Our hotel overlooked the ocean, and we spent most of Saturday afternoon and evening exploring the hotel and the surrounding area.
Carnival is still happening in the bars on Tenerife. Lots of folks passed our dinner table on the way to festivities. Many were in traditional Spanish dresses, but some were in costumes, or other fancy carnival wear.
Sunday morning, we headed out to catch our tour bus. We were part of a small group of visitors - most were from other parts of Spain but there was also one other couple who spoke English and one couple who spoke German. The guide basically gave all of the information in all three languages. It was a good chance to practice my Spanish listening. There was a woman and her mother from northern Spain who I chatted with quite a bit. The mom didn't speak any English and the daughter only spoke a little - so we stuck to Spanish. They are going to Argentina next and will be in Seattle in November. They try to do at least a few big trips every year. The mom is 75 and has two new titanium knees and is enjoying her ability to get around. They stuck to some of the flatter trails, but they seemed to really enjoy the tour.
We were able to walk around lots of trails around the national park - including a couple that were near the top of the volcano that we reached after riding a cable car up. The lava flows made for lots of interesting geologic formations and landscapes.
There is a nice lodge in the center of the park, but at more than 300 dollars a night, we gave it a pass. Much like the national parks in the US, there were lots of cars at many of the popular spots.
The entire tour was about 8 hours. After heading back to the hotel, we cleaned up a little and headed out to dinner. We fell asleep with the sound of waves against the rocks.
This morning, we were up bright and early to catch the bus back to the airport. The trip that only took 30 minutes on Saturday took over an hour this morning with workday traffic. Luckily we gave ourselves plenty of time and made it home without a problem. Sevilla was warm and sunny when we arrived. It felt good to be home. There was a movie shoot happening on the bank of the river all afternoon, they were just packing up the last of it when we took out the trash this evening.
I did some homework Friday, some in Tenerife, and finished up after we got home before class. Tonight I went to the store after class and then did most of tomorrow's homework - but now, I am starting to feel the early morning travel so the rest will have to wait.
