We've been super active, always on the go, so much in fact that there has hardly been a moment to sneak in a post. Monday we vigorously went after some important “to-dos” on the north east side of the island. We crammed a history lesson, shoreline play, architectural exploration, and some fancy shopping into one afternoon as we attacked the areas of Santa Cruz, Playa de las Teresitas and La Laguna.
Hopping off the bus in Santa Cruz was like being dropped in downtown Los Angeles; vast, hectic, and sweltering with loads of traffic. From the bus station, an enormous white scorpion shaped building greeted us by the coast (Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín). We proceeded to cautiously examine it as if the Auditorio was some kind of colossal alien creature. After closer inspection, we discovered that it was a concrete structure covered entirely with small white tile. From the coast we walked to El Corte Ingles, a department store similar to a ten story Macy’s back home. We learned that like in LA, you need a car to really explore Santa Cruz. To get out of the intense heat of the city, we hopped on the next bus bound for the nearest beach - Playa de las Teresitas.

Having been on the North coast for a few weeks now, we are intimately familiar with the local black sand beaches. We were delighted to discover the ultra fine, soft, tan colored sand on the East coast. The only drawback with this wonderful sand is its capacity to exfoliate your skin when you least expect or desire it to. All it needs is just a little gust of wind to take flight - think sandblaster to the face while lying out. After an hour we attempted to dust ourselves off, hopelessly trying to regain that clean feeling we had prior to la playa, and proceeded back to Santa Cruz.

Megan had spotted a Barclay's (our only way to withdrawal cash) along our bus route the to the beach, so we hopped off at the first bus stop on the way back toward town to grab some dinero. The only problem was this stop was still about 2km from the Barclays, so we set off walking - exploring an older, more fascinating part of the city. We passed the Port of Santa Cruz, some really cool old trees on La Rambla General Franco with surnames of famous people hanging from the branches, a few neat statues and fountains, the art museum, and town plaza. Next thing we knew, we were back in front of the bus station.

From Santa Cruz we stopped at the station in La Laguna and headed out, eager to see the islands original capital city. Immediately outside of the bus stop is the University of La Laguna. We were surprised to find it very similar to big college campuses in the US - large buildings, bookstores and as always, lots of bars! We dropped in to a local café for dinner, checked out a few more buildings and landmarks, then bussed it back to Pto. Cruz. The ride back down was incredible; looking out across the ocean through a bus window…the grey sky seamlessly melted into the sea and we couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
Xo,
M&K