands Beach Resort in Lanzarote, by joining the Tenerife Magazine Facebook group, get in there.