After the Royal Alcázar, Plaza de España, and our last stop in Spain, our last ports of call on this trip were in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa — starting with Tenerife.

Meeting Feel Tenerife at the Pier

Once docked, we were off the ship to meet up with our tour with Feel Tenerife. They were exactly where they said they would be. We met Jaime, the owner, who handed our group of eight off to Darius — the absolute best. Funny, engaging, smart, and knowledgeable, he knew all our names by the time we hit the coach.

The Drive Up Mount Teide

The tour commenced immediately as we left for Mount Teide, the volcano that made this island. What a drive up. It was fascinating how the landscape completely changed multiple times on the way up to 12,000 feet — our favorite stretch was the pine forest. We stopped at some photo lookout points, then drove through the 27-kilometer crater. The landscape was so otherworldly, it was easy to understand why so many filmmakers have used this location for sci-fi movies.

Bodega Monje: A Winery in a Historic Building

Then all the way down into a valley for a winery — Bodega Monje, housed in a really old, cool building.

A Canarian Lunch on the Patio

We had a Canarian lunch overlooking the patio: bread with goat cheese and peppers, butter with watercress, and soft chorizo (think nduja). Then came a squash soup with ground cereals — still not entirely sure what that was, but it worked. The main was a salad of lettuce and onions with their red vinegar and wine salt, roast black Canary pig with cracklings, and wrinkled potatoes — or, as I grew up calling them, salt potatoes. Dessert was a pudding-like dish that tasted of crème caramel, with pieces of wine cake alongside. Lots of free-flowing bottles of wine from the winery throughout.

Our Take

A very, very nice day.