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Thursday, May 25, 2006
Tenerife's North South Divide
All countries have them, it seems. Tenerife's is somewhat more obvious in that Mount Teide and the dorsal mountain ranges split the island into two distinct climates. And at times, the one we have in the north is positively trying.
There is also the division that, the more historical, rural and less over developed areas of the north attract a more Germanic clientele, while the excesses of the south draw that certain kind of party Brit. From this, deduce that Germans are better informed and know how to find the good places.
This is, perhaps, in both cases, a question of what you are used to.
On my one visit to Germany some years ago, I was particularly struck by the houses in rural villages, because you simply could not tell which ones had been there since the 12th Century and which ones had been built the week before. The old ones being kept in such good repair and the new being built with such precision and artistry and following the traditions of centuries.
This is something which became most evident to me here too when I visited the newly reconstructed church of Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, in Buenavista del Norte. There is a section of carpentry on the underside of the gallery over the main entrance, which is stunning. That it was completed by craftsmen working in the 21st Century and not the 16th leaves one speechless.
Nevertheless, it is always a bad thing to generalize. It can backfire on you too, especially when you (alright I) go down to the main road one Saturday morning to assist a group of tourists, clearly properly dressed for walking, who are studying a map and looking lost, greeting them with "Hallo. Kann ich bitte dir helfen?", to which they respond, in English, with broad Mancunian accents.
But it does remain that these English tourists are a rare breed around these parts. You are far more likely to come across Germans who love nature and history - who are not the type you have to be up at 2 a.m. to beat to the sun longer - and who definitely do have a sense of humour.
Lost in translation Via: Flanerie.org
