russia: st petersburg and the ice fantasy

At some point during the fall I found a list of ice festivals around Russia, one of these festivals was supposed to take place in St. Petersburg. Since I knew I'd be happy to go back to that city, I told Claire about it and she was keen to join up.

We had a hard time finding information about the festival, as it wasn't mentioned in my guidebook. Not only was it not in the guidebook, there was no current information online. We ended up choosing the dates for the trip based on the listed dates of previous years, and hoped the festival would be taking place. 

The train I booked arrived at 0615 Saturday morning, at a train station closer to the edge of the city. It was quite a bit further out than the station at which I'd arrived for my first trip. Since we'd arrived pretty early, and we both like walking, we didn't mind a long walk to our accomodation.

We were rather surprised by the weather when we arrived. It was the end of January, but there was no snow on the ground, just the occasional patch of slush or mud. So far I was totally disappointed by my first Russian winter, it hadn't been nearly as cold or nearly as snowy as I'd been led to expect.

As we walked we took the occasional night photo. My favourite was while we crossed a bridge, I was able to capture some of the ice on the surface of the river.

Eventually we arrived at our hotel, and were able to check in straightaway. This ended up being a good thing and a bad thing. We warmed up and relaxed, but spent far too long doing so. Oh well. It was during this time that I figured out what I'd forgotten to bring along for this trip: a plug with which to charge my electronics. Argh. I always forget one thing, sometimes that thing is more important than other times. 

When we started walking, we walked along one of the city's many canals, arriving at our first sight of the weekend: the Hermitage. It was originally a royal palace, and still looks it. This particular building sits on one side of a huge platz, an important gathering place for people of the city. We noticed that buses are not allowed in the platz, which I think is awesome.

The Hermitage is the second largest museum in the world, with a LOT of display space. It was established in the mid 18^th century, so it is already more than two centuries old. The (main) ticket covers the whole museum, which is spread out quite a bit.

We arrived early enough in the day that there was no queue, yahoo! We bought tickets from the convenient vending machines in the front courtyard, then went in and put our coats into coat check. Everything I'd heard and read told me that the number of items on display in this museum is huge, and it isn't worth it to try to see everything in one visit. We decided to set our limit at three hours, whateva we'd seen during that time would be enough for this visit.

I'd tried to do some research ahead of time, but there was just too much to see. The one place I would've loved to have a team photo was the way most people enter this building, so I knew it would never be empty. 

The Jordan staircase has mirrors and red carpet and gold and columns, and is generally stunning.

Each time we got to a place where we could go in different directions we made a random decision. Some of the rooms through which we walked were truly stunning. Others were simply okay. Every room had smaller works of art and larger works. Some were sculptures, some were paintings, and sometimes it was the room itself was the main thing on display. There were chandeliers and lamps in each room, everything was well lit.

I also noticed the floors. Mostly made of wood, each room had different patterms, some of them very intricate. I have no idea how they keep the floors in such good shape, considering the number of people who walk through this museum.

After three hours we were well and truly arted out, but knew we wanted to come back for another visit in the future. After getting our coats, we exited the museum, onto the platz in front. Across the way was a government building, with a series of arches running through the middle. It's a really photogenic walkway.

We walked through there, and followed the streets until we arrived at our second sight of the weekend: St Isaacs Cathedral. I mentioned this church during my first trip; since I loved it so much I had no problem visiting again. Claire liked it too.

Unlike the Church on Spilled Blood, St Isaacs Cathedral functions only as a museum. As far as I know, no religious services take place in the church. The current building is the fourth church to stand on this ground, and has been around since construction began in 1818.

After the church we took a break in a cafe, we were hungry. This served as dinner, even though it was basically a bunch of snacks. After eating too much, and debating what we wanted to do for the rest of the evening, (the weather hadn't been great, and if it was raining we didn't want to be outside for that much longer, but if the rain had stopped, we were keen to keep going,) we walked again.

By this point the rain had stopped, so we decided to do/see the main reason we'd scheduled this trip: the ice festival. After a lot of googling, I'd figured out that the Peter and Paul fortress was hosting the festival, so we walked in that direction. 

We crossed a bridge or two, and the water in the canals was still enough that I was able to take a couple nice reflection photos.

We entered the fortress, hoping to spot the ice straightaway. That didn't happen. When we finally found the location, we were more than a little surprised, as it was inside a tent that was almost hidden in one corner of the fortress. It was NOT a big tent, not nearly big enough to be called a festival.

The sign said it was called Ice Fantasy, and we knew just from the size of the tent that it would not be a fantasy of any kind.

We paid the ridiculous entry fee, and went inside the tent. There were probably around 20 ice sculptures on display, some better than others. There were characters from movies, as well as a castle, and a few animals. We took pictures of everything, because of course.

Near the end there was an ice throne, with a queue of people waiting to take photos while sitting on the throne. We joined the queue, pretending we were royalty.

Since it wasn't super cold outside, there were a number of air conditioners running inside the tent, trying to keep the sculptures from melting.

Basically, it was loud, and small, not a fantasy in any sense of the word.

After leaving the ice 'festival' we stopped at a grocery store to pick up breakfast and snack foods for the next day. When we got back to our hotel we were able to put the food just outside the window, on a ledge, as a natural refridgerator.

Late the next morning we packed up and checked out. We opted to walk around 'our' neighborhood a little, going whicheva way caught our eye. One of the closest buildings had a small fountain on the side, and had some newly laid flowers for a memorial of some kind.

Across a canal we found the entrance to the Summer Gardens. 

Since it wasn't summer, and we couldn't see anything on display, we weren't keen to explore. Still, we saw a sign that said there was no entrance fee, so we stepped inside the gates just because we could. I wonder how long the 'no entry fee' season lasts.

Our next sight was the Church on Spilled Blood. I loved it just as much this time as I did during my last visit. The scaffolding on part of the roof was still there, I made a mental note to find out how long the renovation was scheduled to last. (Side note, scaffolding will be there a while, until 2025, argh.)

After that church, we walked to another church, the Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral. I loved the outside just as much as previously, and was as unimpressed as before with the interior of the church.

We walked past a Roman Catholic church and stepped in just because it wasn't an Orthodox Church. In comparison, this church was rather plain, but still felt like a holy place. We saw a sign that said masses take place in Russian, English, and Polish. Impressive.

Our next sight was the Faberge Museum. I'm guessing all three of my readers have heard the name Faberge, and automatically think of very fancy decorated eggs. 

This is what the jewelry house is probably most famous for creating, though the museum showed us they actually made a whole lot of very intricate jewelry and useless kitsch.

There was a time when owning a Faberge egg was a real sign of social importance, as these eggs were first created for the Russian Tsars. The jewelry house has been around since 1842, having been founded by Gustav Faberge.

Not surprisingly, there was a bit more security in this museum. Each item was under a case, sometimes by itself, sometimes with other items. There was a security looking person in each room, keeping an eye on all museum goers.

We loved the museum. We got to see eggs, cigarette cases, tableware, and more.

After the museum we found a cafe in which we ordered tea. We were not happy to find a service charge on the bill, good for an extra 10%. I asked for the menu, and found it listed, on the back side of the menu, in fine print. 

When I mentioned this later in my review of the cafe, they responded and said it was noted. In my head I said yes, it is, but on the back side of the menu, where there is no other information, and in very small print. I hate feeling cheated that way, I was glad we hadn't ordered more food.

After the cafe we decided to explore the metro system a bit. I'd looked at photos ahead of time and made note of some of the stations that I thought would be interesting to see. Many of the stations in St Petersburg were just as gorgeous as some of those in Moscow. Russians take their metro systems (and decor,) seriously.

Dinner was at an Indian restaurant called Namaste. It was so good that we planned to come back during our next St Petersburg visit, even though we didn't yet know when that would be. SO GOOD.

As we were leaving, it started to snow. It was wet snow, almost like rain/sleet. Not fun to walk through, we were glad it had started only at the end of our trip. We walked back to our hotel to pick up our bags, then to the train station (not the far away station,) to catch our train.

The next morning we arrived back in Moscow, already dreaming of our next trip up north.

spain: canary islands: gran canaria: arucas and maspalomas and las palmas

While on my bus from Agaete to Las Palmas I realized this would be the last few days of my new years holidays. The bus didn't take long, around 40 minutes. I got off the bus before the final stop, as it went quite close to where I had booked a place to stay. This particular hostel was just a couple streets over from the place I stayed when I first arrived in Las Palmas, three weeks earlier.

I checked in and relaxed for a while, then went for a walk. By walk I mean I walked to the beach, all of a seven minute walk. 

The weather was good, it felt good to lay in the sun for a while. After a couple hours I put clothes back on over my bikini, and started walking again.

The only sight I hadn't seen during my first visit to Las Palmas was a former castle. It was over on the east side of the Las Palmas peninsula, near the marina/port. I walked by several beautiful rose bushes in the gardens in front of the castle, they smelled lovely even though the flowers looked as though they were near their end.

As I entered the castle I discovered there was an entrance fee, payable at a ticket desk in a different building. I didn't feel like paying (I have no idea why, I just didn't,) so I walked away instead. The reviews I read later made me think I hadn't really missed anything.

I stopped in a couple souvenir shops while walking back toward my hostel.

The next morning I took my time getting going, (when on holiday, I like having no responsibilities, or a hard core schedule to keep,) but eventually started walking toward a bus stop to catch a bus to my destination for the day. On the way I stopped at a cafe and had porras con chocolate for breakfast. These were even better than the churros I'd had in Puerto a few days earlier.

I got on the bus, which took me to Maspalomas, on the southern end of Gran Canaria.

Maspalomas is mostly known as a resort area, and as the bus drove through, I could see why. I saw hotel after hotel after hotel, as well as restaurants and cafes. I'm sure there are homes somewhere in the area, but I didn't see any of them.

I had briefly looked at booking accomodation in the area for a couple days, but after seeing that it was nothing but hotels and such, I was glad I hadn't done so. Especially because the prices were not cheap, and none of the reviews were outstanding.

By the time the bus came to its final stop I was rather carsick, and I was thrilled to start walking. It wasn't the fault of the driver, rather, the roads were very twisty which doesn't usually sit very well with me.

I entered the beach area near a lighthouse, turned right, and started walking. Then I realized that continuing in this direction was not going to take me to a beach, which is what I wanted. I turned around, walked past the lighthouse, and got to a beach. I found a spot and laid out my malong, then soaked up sun for a little while. It turned out to be just windy enough that I was covered in fine sand after just 30 minutes or so. Oooops.

Either way, it was worth it to be in the sun.

One of the sights of Maspalomas (other than the beach,) is a series of really big dunes. After throwing on clothes over my bikini, I started walking around the dunes. I was initially wearing jandals, which I ended up taking off rather quickly, as they made walking in sand rather difficult.

Some of the dunes are pretty big, and when I finally got to the top of a couple of them, I felt as though I had a pretty good view of the water and beach.

I got to see sunset, which was lovely. I wasn't the only one out there, but it was pretty quiet, with people just taking in the natural beauty.

After dark I walked back to the bus station, and caught the next bus back to Las Palmas. Thankfully, the way back didn't make me feel sick.

The next morning I went back to the same cafe for more porras con chocolate. I don't know how to describe it other than to say these are a bit of heaven, and its a good thing I don't have easy access to them back in Moscow.

I caught another bus, the ride to a small town called Arucas was less than an hour. I hopped off the bus in the middle of a very small town, slightly motion sick. Since none of the roads on the islands are straight, I was a little motion sick every time I rode a bus between towns.

The main sight of Arucas is a giant cathedral. I was amazed at the size of the church in relation to the size of the town itself. The carving of the exterior of the church was really intricate, I wish I'd been able to get closer, and higher up, so I could appreciate more of it. Unfortunately the church wasn't open when I arrived, but hours were listed, so I made a mental note of when to come back.

The streets of Arucas were super cute. It felt like a small town, and was relatively quiet whle I walked around. At one point while I was taking photos a guy came up to me and asked if I would be a model in a posed photo for him. He said he was working in an official capacity of the tourist office of the town. I have no idea if he was telling the truth, but the photo he wanted was of me taking a photo, with the sign of the tourist office in the background, so hey, whateva. I never did figure out where I could find the finished product of whateva he was doing.

From there I wandered into a small platz, where I sat for a while, chatting with my sister through an app. I watched people as we talked, which was nice.

One of the other sights listed online was a park. I headed in that direction, and found it easily. The park seemed rather small to me, it didn't take me long to walk through the entire thing. Maybe I missed part of it?

Across the street from the park was an interesting looking building. I used my phone to find out that it was the building of the water usage organization on the island. It wasn't open for visiting, but the front of the building was photogenic. (To me at least.)

I looked at my watch and noted that I still had a couple hours to go before the church would open again, so I walked down the street in the opposite direction from town. The street took me sloooowly down a hill, and during the walk I got some nice views of the city back up on the hill.

Eventually I turned around, and walked all the way back through town, and out the other side. The way I've written this makes it sound as if the walk was longer than it was.

I stopped when I got to a traffic circle that had a big city name sign on one side. Next to the city name was a cactus garden of sorts, which I loved. I'd learned my lesson previously, and did not make any attempts to befriend any of the cacti. ;)

When I got back to the town center, it was finally time for the church to be open. I loved the feeling when I walked in. The interior architecture drew my eyes up, and I appreciated the grand feeling of the place. Some stained glass windows all around, and a grand altar up front. I walked all the way around, taking plenty of photos, then sat for a while and thought about life.

After the church I found a random cafe nearby and ordered a sandwich. It ended up being another case of my eyes being bigger than my stomach, I couldn't finish the food. Whoops.

Eating just before the bus ride was a good thing, it helped settle my stomach a bit; I felt fine when I got back to Las Palmas. It was either that, or we were on straighter roads. Either way, I called it a day and went back to my hostel for the evening.

The next morning was my last day on the islands. I started with another breakfast of porras con chocolate, and seriously considered figuring out a way to get them in Moscow. SO GOOD. 

I packed up my bags, and checked out of the hostel, leaving my bags at the front desk.

From there I started walking. I found a playground of sorts (basically an outdoor gym for adults, kindof,) on one end of the beach, and played around myself for a few minutes. Then I realized how out of shape I am, and moved on.

I kept walking along the road, which followed the coast. I got to see the water crash against the coast over and over again. A 30 minute walk down the road I came to a statue of sorts. 

A lot of rocks were piled up, in a shape that made me think of a woman. It was as if she was looking out over the water.

After taking photos of the woman, I walked back to the beach, and laid out for a little while, taking my last chance to soak up the sun. From there I went to a souvenir store, to make sure I had enough postcards.

From there I went back to the hostel where I changed and repacked, then took the bus to the airport. I slept at the airport, though the sleep wasn't good and I'm not sure how much time I actually spent unconscious.

The departures area of the Las Palmas airport is not a place you want to have to spend a lot of time, it's not terribly comfortable.

The plane took off right around sunrise, and I was treated to a beautiful view as the plane rose through the crowds.

I would happily return to the Canary Islands sometime in the future. I only got to see two islands, so there are plenty I haven't seen. I'd like to return when it is slightly warmer, so the beaches would be more fun. I'd like to do more hikes, and see more of the national parks.  

spain: canary islands: gran canaria: puerto de las nievas and agaete

I arrived in Puerto de las Nievas on Gran Canaria after a 90 minute ferry ride from Santa Cruz, on Tenerife. The ferry ride was okay, though the weather wasn't great so I ended up slightly seasick. It didn't help that the boat arrived to rain and wind, which I hate.

Puerto de las Nievas is a tiny town on the coast, with a twin town of Agaete slightly up the hill. I'd booked a place in Agaete, so I had to make the walk in the rain. The walk was pretty, as both towns are quite cute. The buildings are mostly painted white, and there were a number of flowers blooming.

I'd booked my accomodation relatively last minute, so it was the most expensive place I stayed during my entire trip. I thought I'd booked a double room for 40 euro, but it ended up being a small flat with a kitchen, small living room, and a bedroom with bed space for 4!! If only I'd been traveling with someone.

I relaxed for a few hours, then went for a walk. The weather had cleared up, it was now mostly sunny, yahooooo!! It took me just a few minutes to walk back through the center of Agaete, to the church in the center of town.

Unfortuntaely the church wasn't open, so I was only able to see the outside. I couldn't find a sign anywhere with open hours listed, I wasn't sure if it would be open while I was there.

More walking took me back down the hill to Puerto de las Nievas. I headed to a different area from where the ferry arrived, as I'd seen a listing of natural pools. To get there I had to walk down a dirt road, which made me wonder if I was going the right way, but it worked out well, as I ended up where I wanted to be.

The pools weren't completely natural, but they weren't completely man made as well. Volcanic rock had been carved out in areas by the constant movement of water over time, creating areas for the water to fill in, like pools. Someone had put stairs into a couple of them, and I saw kids in the water even though it seemed a bit chilly to me. The rock into which the pools had been carved was volcanic, so it wasn't at all smooth, and I was glad I was wearing shoes with thicker soles, not just jandals.

I loved watching the waves crash into the area, over and over again. I could've stayed there for hours, if I'd been planning to stay in the area for more than just one night.

After a while I kept walking along the coast, heading back toward the ferry port. A boardwalk has been built, with extra rocks built up to protect the area from storms and the resulting crazy waters. I walked along the entire length of the boardwalk, then doubled back a little to get to one of the streets of Puerto de las Nievas. (I hope there is a shortened version of the town name, it's annoying to say the whole thing every time.)

The buildings facing the port are all restaurants/cafes or hotels. The next street back had a very small church, but was otherwise full of more hotels, cafes, and souvenir shops. The town is small enough that the number of buildings isn't big at all, though I wondered where everyone lives.

I walked to a tiny beach, and it was finally warm enough that I would've spent time in the sun if I'd worn a bikini during this walk. The view from the beach was gorgeous, I could see a cliff that probably had amazing hiking.

I was in the area long enough to see sunset, which was beautiful. I loved the colours of the sky as background to the beautiful landscape of cliffs and water. After the sun went down I got cold, and was more than ready to head back to my room to sleep.

Before going to sleep I used the stairs in my flat to get to the roof for a view of the town at night. Quiet, and pretty. 

The next morning was the end of my stay in Agaete. I had to walk just six minutes to get to the bus stop, which was awesome.

I would definitely come back to the town if I had time to do some hiking. It's a small area, but I bet the hiking is fantastic. And the small town aspect was quite nice. 

spain: canary islands: tenerife: santa cruz and la laguna

I arrived in Santa Cruz after four glorious days in Puerto de la Cruz. The bus ride was easy, and short, only about an hour. The bus ride took me through fog and rain, arriving in more rain. I was not thrilled, to say the least.

I walked to my hotel, and was able to check in. It was a simple room, but good enough for me. I took a nap, since rainy weather is perfect for that. I also hoped that when I woke up the rain would be gone.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It was still raining when I woke up. For the most part, the rain didn't go away until late evening. Argh. I didn't let that stop me from going out, but it was rather miserable.

The day was 6 January, a Saturday. Spain is Catholic, which means 6 January is the 12^th day of Christmas, also known as Epiphany. This basically means nothing is open on the day. A few corner stores with convenience food, McDonalds, and very little else.

Walking around in the rain, when nothing was open wasn't much fun. At all. I wanted to buy ferry tickets to go back to Gran Canaria, but the offices at the marina/port weren't open. Argh. Several times during my walk the rain came down really strongly, I was not a happy camper.

The next morning the weather was slightly better, thank goodness. It was still very cloudy and windy, but it wasn't raining. Eventually I got going, my first stop was the port, for another attempt at buying a ferry ticket.

I ended up buying a ticket for a different company than the one that had brought me to Tenerife. It was a bit more expensive, but the ride would be less than half the time, and took me directly to where I wanted to go on Gran Canaria.

From there I walked to a giant mall, hoping to find a supermarket. It had occurred to me that I should get real food, since I hadn't had a proper meal in over a day. I ended up buying snacks, which weren't quite enough, but were good enough for the time being.

The bus station wasn't too far away from the mall. When I got to the station I waited in a queue to buy a ticket, only to be told that the ticket I wanted could be bought on the bus. Fortunately, the next bus to San Cristobal de la Laguna (usually called just La Laguna,) left less than ten minutes later.

The bus ride wasn't long, and took me to the main bus station of La Laguna. It was just off the highway, nowhere near the city center. I'm glad I had checked ahead of time where I wanted to go, and how to get there from the bus station. The street on which I walked was really quiet, there weren't any other people out, and very few cars.

The city center of La Laguna is Unesco designated, and is very cute. The entire city center is a pedestrian zone, which was perfect for my day visit. There weren't too many other visitors out in the city center either, probably for a couple reasons. One, it wasn't raining, but it was still rather dark, with strong winds. Two, it was a Sunday, and a Sunday right after a big Catholic holiday.

The first proper sight I saw was the Catedral de La Laguna. A pretty big church, in a rather small town. It was a surprisingly (to me) plain church. The part I liked best was the ceiling ribbing behind the altar, there really wasn't much other decor throughout the church. Part of the sanctuary was roped off, which made it easy to take a photo of the whole thing without anyone else in the way.

I found another church, but it looked ruined, and there was no open entry that I could see. Darnit. In one area of town I found a giant Christmas tree, I wonder who did the decorating.

I also found a third church, this one wasn't open either. It seems most of the churches I saw during this holiday trip were only open certain hours, not all the time. Booo. The bell tower of this church was beautiful, though it didn't match the church at all.

One of the sights listed on trip advisor was the Palacio de Pena, but it wasn't open. A bit of investigating informed me that it was almost never open to the public. Argh. The front facade was very grand, and photogenic, even if I had no idea what the building was supposed to be.

There wasn't much else to see in town, so I started walking back toward the bus station. Along the street I saw a couple buildings with huge murals on the walls. Even though I'd been out for several hours, I still wasn't seeing very many people out on the streets.

I didn't have to wait long for a bus back to Santa Cruz. When I got back I went back to my room for a few hours, until I remembered that I had seen a fertility clinic named after me on the map. I wanted to take a photo of the place, so I went for a walk. The clinic wasn't open at that hour, but I was still happy to take my photo.

The next morning I was up early to walk to the ferry port.

I don't feel the need to come back to Santa Cruz again, but it is a center of transport in this area of Tenerife, so I can't say I'll never be back.

spain: canary islands: tenerife: puerto de la cruz

Getting from Garachico to Puerto de la Cruz was easy. I got up early and caught a bus. It was on time, and I got only slightly carsick from the curvy roads. Since I caught such an early bus I wasn't able to check into my hotel. I was able to change, and leave my bag behind the front desk.

Puerto de la Cruz isn't known as a city with much to see. I had about three hours to kill before being able to check in properly, I didn't have anywhere particular in mind to see. I wandered for a little bit, then ended up at a cafe for breakfast.

When I sat down I noticed someone else with a breakfast of churros con chocolate. Churros with a cup of really thick hot chocolate, almost like hot pudding. I ordered that, and was in heaven while I ate. So good. I was surprised when I asked for the bill and it was only 2.40 euro, that was cheaper than I expected.

After eating and hanging out at the cafe for a while I went back to the hotel and checked in. Despite having been sitting for over an hour I was still tired, so I took a short nap. Then I put on my bikini and cover dress, and walked to the beach.

The beach in Puerto de la Cruz isn't amazing but it was much better than the one in Las Palmas. There were plenty of people spread out over the black sand (which was kinda rocky in some places,) but I spread out my malong and relaxed.

After a few hours I packed up my malong and sat on some stairs on one side of the beach to watch sunset. I loved watching the rhythm of the water, as the sun set slowly. The colours of the sky weren't very pretty, (just yellow, and very pale blue,) but it was still nice to watch.

I returned to my hotel to change out of my bikini and grab my purse. I went for an evening walk, which took me past two churches. Both were pretty, not too decorated and not too plain. One was close to starting an evening service, so I didn't stay inside for long.

My walk took me along the coast, along a boardwalk of sorts. I passed heaps of restaurants, cafes, and stores, all aimed toward tourists. One of those stores was named after me :)

As I'd seen in Garachico, the rocks along the water were sharp, despite the constant crashing of waves.

I could've watched the water for hours, or watched the people watching the water. So peaceful.

The next day the only change in routine I made was to have a double portion of churros at breakfast. I repeated everything else almost exactly. A morning walk to breakfast, relax in my room for a bit, time on the beach, watch the sunset, (though I took this time to check out the many stone cairns stacked up behind a small, unopen 'castle' near the beach,) and an evening walk.

The third day the waiter at my breakfast cafe remembered me, and asked if I wanted the double portion of churros again, hahaha. I opted for the normal single portion instead. (A big deal for me, I don't usually have any willpower when it comes to turning down sweets.)

My walk that evening (after time on the beach,) took me to a small amusement park. It looked just like amusement parks I've seen in the states, all lit up in the evening. It was different though in one aspect, there were hardly any people around.

The next morning was the start of my last day in Puerto de la Cruz. At that point I had my routine down pat, and I didn't break it the last day. A breakfast of churros con chocolate, relaxing in my room, beach time, and an evening walk. I was finally getting tan, and super relaxed.

The next morning I checked out of my hotel, and walked in the rain to the bus stop.

I would consider going back to Puerto de la Cruz again, but I'd want to use it more as a base to explore the surrounding area, instead of just going to the beach each day.