We went off on our trip quite early today, 9:15am, and headed into the northern mountainous region.
Lush vegetation coated the valley walls with agave, cactus, banana and date palms thriving in the 'natural' climate they had become acclimatised to over the years.
Our first stop was a small town called Teror and is famous for its church which is dedicated to Our Lady of the Palm; Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pino.
It is said "our lady" appeared under a palm tree in the town and once the Bishop came and blessed the place stating the sightings were true, the village grew and became a centre of pilgrimage. Each year offerings are brought to her and then there's a fiesta to celebrate.
I would love to have taken a photo of the alter which was lavished with silver and gold but we were not permitted to take photos in there.
The main irritation we had was the rain which seemed to have followed us up the hill.
It was a pretty hill town, very much as one would expect in any part of Spain. The posh people in their day, invested in balconies and festooned them with plants showing off their wealth by how long and lavish the wood turning/carving adorned the frontage.
The roads were, as expected, narrow and cobbled (with the volcanic rocks) and small shops and cafés appeared in the alleys.
In Puerto Cruz we had a cow advertising a shop. Here.....doesn't it look angry 😏
Our next stop was a botanical garden called the Marquesa Garden.
Peacocks had been brought to the gardens, originally for eating but when cooked, the meal so was tough the family who still own the gardens decided to let them roam free.
Needless to say the vistas were amazing and the plants, wonderful. Will enjoy painting some of this when I get home.
Returning to the ship I had lunch and then set off for a wander through the streets near the port.
Nice day. Shame the weather was not playing ball.
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