Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Port of Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Canary
Islands, Spain
Aboard the Enchanted
Princess
Room
Aloha 212
Sunny, 78F—another
gorgeous day!
Port of Santa Cruz
One
interesting fact we learned from the port lecturer was that areas of the island
are used to test vehicles that will navigate the terrain of Mars. Many movies have been filmed in Tenerife,
including One Million Years B.C. with Raquel Welch, Dr. Who, and Jason
Bourne. The Canary Islands are a
popular holiday destination with about 12 million visitors yearly.
Because of its
year round mild weather, Tenerife is considered the “Island of Eternal Spring.”
We can vouch for that—today the temperature was around 76F and TK wore shorts!
Even though Princess Cruise Lines knew it would be arriving in this port over a year ago, their planning was not very good. The lines were long as people waited for a shuttle bus to get to the end of the port and entrance to the city. I try not to be negative in this blog, but when 200+ people are waiting for a shuttle bus in the sun with no shade, happiness does not prevail among passengers. Most of the passengers are about our age, with varying degrees of mobility, and standing for 45 minutes in those conditions can be difficult. There were probably 4 cruise ships in port, but every single passenger knew over a year ago that we were visiting this port. I must imagine that the cruise line knew that too.
Actually,
the situation was repeated when we wanted to return to the ship. Again, we
waited 45 minutes for a shuttle with about 200+ of our closest friends. The bus
capacity was about 60, which meant more waiting for some.
I wonder what it will be like tomorrow in a port (La Palmas) that we
were not originally scheduled for!
We explored Tenerife last year and opted to amble around the port of Santa Cruz on our own today.
Santa Cruz is
another vibrant European city, Christmas decorations galore, monuments,
sidewalk cafes and restaurants, and glorious shopping.
Our motto—leave no market behind. The Market of Our Lady of Africa was exquisitely planned—two levels full of colorful fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, and other wares.
Two
special highlights:
The
Police Canine Corps—I think the canine
corps officers were acclimating their three dogs to crowds and noise. We were
mesmerized by the dogs. The Rottweiler was the oldest and most experienced,
totally intent on chewing his toy, off leash. A Belgian Malinois puppy was a
little more rambunctious, but mindful of its trainer. The other Belgian Malinois
was in between, quite well trained, but still playful. I know not to approach
police dogs, but others didn’t seem to care, and the officers seemed OK. After watching
these beautiful dogs for at least a half hour…
The
Children---we heard banging rattling
noise get louder and louder. Soon we realized children from a Montessori school
were dragging cans along the street in a long parade of about 60. Each child had made a sort of string toy with
pop cans, tuna cans, many kinds of cans, and were trailing their cans behind
them. We have no idea if this was a special
day, or just a way for the children to be creative in a little parade with their special
noisy project. The Rottweiler had no
reaction to the children or the noise. The other two dogs were mildly
interested.
I loved this
demonstration of dogs and children! A
peek into life on Tenerife!
The children and stringed cans were adorable
Police dogs watching
