Spain is famous for a lot of things (siestas, flamenco dancing, paella, wine, olives), annnnnd it’s beaches.  The majority of Spain is surrounded by water, except for that little annoying bit that keeps it attached to the rest of Europe ;).  So anyway, there are a lot of beaches and a lot of really incredible beaches!  

A few weeks back, Annie, Kristen and I were looking at a 5 day weekend on the horizon and since we were all over the run-run-run kind of travel, we thought a nice, relaxing beach getaway would be perfect.  

We chose Tenerife (which is one of the Canary Islands) and then decided on Tenerife South since it was undeniably warmer than the North.  If you plan a Tenerife trip at any other time than, say, June, July or August, I would go to the South.  You can always rent a car and explore the North, which is exactly what we did.

We flew down to Tenerife late Thursday night.  Who knew the flight would take almost three hours?!  Needless to say we were pretty happy to get there, get our rental car (we used Topcar and they were great!  Easy to work with and very, very affordable, just a little over 110 Euros for four days with an automatic car), and get to our AirBnb.  Kristen and Annie did some research when we were deciding were to book the Airbnb, since there are a ton of beaches in the South.  It’s super, super, super touristy, but we stayed in Costa Adeje, which had everything we needed.  A beach within walking distance, lots of restaurants, and a fun little area to go out and party just 20 minutes away (walking).  So we got there late at night, unpacked a bit, and were up bright and early!  First thing first, we headed to the supermarket for some groceries, which made some delicious breakfasts and lunches each day.

Greek yogurt // sliced strawberries // muesli // coffee

We were actually really worried going into this trip since the weather peeps were calling for STORMS all weekend.  On the island where “it never rains”.  It didn’t help that it was drizzling on our first morning, but we decided that instead of sitting around and waiting for the sun (are those lyrics to a song?), we would head to Teide National Park and do some hiking!  Besides the beaches, Tenerife is great for hiking.  Teide is actually a volcano and is the largest volcano outside of Hawaii!  Pretty cool.  We hopped in our handy-dandy little car, and made the hour-ish drive up the mountain…errrrr volcano.

I’m a super nervous passenger (just ask Luis…and now, Annie), but Annie was great and drove at grandma (me) approved speeds.  

Slowly, but surely, we made it to the visitor’s center.  

The nice lady at the information desk said that where we were wouldn’t offer and short hikes, but we could do an out and back hike and go for as long as we pleased.  We knew it was going to be colder up on the volcano, but didn’t realize it would be that cold.  We figured it out fairly quickly when all of the other people had some major hiking gear and we showed up like a bunch of amateurs haha.  It was fine though…for the beginning.  When it wasn’t windy, the air wasn’t too cold and the views made up for it.

(How cool is that plant?)

But as we got higher and higher up, the clouds started to roll in.  AND THEN the rain.  And the wind.  And it was freeeeezing and we were soaked and about 45 minutes from the car.  Needless to say, I didn’t take anymore pictures at this point, but we did meet a really, really nice man along the trail who offered us some recommendations for restaurants and was just so, so friendly.  But I was freezing and was like “oooook……”, pining to get back to the car.  We hurried back and ran into the bathrooms to dry off.  This says it all:

Once we were relatively dry, we gobbled down some turkey sandwiches in the car and made a beeline (not a real beeline, relax padre) for the bottom of the mountain and some warm, sunny beach time.

We changed into our bathing suits and set out for the beach near our apartment to catch the last of the sun!

It wasn’t super sunny, but it was sunny enough for a an hour of relaxation and reading in the sand.  I have been working my way through a number of Emily Giffin’s books and finished two during our quick 4-day trip.  They’re not deep, but they keep my interest.

After a bit, we called it quits and headed to one of the seaside terraces for some drinks.  You know you’re in a super touristy place when you order a “cana (~ on the n) and they bring you this:

SMH.

We headed home, showered, got dressed and had apps, and then walked to Veronica’s Strip, which is the Las Vegas of Tenerife….lights, make fog, loud music, drunk people, drink specials, the WORKS!  We had a nice dinner and then got our ratchet on with some vodka-mixed drink, tequila, and champagne.  Guess how I felt the next morning???

And that’s all she wrote.  Day two coming sooooon.