Seen in Passing

Spider Lily - Hymenocallis Littoralis

We still have lovely warm days here in Tenerife, many with high humidity, others with a little sea breeze blowing across my garden. Here are a few photos taken on recent walks around the town.

Passing by a Sunday flea market, I met and chatted with this gentleman from Madrid who was trying out a classical guitar for sale. He said he was on holiday and missed his own guitar so was happy to be able to sit down, borrow the guitar and practise for a few minutes.





Leather bags - real or imitation, are popular in flea markets here.



I bought a pot of thyme from this plant stall. It's one of my favourite herbs so I always have some growing year round in large patio pots.



Headless models display summer dresses.



A stroll by Alvaro's newly furbished tennis and sports centre and Quintana restaurant. There is a well equipped gym, machine and mat Pilates classes and paddle courts as well as tennis and a soccer field there, located in the La Paz area of Puerto de la Cruz.



Doris offers me some German cheesecake when I buy a loaf of bread at the bakery window.



A Canary palm with branches of tiny dates graces a small street garden.



And overhead a paraglider floats into the late afternoon sun.



Thanks for dropping by and hasta la vista!

70 ~ Mallorcan Straw Baskets

I'm so pleased that I found this little market stall last Sunday where Beatriz, who is from Andraitx in Mallorca, was selling Mallorcan straw baskets. I used to live in Mallorca and I carried one of these baskets everywhere.

Called cesto de esparto in Spanish it was one of the first items I bought when I arrived in Spain so many years ago.

It was then the custom to have this carryall filled with life support items such as the local English newspaper (The Mallorca Daily Bulletin) , a bocadillo de queso (a cheese sandwich) in case you were hungry, your bathing suit, towel, a bottle of Trinaranjus (a non-carbonated orange drink), sunglasses and whatever else you felt you needed to survive an afternoon on the beach, a day of shopping or driving around the island.

In another lifetime, in Mallorca with my basket.

The only inconvenience was that the rope handles were scratchy and left red marks on sunburned shoulders when one wore a sleeveless blouse.

But the new models now have soft leather straps as well as short grip handles so you can fill your basket at the market if you wish without ending up with sore shoulders. Other models were lined with plastic.




How they looked way back then, full of fruit and vegetables from Palma market. (photo below)


Next year plastic bags will no longer be given out in supermarkets and I think it's a good and long overdue measure, given the statistics on the fish and marine animals who are being killed by tons of plastic floating in our oceans.

So now is a good time to find your alternatives. I know from experience how useful these big straw baskets can be. I chose the one on the right in the photo below, with both the long and short handles which Beatriz models in the first photo above.


So if you are in Tenerife and visit the El Medano market on a Saturday or are in Puerto de la Cruz on a Sunday, look for Beatriz in the flea market at the Spar parking lot in La Paz, and say 'Bon Dia' (Catalan/Mallorquin for Buenos Dias) to her from the lady who used to live in Mallorca. And have a good look at these baskets which never seem to wear out.


Link to my post about these baskets on my other blog about Mallorca.

So that's all for today. Thanks for the visit and ¡Hasta la Vista!

62 ~ Sunday Flea Market

South American pan pipe player

Every Sunday there is a flea market held in the parking lot of one of the local supermarkets.


So far I have seen only one stall that sells what could be called 'flea worthy' since it's the only one that sells second hand goods.


The rest sell inexpensive tourist oriented souvenirs and clothing, handcrafted and new costume jewellery, and inexpensive handbags.


However it is interesting to drop by there on my way to pick up a loaf of bread at the bakery to see if anything new has been added.

South American wooden dolls and artifacts


Some of the silver and mother of pearl shell jewelery is quite attractive.

I've read about Argan Oil from Morocco. It's one of the world's rarest oils and its production is labour intensive, extracted by hand by Berber women. I wondered though how authentic this bottle of oil could be seeing as it was being sold in a flea market. Hmmmm.

There's never a shortage of T-shirts to buy in Tenerife!

Nor is there a shortage of handbags made in all materials.





Here below a local Canary woman demonstrates the typical open-stitch embroidery of the island.



This girl is selling jewellery.
Notice her beautiful long hair.



As I leave I stop to take a photo of one of the beautiful little Flamboyant trees (Delonix Regia) with their wide, horizontal spreading branches.

Well time to get that bread and return home to start on our Sunday dinner. Hasta la Vista!

32 ~ Sunday Flea Market

(click photos to enlarge)

Every Sunday in the La Paz area of Puerto de la Cruz, there's a flea market held in the parking lot of Supermarket 2000 (now known as Spar) from 9 am to 2 pm. I arrived there a little late, when some of the stall owners were already packing up. But as the Supermarket is open all day, I wanted to combine shopping for a few things for lunch with a look at the flea market.
Here are some impressions:

















Well I didn't buy anything today, but maybe next time I'll look for a little shoulder bag just big enough for toting around my mini pocket point and shoot camera and perhaps a string of pretty purple beads to go with a new spring floral blouse. So I'll probably be back here again next Sunday.

17 ~ The Flea Market

(click to enlarge photos)

Today I went down to the municipal market where the weekly Saturday flea market (rastro in Spanish) is held outdoors on the forecourt and on the roof terrace. I was not one of the early birds because I like to sleep in Saturday mornings without having to set the alarm clock. So after a late breakfast I arrived just before noon when throngs of tourists and locals were perusing the goods offered on open tables. The day was overcast but warm and I was glad I hadn't worn a jacket or woolen sweater.
Note: The branch of pink blossoms in the foreground is from a little tree called Bauhinia Variegata, originally from India and in English called 'pink camel's foot'.

I was surprised at the number of people though and believe that some of them must have come on tour buses from other parts of the island.

I was attracted to the silver spoons and indigo edged porcelain, but I know that I really don't need them any more than the person who gave them up for sale. More spoons and dishes require more cupboard space and I would rather eliminate some of my rarely used items than gather more. But they are lovely to look at and photograph.

I saw many people bending over tables carefully scrutinizing the smaller items but I saw only one person make a purchase while I was there.

I overheard one market seller comment to a friend that business was very slow, so it looked as though many people just came to browse. Here is a display of used furniture and other bric-a-brac. Obviously tourists would not be buying anything from there, since they come to the island by plane.


The stamp and coin collections are always popular, at least for those who like to look through them. I saw some old five peseta paper bills which I remember from my earliest years in Spain. They were later replaced with coins and still later eliminated all together when Spain joined the European community and adopted the new money. It was rather nostalgic to say goodbye to the old peseta currency. I even like the word peseta better than euro. Peseta has such a Hispanic ring to it.

I approached the main market entrance, and went inside to look around. This area as well was thronged with people sitting at the small cafe, resting or milling around, glancing at expositions of tablecloths, clothing or handicraft items. Everyone welcome unless you were a dog!


I went to have a look at the stamp display of a man who said he was a collector and not a vendor. He seemed to be quite busy though with people who were interested in what he had on show. I'm sure he came to barter and trade with other like-minded people who shared his hobby. He said he was there every Saturday at the same place, and like me, he didn't like to get up early on a Saturday, so if anyone wanted to contact him, it had to be after 10 am.


Since I needed some vegetables for making our Sunday dinner I stepped on the escalator and went up to the second floor. It was also very busy there, but the displays of fruit and vegetables were a treat for the eyes. As is my custom, I walked first around the perimeter without buying to have a look at what was offered in each stall.


Here were lemons, chayotas and potatoes. Chayotas are a soft-skinned green vegetable with a mild, subtle flavour used often here in soups and stews. They grow quickly on sprawling vines which I once had in my garden and had to remove before they engulfed my other plants.


In the fish stall, a Moray eel lies between sardines, red mullet and other locally caught fish.


A gourmet shop exhibits a varied selection of olive oils and herbs.

Inside are imported European ecological products.


A line has formed outside a German deli offering wurst, sausages, pickles and potato salads as well as other typically German foods.


After I made my purchases of new potatoes, green spring onion, tomatoes, cucumber and sweet orange yams, I headed back downstairs to the outdoor forecourt. It was almost one pm and the flea market was quite deserted. The vendors were packing their goods into small vans and it was time for me to drive home.


I know that if I were to come here more often I would have to buy a second refrigerator! I cannot resist the bright colours and fresh scents of the fruits and vegetables on display and want to buy a little of each one. At least we are then obliged to have our five vegetables or salads every day, which can only be a good thing!

These photos were taken with the small point & shoot Olympus Stylus 800 camera.