We have stretched the ‘roaming’ brief further and got a tram from Santa Cruz uphill to Tenerife’s ancient capital and UNESCO heritage city, San Cristobál de la Laguna (aka, La Laguna).
It is noticeably colder up here but the city feels warm with the Christmas spirit. And like Santa Cruz, cars are scarce (though more in Laguna than Cruz). Trams and buses are the thing. The Laguna streets are packed with what we suspect are mainly local people. It is a big university city and a major cultural hub. The vibe reminds me of Bologna in Italy. Nevertheless, the silly season is here…
…and the Christmas spirit is in full swing. A corner of the market has been given over entirely to stalls promoting charitable causes: Parkinson’s, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, abandoned dogs, etc.
The festivities included an orchestra, who were playing film music when we arrived, finishing with La La Land and a big round of applause.
And more photos from a memorable day in a place we can’t wait to revisit.
Our visit included a courtyard gallery inside an ancient church (St Augustine, I think. Same as the town in northern Florida?) at which an art exhibition was opening. We were offered wine, declined, but accepted the use of 3d glasses to view the art (something to do with the ‘geometry of colour’, blah).
The original of this church was badly damaged by fire in 1964 and parts if its charred remains could be glimpsed through a peeping slot in the garden. We also visited a big room containing ancient scientific apparatus. Jane remarked sarcastically that I had died and gone to heaven surrounded by dusty old Bunsen burners and test tubes. We also popped into the History and Ethnography museum and just strolled the Laguna streets with popped eyes and dropped jaws.
Later: Liverpool won the Fifa Club World Cup, beating Flamengo 1-0 in extra time. Jane wanted to know who the hell Flamengo were and what kind of tin-pot tournament the Club World Cup was. I accused her of being a tin-pot imperialist, which didn’t go down well.
BillyScraps 