Walking To The Plaza

I'd better get these photos from last Sunday up on the blog because it's Sunday again tomorrow and my walking friend and I, a lady from my Pilates class,  intend to walk down to the town again for the last day of carnival here.  Actually we walk for the exercise but it will be an added attraction to see the crowds, the costumes, the food and hear the music, even though it's usually blaring out at so many decibels that it can probably be heard in the next town.

We start with walking down many many stairs.  I was aching a little the next day!
Good exercise for your calf muscles, but maybe not so good for your knees

When nearly at bottom we get a glimpse of the sea and cliffs covered with palms and cactus.

Down in the town we pass by Calle La Hoya, now a pedestrian street, formerly a very congested road where early morning traffic jams and car horns were a cacophony of sound. 
Thankfully it's now a quiet shopping street with no traffic.

As we near the main plaza the crowds become more dense.  There were competitions of childrens' costumes that morning. The air was a little chilly but the sun was out. 

Down in the plaza  people were sitting where they could to have a lunch or drink.  The
outdoor cafes were full and one was lucky to find a free table. Music was blaring from a live band.

We were lucky to find a seat at a little churinguito....a provisional eatery set up for carnival.
There were typical tapas of jamón serrano, cheeses, paella, Spanish olives and hot dishes.

The waiter begins to slice the serrano ham for a tapas plate.
These are the cured hams that are mounted on a frame to hold them while they are being sliced.
Serrano ham is nearly always included in a selection of tapas, along with cheese and olives.

And here are a couple of paellas being prepared and served along with a huge pan of potato with onion, garlic, green & red pepper slices, called Patatas A Lo Pobre , or roughly 'poor man's potatoes', although there's nothing poor about the flavour.  It's one of my favourite dishes, and is seen cooking on the far side of the photo.

Mmmm...here's one paella still cooking to reduce the broth, while the waiter above serves from one which is ready and garnished with lemon slices, shrimp and mussels.

My friend and I manage to find a couple of empty seats at the churinguito.  I had paella and she had baked green peppers. The other sidewalk cafes were also filled with people enjoying the food and carnival atmosphere,  and the music blared on!

Here's a little video I made that day.  I'm afraid I need to practise a lot more at taking videos. But you can get an impression of the atmosphere and a lesson on how to slice the ham!

Thanks for dropping by.  See you soon....¡hasta la vista!

Carnival in Puerto de la Cruz

This year the carnival celebrations of Puerto de la Cruz have 'recycling' as the theme.

And so the poster announcing the festivities, designed by Anoniman, shows a face decorated with random bits of metal objects to demonstrate that even a few screws and loose nuts can be made into a costume for carnival.

and this year the carnival queen of Puerto de la Cruz is Virginia Molina Marrero.

 The first runner up or 1st dama de honor is Carolay Garrido Rodriguez, pictured below:

Credits for these photos go to the photographers of the official carnival websites.

The main parade in Puerto de la Cruz will be on Saturday, February 25 and there will also be another day carnival in the streets on the next day, Sunday February 25 from 10:30 am.

I will probably be down in the plaza to join the crowds.

I'll be back next with my street photos from last Sunday. 
Thanks for dropping by and ¡hasta la vista!

Mouse in The Oven

We've had a mouse living in the warming oven at the bottom of my big oven for some time!

I haven't turned on the main oven for about a year to do any large scale baking or roasting as I have a smaller countertop oven that does the job just as well. We found bits of the insulation of the big oven laying on the floor of the warming oven (which is underneath at floor level) ) as well as dry cat food pellets behind the sofa in the living room!

Behind the stove we also found a small potato and an eggshell both of which displayed chew marks.

Minnie, the cat, who loves to jump at anything that moves, especially lizards, hadn't shown the slightest interest in hunting down the little creature, but we did see her sniffing at floor level in unexpected places, so we knew we had an uninvited guest in the house.

We bought a humane trap in the hardware shop, one of those little cages with a spring trap door and after being sure that there wasn't a single crumb of food to be found on the floor or countertops of my kitchen, I laid the trap with bits of dry catfood in a piece of mesh. Waited two nights with no luck. So I added a piece of fresh ham....another two nights with no luck. Then I bought some English cheddar and put a small chunk on the bait hook. Waited one night and then.....VOILA...this morning at 7 am I found our little intruder frightened and inside the cage.

So as soon as it was light I covered the cage with a towel, put him in the trunk of the car and drove him down to where the waste ground begins, where walkers begin the trek to Bollulo Beach, and where the wind gliders jump off the cliff over north Puerto de la Cruz.

I chose a thick bush under which some birds were scampering along the ground, bent down and lifted the trap door.

Little creature hesitated a moment until he realized the door was open.
He then ran under the bush and disappeared.

The moral of the story is .....nothing tastes as good as a mature English cheddar cheese!!!!

But also.....when you trap and release a mouse (or rat) be sure and take him a good distance away.
Two kilometers has been recommended as a safe distance, to avoid them returning to visit you again!

After checking out Google images, I take him to be a HOUSE MOUSE also known as MUS MUSCULUS.


And be careful not to leave dishes of dry food pellets around the house for your dog or cat.
But if you do, and begin to find mounds of dry food in strange places, then you know you are feeding an uninvited pet.

And if you have one of these....or similar.....they are called in Spanish:

mouse.......ratón

rat.............rata

(He looks quite cute doesn't he!)

Bye for now.......¡ hasta la vista!

Walking Downtown

A warm May morning when shops are just opening and all is fresh.

Calle Iriarte (Puerto de la Cruz)

Playa Martianez

Calle Iriarte

There is always something new to see and even a walk a day doesn't reveal all.

Thanks for dropping by.  Do come again and until then, ¡Hasta la Vista!

More Local Scenery

Viewpoint in La Paz, Puerto de la Cruz

Continuing to upload here some of the local scenery from this February.

The Lido downtown at Martianez Beach

Outside my window - female blackbird

Our front garden

El Duranzo and Las Arenas

Our back garden and Tigger

A good time was had by all last Sunday at Alvaro's tennis club jazz barbecue event.

I sat with friends and classmates from our Pilates group.

We had a lovely meal and the music was great.

Here's one of my photos along with a video clip of the jazz group made by John Debnam:

Abundant smoke can be seen in the clip from the BBQs cooking down at ground level!

There were papas arrugadas, those wrinkled Canary Island potatoes with mojo sauces, salads, sausages, chicken and pork steaks, flan dessert, wine and beer.

I'll post more of my photos from this day in the next entry.

Thanks for dropping by, and ¡hasta la vista!

Street Scenes and The Weather Report

 Lookout in La Paz, Tenerife

I've been doing a daily weather column in a local forum since last year and along with the current weather conditions in my area of North Tenerife I include photos taken the same morning and the previous afternoon.

The Teide in February

This is my own choice to include photos but it does give an impression of the general climate and atmosphere of this part of the island.  It also requires me to get out and walk around each day, including days when I'm not in the mood for an outing, even if it's just in my own garden. So the weather report does have a beneficial effect on me as well.

 The Lido at Downtown Puerto de la Cruz & Martianez Beach

  But living in this wonderful climate, it doesn't take much prompting to get me outdoors walking around with the camera, or jumping in the car, driving somewhere and stopping to take photos.  I really do enjoy it.  So I should include some of those picture here, even though they are for the most part just casual snapshots, albeit taken with some thought.

So here are a few of my daily photos taken with my small pocket point and shoot Panasonic Lumix.  I'll continue in future to include some of these daily street and garden scenes to show this lovely part of Tenerife island.

This young lady didn't know I was photographing her as she was taking a photo of the sleeping cat:

Thanks for dropping by.  Do come again.  ¡Hasta la Vista!

Downtown

Fishermens' Harbour - Puerto de la Cruz

 Sometimes downtown refers to a beach or shoreline.  So it is here where the activity of the town revolves around the central plaza, Plaza del Charco,  located just a stone's throw from the small fishermens' harbour.  So close that people mingle and stroll from the plaza to the harbour to have a look out to sea, perhaps to see some newly caught specimens of fish, often cleaned and sold right there on the shore. On this day at the end of October the water was calm and the air warm.  Enough for several bathers to sit on the stony beach in the sun and test the waters.

Here the old customs house, now converted into a government  tourism office and handicraft shop.

And here the meeting place of many who love to sit and watch the movement, read a paper, dine, have coffee or a wine and tapa with friends:  Plaza del Charco.

 

And here the central pond and childrens' playground.  There are always plenty of pigeons to feed.

 Nearby streets are crowded with little restaurants with their tables outside on the sidewalk.

This past week there has been a three continent handicraft fair, showing arts and crafts from South American countries, Cuba, Mexico, Africa and Canary Islands.  My next entry will show photos from this event.

Baskets from Peru

So thanks for dropping by and hope to see you again.  Until then, hasta la vista!