Santa Cruz and a short visit to Candelaria - Tenerife, the diverse island - 9
Canada Blanca hike, drive to Costa Adeje and the lost place Sanatorio de Abona
Arenas Negras hike and stops at the Piedra de la Rosa and the observatory
Sunrise in the Anaga Mountains and a missed sunset at Playa de Benijo
Cruz del Carmen and the coastal hiking trail to Casa Hamilton
Hiking at Mirador de Samara and another visit to the south coast
Long time exposures at the sea and another drive through Teide NP
Mon., 13th Sept. - Santa Cruz and a short visit to Candelaria
Since Freya is feeling better today and we don't expect many stairs in Santa Cruz, she comes with me.
We take our time and leave only around 9 am. The drive to Santa Cruz takes a little more than half an hour and at this time there are no traffic jams even within the city. We park the car in the Meridiano shopping center. This has a fairly large parking garage and is free.
Our first, and main, destination is the Auditorio de Tenerife. The concert hall is located directly on the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the architectural highlights of the Canary Islands. It only takes us about 10 minutes to get there. There is also a large parking lot there, so this could be a good alternative if you only want to visit the auditorium.
We spend quite a while walking around the building and taking photos from different angles. Unfortunately, the staircase that allows you to climb the building is closed. Some of the restrictions by Corona are really strange.
Don't miss taking a view of the wave-breakers at the coastline directly below the auditorium. They are covered with pictures of various musicians - from Beethoven to Madonna.
Finally, we made it and head for the old city center. Not the most pleasant and interesting way. After a while we reached the church "Nuestra Señora de la Concepción". Quite nice from the outside as well as inside, but by far not as impressive as the ones in Andalusia for example.
We stroll a bit through the city center, photograph nice graffiti, and visit a museum store with robots "composed of objects from all corners of the galaxy", as the artist Dr. Zenon writes on his homepage.
Back at the mall, we have lunch at an Asian restaurant outside on the top floor.
Before we're heading home, we drive a little further south. Just 17 km away is the small town of Candelaria. We park directly at the central parking area at the beach and walk to the two main attractions of the village: The church "Basilika Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" and the statues of the chiefs of the former inhabitants. Unfortunately, they are maintaining the waterfront, blocking half of the statues.
Final job of the day on our way back to the hotel is getting something for tomorrow's breakfast. We want to skip the one in the hotel and leave early enough to get parking at the visitor center in Cruz del Carmen.
