Sunday 17 February 2013

Up up and away....

We needed holiday. A holiday in the sun. A holiday which didn't involve thinking about what to have for supper, or food shopping, or making beds, or washing and ironing or anything to do with house finishing/maintaining 
We came to Tenerife and within moments I forgot everything to do with housekeeping
We sat on our balcony and waited for the sun to shine on us
sure enough at 5 in the  evening just before the sun was setting it shone in the bottom right hand corner of our balcony! 
we read our books and kindles
After two attempts I finally read Wolf Hall. I'm so glad I didn't give up. It's a brilliant brilliant book - well deserving of its prize
the view from my sun bed
We enjoyed the night life
We climbed a hill 
and found a chair at the top. Do please excuse the socks and the sandals!  I gave up trying to explain that they are not a good look - but apparently they are comfortable, and talking of comfort I'm going to have a word with the Scottish Tourist Board, they don't provide chairs at any of the tops of  the hills we've climbed back home - and I think the idea could catch on.
Not all of the days were sunny but all of the days were warm
A highlight of the holiday had to be a trip to Mount Teide and the National Park
I resorted to a bit of pushing and shoving to get a window place in the cable car. So resolute was I in keeping my tiny space by the window I clenched my ticket between my teeth - seen in the reflection of the cable car window.
 An extraordinarily beautiful desolate place
The inaccessible pinnacle! You need special  permission to climb the last 200 meters of Mount Teide. We phoned the 'authorities' the day before but missed the deadline by twenty minutes!
One of us was a bit miffed with that and spent  some considerable time muttering and saying 'rubbish' and other things that I couldn't repeat on my blog.
But even if we weren't at the very top it was still incredible, and high and stunning
We found a track going down
but quickly realised just how thin the air was. We were breathless and needed to rest every few yards. Mount Teide is 12,200 ft (3,718 metres) above sea level
We took the cable car back down and picked up the hire car
The landscape is lunar but the feeling of isolation and remoteness receded when we looked back
It was difficult to feel completely alone.
Nevertheless it was simply stunning. Para gliders can take off from here apparently and launch headlong into the sea of clouds
 It felt like we were on top of the world
I just couldn't stop taking pictures
The teide Observatory
From a distance it had a dream like quality.
back down to earth, down through the sea of clouds I loved every minute of Mount Teide and the National Park. It was majestic and bright and blue and beautiful.
We found the best ice cream in the whole wide world - not that our research extended very far, just minutes from the hotel, it was very very good and necessitated a daily trip to the ice cream parlour to check quality control
On the way to the ice cream parlour  we passed here...we never quite worked out what it meant!
the holiday had to end
we flew over a sea of ice cream
We loved our holiday.
When we got home, Jo our daughter had been house sitting. She arranged the towels - swans she said! I never meant to be away from my blog for so long. We have been  busy with visitors, which we love and don't want people to stop coming, but since we moved here five years ago and built the house, we haven't had a real break, a real holiday with nothing to do but read our books. It's good to be back.

12 comments:

S. Etole said...

You always present such beauty. Glad you had a nice holiday.

Diane said...

Hi Annie! So great to see you back! I only said to James today that I was wondering what had happened to you. I'm very glad that you have had a lovely holiday even more delighted to see a photo of you at last. The swans are very cute. Take care. Lots of love, Di
Ps I hope this reaches you as I have been having trouble with my gmail login as so I haven't commented for ages!

A Garden of Threads said...

I am glad you had a fantastic holiday. They make us appreciate home that much more. Thank you for sharing the gorgeous photos.

ADRIAN said...

This is an excellent look round. It brought back many memories.

Lori ann said...

hi annie,

thank you so much for sharing, i loved seeing all these photos, i feel like i've had a mini holiday too! it's good to have a break and it looks like you chose the perfect place. it looks beautiful there, i would have loved the national park too, what a stunning place.
i really liked the ending too, great to see you! and your daughter is so sweet! x lori

http://jackieinsurrey.blogspot.co.uk/ said...

Welcome back, I did wonder where you had gone to!! It is lovely to have some sun and warmth in the Winter and also someone to do the cooking and cleaning. Love the swans!!

ju-north said...

Pleased you have had a complete rest! the holiday looked wonderful!

Linda said...

Good to see you back, and what wonderful photos. A real change of scene - and all that sun! And getting away from 'what to cook' and ever-present housework is a holiday in itself. Not too long until spring now, even in Scotland, so it seems as if your break was well timed.

Mac n' Janet said...

We've never been to the Canaries so thanks for taking us along.

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous holiday - and it brought back memories of our holiday there many, many years ago!

Lucille said...

It's good to see you back. I enjoyed the tour of Tenerife, but do you know, I like your home scenery better!

rachel said...

Oh, the joy of blogging - you get to share wonderful holidays with people! I had never seen Tenerife like this and now want to go....

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