To the Canaries without a raspberry jacket.
Canaries. These islands have always fascinated me. Maybe since the 90s, when it was believed that a self-respecting cool man who had risen from the limits had to rest in the Canaries (I don’t know why in the Canaries, but it was exactly like that). Perhaps the fact that Darwin and Miklukho-Maclay visited these islands, Admiral Nelson lost his hand in the battle for this piece of land in the ocean ...But the most important thing is that I always wanted to see the ocean. I have never seen the ocean in reality in my 50 years, I have seen different seas, even the Barents and Okhotsk, but I didn’t have to. Now I saw the Atlantic, and now I want to see others. But for now - about the Atlantic and the Canaries, or rather the largest of the Canary Islands - Tenerife.
Rest for the first time planned themselves, without the help of TA and TO.
Air travel by Norwegian with a departure from Helsinki, tickets were bought on their website, we have an annual Schengen visa, and apartments in Tenerife were ordered through our girlfriend Masha, Maria, from a real estate agency, of which there are a dime a dozen in Tenerife (phone, e-mail who will need a skin in a private message).
From our Vyborg to the border for about 40 minutes, we drove at night, so there was 1 (one) car on the border in front of us, the transition took 5 minutes on our side and 5 on the Finnish side. Another 3 hours by car and we are at Vantaa Airport, Helsinki. An additional plus to fly immediately from the Schengen country is that it is not necessary to stand at the border control booths upon departure and upon arrival, but get off the plane and go ahead. The airport in Helsinki is very convenient, spacious, with many places to relax, there is where to sit while waiting for departure. When landing, all liquids are taken away, after control, you can buy water for 2.50 euros per half liter (on board, in general, for 3.50). This paradox always fascinates me.
After all, if explosives can be made from powder and ordinary water (so say the smart people from the security services of all countries, but the Pindos are the leaders in this stupidity), then water purchased on board the aircraft is quite suitable for this. Okay, sit down in your seats, take off. The Norwegian airline is young, it has recently turned 10 years old, the planes are decent, not shabby, the flight attendants are well-trained and dexterous. By the way, when flying to Tenerife, the flight attendants were under two meters tall, real descendants of the mighty Vikings, northern cold women with blue eyes and golden hair. A feast for the eyes.
We flew 7 hours. In general, usually the flight is a little more than six hours, but we went around some kind of storm front, even a little chatted and shocked. Tolerable. When we served in Magadan, exactly 8 hours flew to Moscow on vacation and business trips, and moreover, many, many times. Do not feed in flight. I mean, they don't give anything for free, not even water.
You can order a sandwich for five euros, or even hot for 11.50. Coffee 3 euros - tasteless, instant Nescafe. Many took out their sandwiches, nuts, chips, no one was embarrassed, somehow, in such flights, people begin to treat each other friendly. In flight, no one smoked, perhaps looking at the mighty beautiful flight attendants with apprehension. Movies are shown on monitors above rows of chairs. Landing in Tenerife is done beautifully, the plane almost lies on its wing over the ocean, the bright tropical sun beats through the windows, a feeling of fear and delight at the same time ...In Tenerife, plus 30. It's good that we changed into light summer clothes in Helsinki beforehand.
We were met by my daughter, son-in-law and my two granddaughters, who arrived a week earlier. Yes, yes, one of them is two years and five months old, and the second is 0 (zero) years and just five months.
I confess, it's me, the same one who called mothers dragging their children to distant lands chickens and other bad words, now I myself found myself with my granddaughters far away. I sprinkle Canarian volcanic ash on my head and promise not to call anyone that again. My son-in-law took the car in advance for a meeting, and my daughter took the key to our room from Mashenka from the agency.
We arrived at the apartment, having bought food and drinking water on the way (tap water in Tenerife is not suitable for food).
The apartments in the Pueblo Torviscas complex are partially purchased by private individuals and are rented out through real estate agencies (common practice for Tenerife). Many of ours are now actively buying up housing and renting it out. Prices in the photo, an apartment can be bought for 70 thousand euros. Our apartment belongs to some Italian woman.
The location is very good, a few minutes walk to the ocean, the ocean is visible from the balcony, the road under the windows is pedestrian, only in the morning a cleaning machine passes by.
Our rest days have begun. Holidays in Tenerife are calm, without drunken parties and swearing cattle. The streets are safe, comfortable, full of restaurants and bars where people sit in the evenings with a glass of cold beer (1 euro / pint), listening to live music. Breakfast in each restaurant is served from 7 am, the price is the same everywhere - 2.95 euros. The standard brekfest on a large plate includes: scrambled eggs, two sausages, bacon, two toasts, mushrooms, beans, hash brown or chips, orange juice and tea or coffee of your choice. I don't want to eat. Lunch is a "choose three course" type of lunch. You choose from the menu an appetizer, main course and dessert. The cost of such a set is 7-8 euros, the portions are large, the food is delicious. We chose a Chinese restaurant with a rich buffet for 7.
50 euros per person, the number of approaches is not limited. Soups, chicken, duck, meat of all kinds, sushi and rolls are twisted right here, fresh. Went there several times for dinner when there was no desire to cook in the room.
The morning in Tenerife starts late, most of our neighbors slept until 9-10 in the morning, at 9 they opened a chain with sunbeds, and the English people hurried to take a seat by the pool, stupidly throwing a towel over the sunbed in Russian. By 10 o'clock the bodies were stacked around the pool, and lay there until 18 o'clock, when the sunbeds were removed. According to my observations, these people did not go to the ocean at all, if only in the evening to sit under the sound of the waves. By the way, on the beach in the morning, at 9 o'clock, only Russian is spoken, only our Muscovites and crests, of which there are many in Tenerife. Most of our people come for a period of three weeks to two months, logically believing that since we have flown so far, we will not rush back. The British, on the contrary, from 7 to 10 days, but arrive 3-4 times a year.
There are many disabled people on the island, so many that sometimes it seems as if you are in a hospital or a sanatorium. All conditions are here for them. Right at the airport they are met by people from a special service, they are transported to the city, and around the city these very disabled people are worn in electric wheelchairs, they go to any restaurant and shop, they will be served and helped everywhere. It is touching and sad to see how carefully they are treated in a foreign country. Maybe someday we will begin to treat the weak and those in need of our help in this way.
We rented cars twice, much cheaper than in mainland Europe (I'm attaching a photo with a price tag). Gasoline in Tenerife is also cheaper: 1.1 euros per liter. Surprisingly, these are the prices of gasoline on a distant island in the ocean. Food, clothes, shoes, alcohol - everything is cheaper. This is due to some kind of preferential taxation, I didn’t really go into it, it seems that Tenerife is almost offshore.
It is easy and convenient to buy groceries, most of the purchases we made in Mercadona supermarkets, bread 1 euro, Dorada fish 5.5 e, huge fresh shrimp 8.5 e, freshly caught sardines 2 e, milk 0.6 u/l, wine from 1 e per bottle, whiskey / brandy from 10 u/l. I have visited a few countries so far, but in comparison with Greece and Cyprus, eating in the Canaries is a little cheaper, compared to Croatia - significantly cheaper.
My granddaughters and their parents lived in another complex - Orlando, a little further from the ocean, but also cheaper. To save money, you can generally rent a house far from the ocean and rent a car for the entire duration of your vacation, it comes out conveniently, economically and mobilely, many of ours do just that. We went to Loro Park and Monkey Park by car, there are animals, exotic fish and various shows, and in Monkey Park they are generally allowed to feed monkeys and other animals, it is only forbidden to give ice cream and sweets.
We went to the Teide volcano, reached the funicular, but that day the ascent was prohibited due to the wind. The volcano is impressive even at the foot, you begin to understand how insignificant and defenseless a person is. On the way to the top, the vegetation becomes lush, pines grow on the slopes with cones the size of a bottle of champagne.
But on the plain, near the ocean, vegetation is maintained only by artificial irrigation through the irrigation system. The land there is volcanic ash, therefore the beaches are not with white sand, but with black, they say that it is good for the joints, did not check it. It is pleasant to swim in the ocean, the water is salty, it holds well, not very warm, invigorating. But the air is at a comfortable temperature, about 28 during the day and about 24 at night, it is pleasant to sleep with open windows to the sound of the ocean. Due to the comfortable temperature, most hotels and shops do not have air conditioners, but only fans.
Children in Tenerife are treated very well, there are many children, of all skin colors and all dialects, they play together on slides, playgrounds, on the beaches, and surprisingly, they understand each other. We would like that, adults.
During the rest, my eldest granddaughter caught a cold, running in wet clothes along the beach, and seriously got a fever. We called the insurance company, by the phone number indicated in the policy, purchased when obtaining a Schengen visa. In less than an hour, the Spanish doctor was in Orlando, examined, wrote out prescriptions, medicines according to these prescriptions are very cheap. Moreover, from the insurance company they themselves called and asked if everything was fine. Like this.
I didn't want to fly home. We are accustomed to warmth, good food and kind looks. Until now, I continue to stupidly smile when meeting strangers, only here they don’t smile back at me, but look at me like I’m an idiot. I'll get used to it soon, I'll be like everyone else.
All the same Norwegian flew back, only a little faster - 5 and a half hours. The flight attendants spoke good Russian, my granddaughters slept almost the entire flight. Another 3 hours by car - and we are at home. Hello Motherland!
P. S. On the beach we met a pensioner from Riga who bought a house there and rents it out. Children are already discussing plans for next year with him.
