Tenerife

To be perfectly honest the Canary Islands don’t do much for me.  I spent a month there on my very first contract on the Eclipse four years ago and I feel exactly the same towards them today.  I bet if you had time to spend and actually explore the islands and stay for some time that they would be lovely.  It’s the Brit’s version of the Caribbean, and truthfully I think I like the Caribbean better.  All of the other ports in this run are either Portuguese or Spanish and we only visit Tenerife and Gran Canaria for the Canaries.

Actually our first trip here in Tenerife the ship had organized a crew tour to a water park called Siam Park.  Amazing!  Honestly the best water rides I’ve ever been on.  I hadn’t screamed so loud or gotten so much air on an inner tube in a long time.  Even the lazy river has a tunnel you pass through that is a shark tank.  How cool is that?! It was a really fun day with all of my friends acting like kids again.

Now we all know I am a fan of tropical climates, so when I happen upon beautiful tropical gardens I’m pretty much in heaven.  I had intended to spend a day of solo wandering in Tenerife but on my way out, my friend Laura was looking for something to do and decided to tag along.  I just wanted to walk at my own pace and explore the city so we did.  We walked up to a large park full of families and locals because it was a weekend after all.  We could tell we were in a special place and that this wasn’t just any playground (but we did hit up the swings until the little children made us give them a turn).  The park had some immense and impressive statues and fountains spaced throughout the greenery.  It was so well kept and a really beautiful place to spend some time soaking in sun and people watching.

Laura and I walked through the city streets but because it was a Sunday even most of the shopping was closed.  We found the weekend marketplace that was half produce and goods and half garage sale but everyone had started packing up.  So we figured it was best to keep moving and had heard that other crew members were going to be at a pool and walked in that direction.  Now there is a pretty notable building here that has unique architecture similar to that of the Sydney Opera house.  Laura and I had heard the pool was just next door and we found the walking path along the waterfront to take us there.  The building is in fact for concerts and had some great cafes that we stopped back at on the return trip.  To make a long story short, we just went for a walk to the pool to check it out without wanting to swim.  It was very windy and I didn’t have my suit but saved the idea for the following cruise and did indeed make it back for this.  The next cruise turned out to be a perfect pool day and the entrance into this resort style pool was only $2.50 so kind of a no brainer.  

One thing that really struck me about these islands is how similar the landscape looks to Southern California.  The desert mountains made me feel at home and I used them as an inspiration in a later team collaboration piece.  I put a gold topaz background with a rich brown festooned pattern to represent mountain peaks.  Kim created a vibrant green optic pattern representing the fronds of a palm tree and Jeremy worked on color layering for the sea at the bottom.  The team was really proud of the way it turned out and it was well received by the guests on board.