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Friday, July 18, 2008
Concentracion del Djembe at Las Teresitas
According to the Bamana people in Mali (via Wikipedia), the name of the djembe comes directly from the saying "Anke dje, anke be" which literally translates to "everyone gather together" and that is exactly what the organizers are attempting at the 1ª Concentracion del Djembe - Las Teresitas (1st Djembe Gathering) being held at the Las Teresitas beach, near Tenerife's capital, Santa Cruz tomorrow, Saturday, July 19th.
Notices promoting the event say that, "We're trying to unite the largest number of djembe players in history."
Or, you could say they intend to *beat* a record using the rhythm method. (Well, you could say that, except you'd be justifiably shot for crimes involving too many lame puns.)
It also says that it doesn't matter if you don't have a djembe (easily fixed, as there are an unlimited number of people willing to sell you one), you can bring along any other percussion instrument. Just be there, from 8 p.m., to pass the evening with music and perfect diversion (the leaves may give a clue. :)
Festival Guayota 2008 in Garachico
Whilst we've already published a list of some of the highlights for this week and weekend, another couple of events popped up on our radar that simply could not be ignored ...
First item on the agenda is the Festival Guayota 2008, that's being held on the esplanade at the port in Garachico.
From 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 19th, there will be various activities going on including inflatable, bouncy castles and archery. That's what caught our eye really. How advisable is it to have those two activities side by side?
Let's hope they have some rubber repair kits handy. :)
Then from 9 p.m. there will be a rock concert with singer-songwriter, Agustín Ramos, Autodate Folk Band and the local band from Garachico, who, for some reason, go by the very (un)typical Garachico name of The Warners.
Via: InfoIcod Noticias
Mind you the word Autodate is a Canarian mispronunciation of an English term "out of date". So the story goes, some seed potatoes imported from England had a label announcing that they were "out of date". The labourers didn't understand this and took it to be the type of potato, hence there is now a type of potatoes grown on the island of Tenerife, called Autodate!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Vive la Révolution in Santa Cruz
Obviously, short of an excuse for a celebration or two of it's own (if you've read anything of these pages or know the island, then you'll know how far my tongue is in my cheek), Europa Press report that the Tenerife capital has been celebrating the Día Nacional de Francia (National Day of France), what English speakers insist on calling Bastille Day, but which the French, in all their understated elegance, simply refer to as quatorze juillet (14 July).
There probably wasn't any storming of Santa Cruz' own fortifications, the 17th Century Castillo Negro 
, nor Tenerife II Prison, however, Santa Cruz' mayor, Miguel Zerolo, was to preside over commemorations taking place in council chambers, beginning with municipal band playing the overture from French composer Bizet's opera, Carmen, which, of course, is set in Spain.
After that, Carlos Castro, president of the Alliance Fraçaise / Alianza Francesa (French Alliance) in Santa Cruz, was to speak, before Daniel Alonso, professor of Applied Physics from the University of La Laguna was to give a dissertation on science in France. Eric Landrau, the French Consul in Santa Cruz was also due to be there and the event closed with more music from the municipal band, this time from the opéra comique, Madame Favart, by Jacques Offenbach, before the National Anthems of both France and Spain. Fascinating stuff!
Mais, j'ne comprend pas pourquoi.
Actually, I do understand why and it's all "our fault" (the British) again.
According to this article about these celebrations from last year, it harks back to an historic relationship that was formed between "The Gallic Giant" (France) and the island of Tenerife in 1795, rooted in the fact that French soldiers had helped defend the port of Santa Cruz when it was attacked by the English troops under Nelson's orders. The French suffered two fatalities.
Tenerife also claims tenuous links with France through La Laguna born surrealist, Óscar Domínguez, who moved to Paris when he was 21.
The city of Santa Cruz will be celebrating their victory in that 'armless event from the French Revolutionary Wars: seeing off the English, next week.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
What's on in Tenerife 14-20 July
This week the big events are Puerto de la Cruz' July Fiestas. On Sunday, July 13th, their Procession of The Gran Poder celebrated it's 114th year of "history and devotion".
On Monday, July 14th, according to this schedule of events, the town will hold it's annual "Sardinada" or sardine fest, where somewhat more than a couple of the little fishies will be grilled and served to the thronging thousands, simply with wine. Well, with quite a lot of wine, usually.
On Tuesday, July 15th, you can witness the decidedly frenzied (in appearance only, of course) procession of the Virgen del Carmen and San Telmo, where these icons get their annual "trip round the bay" in a sea procession, or embarcación - an important ceremony to bless local fishermen.
Read more about these July Fiestas here in The Virgin del Carmen Puts to Sea, Fishermen’s Friends, or this piece about Fiestas del Gran Poder y La Virgen del Carmen in Puerto de la Cruz. There's a further procession of the Virgen del Carmen, on land in Puerto de la Cruz, on Wednesday, July 16th.
On Saturday, July 19th, at the Casa de la Aduana (Old Customs House), Puerto de la Cruz, you can see Anne Peters (MySpace) in concert with her band from 9 p.m. Born in Trinidad and brought up in London, Anne now lives in Tenerife and appears regularly on local television in the Canary Islands. She has worked with Billy Ocean, Boney M and many others.
(Though, performing "No Woman, No Cry" with Pepe Benavente, is I reckon, one of the strangest combinations anyone could have ever imagined!)
More July fiestas in Tenerife (4 pages of them), can be found here.
On Wednesday, July 16th until Sunday, July 20th, is the Tenerife Lan Party 2k8 at the Centro Internacional de Ferias y Congresos de Tenerife (International Fairs and Congress Center), Santa Cruz. Among guests this year is Puerto de la Cruz born, computer special effects expert, Daniel Ferreira, famous for his work on films such as; The Incredible Hulk (2008), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). Both MojoCanario and BlogTenerife have more details (in Spanish.)
Sunday, July 13th until Sunday, July 20th: Professional Windsurf Camp in El Médano, where Brazilian, World Wavesailing Champion, Kauli Seadi, is to be one of the monitors at the training camp.
Also on Saturday, July 19th, there's the International Folklore Festival in Las Galletas. Or you could try the Spanish Kickboxing Championships and European Thai Boxing Championships, being held simultaneously at the Pabellón Pancho Camurria in Tenerife's capital, Santa Cruz.
More events, exhibitions and what's on, in our calendar
Labels: What's On?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Study says Tenerife breakfast cheapest
Breakfast in Tenerife's capital costs an average of 3.06 euros. In San Sebastián, it's more than double, at an average of 6.25 euros. But you're not going to get "Full English Breakfast" or even tortilla (pictured) for that.
Prices were compared at cafes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Madrid, Seville, Málaga, Las Palmas, Córdoba and San Sebastián, of a breakfast consisting of coffee or tea with milk, two slices of toast and an orange juice.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Do we really need headlights during the day?
We're certainly not surprised that Britain's Daily Mail picked up on this issue and reported (erroneously), in tones of panic that a new EU directive has been agreed, which will require vehicle headlights to be switched on whilst driving during daylight hours.
The European Commission says that this is a Euromyth and that:
"The European Commission is looking into ways of improving road safety and at equipping new cars with ecologically-friendly daytime lights - two separate issues. There is a commitment by EU member states to equip new vehicles with ecologically friendly daytime lights , though having such lights would not, of course, force people to use them."
The successful results in testing of daytime running lamps were obtained in Scandinavian countries. You know, those northern ones where they have part of the winter where both night and day is in total darkness.
In the Canary Islands, at a latitude of 28 degrees north - only just above the tropics and therefore with only a couple of hours difference between the length of day in summer and winter and, other than in odd inclement weather conditions, has light conditions that generally lead to photographic overexposure - such a measure seems absolutely pointless, at best.
At worst, at any location, having lights on during the day on cars and other vehicles, removes any previous safety advantage for motorcycles.
Nevertheless, apparently, in wonderfully similar fearmongering style, Spanish TV station, Antena 3 has also taken up the daytime lighting cause as part of their Ponle Freno (Put the brakes on) initiative.
I've not seen the public service ads myself, but Charlie at Canarias Bruta writes scathingly about the ill-considered "viral marketing" campaign. He also says that he has no intention of putting his lights on during the day and says that every time he comes across someone who does have their lights on, will say out loud, "Oh look, another dickhead who watches Antena 3".
Just how many road deaths?
Anyone who watches Spanish TV will know about the incessant obsession the media has with giving road accident body counts. It used to be at the end of major puentes (holiday weekends). Then it became constant, as in "lo que var" the weekend (so far) and, now is reported for all weekends, weeks, etc.
Just by chance while gathering this information, I came across this Press Release from RoSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents), which mentions (in Britain) a "seven per cent fall in roads deaths in 2007 to 2,943" and that "Road deaths peaked in 1941 when 9,169 people were killed."
As they say, the numbers are a record LOW. (Could that situation be mirrored in Spain?) Given what must be tremendous growth in traffic since 1941, the drop in road deaths, in percentage terms, is HUGE. So the situation does not appear to warrant any more regulation than it already has.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Where does los gigantes in tenerife get its name?
To answer this reader's question, the town gets its name, Los Gigantes, which means The Giants, from these, the Acantilados de los Gigantes (more images) - the giant cliffs - which plunge into the sea from the Teno Mountains. These basaltic rock formations, characterized by their sheer vertical walls oscillate between 300 and over 600 meters in height.
The Teno area is an ancient volcanic mass, one of the oldest parts of the island, geologically, which the processes of erosion have modelled to its current landscape, forming these giant cliffs on the coast.
In the time of the guanches, the cliffs were known as the Wall of Hell and, you can imagine why, when their dark volcanic lava makes it practically impossible to penetrate into the interior of the island, with only some gorges opening to the sea. Also, curiously, these cliffs don't continue below sea level. The depth of the sea here is bearly 30 meters, which makes it difficult to access.
Here are the same cliffs, seen from Punta Teno (Teno Point) to the north:
Where to find Los Gigantes on the western coast of Tenerife:
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
La Churrería
If a hamburguesería sells hamburgers, then a churrería, must, of course, sell churros. What are they, you ask? Well both Rudy in Guatemala and Wikipedia have already explained perfectly adequately, so I'm not going to repeat it, except to say that they are wonderful with chocolate and, like English fish and chips, these sugary delicacies are best eaten out of paper on the street.
Wikipedia note that, "Specialized churrerías can be found as street shops or as towable wagons in local fiestas" and this, clearly, is one of those. Look for them at every fiesta, throughout the summer and try the churros.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Santa Cruz' Bull Ring to be Saved
Birmingham's Bull Ring Shopping Center (one of the largest in the United Kingdom) is built on a place where bulls were slaughtered.
Now the city of Santa Cruz in Tenerife is to have it's own equivalent, as its Plaza de Toros (Bull Ring) is turned into a "Plaza de todos" (Plaza for everyone), combining social and commercial use.
Over the weekend a total of 35 prospective designs for the project were put on display, for the public to view and vote on. On Monday, a jury made the final selection.
The chosen project, by architects Antonio del Pozo Mozo, César del Pozo Ortega and Carlos Bernal Limiñana received the most public votes (166)and majority support from the jury.
Only 6 of the 35 designs had proposed the total demolition of the present bull ring building, but the winner will keep this emblematic facade intact.
The current building will be consolidated structurally, with the facade restored in it's present form and used as a container for a public space. In the interior, the raised, tiered stands are to be retained for recreational use.
The Plaza de Toros de Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Santa Cruz' Bull Ring) was inaugurated initially in 1893 - as a consequence of the the then huge following for bullfighting in the city in the late 19th Century - with a capacity of 6,800.
In 1924 the Bull Ring suffered a fire and a large part of it was destroyed. In 1927, after remodelling works, it was reopened and remained in use for bullfighting until 1983. From then onwards the Plaza de Toros has been used for a variety of other events, among them the various Carnaval contests, Canarian wrestling, boxing, political rallies and musical concerts.
The new project includes 2,325 square meters for recreational and cultural use; 1,425 sq meters for commercial use (shops); 1,840 square meters of office space and the remaining 5,520 square meters is for residential use.
Aerial photo and map of the Plaza de Toros (Santa Cruz de Tenerife)
El proyecto ganador es "Plaza de Todos" Via: territoriosred
Photo: Plaza de toros, Mataparda
The Best and the worst
Second place on the top ten list of most embarrassing holiday destinations was Tenerife. The holiday destination Brits are most likely to keep quiet about visiting was Benidorm. At the other end of the scale, according to a survey carried out for Boots, Paris was named as the city Brits were most proud of visiting, with New York the second top holiday hot spot.
This really says more about the best and worst in people, as Julie comments: "Funny that! I find the British tourists in Tenerife swilling alcohol like they expect to fly back to prohibition, fighting and throwing up in the streets of Las Americas pretty damn embarrassing too." Having lived in Tenerife for 16 years, believe me, no-one is more embarrassed by British holidaymakers' behaviour than an expat, sick of being tarred with the same brush and treated disrespectfully.
Anyway, it just happens that I've been to all four places: Benidorm (twice, in fact, and even Benidorm has its pretty bits, when you make an effort to get out and explore) and, I've also been to both Paris and New York.
All have their good and bad points. All have their over-developed bits, but all offer the chance to escape to the surrounding areas (if you can be bothered); they all have something cultural, as well as tacky, touristy parts selling crappy souvenirs. You'll find "undesirable" British tourists at all of them too.
Criticisms of Tenerife and Benidorm are often in reference to them being too developed, yet what are the other two? Yeah, humongous cities.
Resorts tend to offer cheap holidays, of course, and you'd think that, with ever rising prices, people would be glad of a bargain, but they're not: they're even more embarrassed if their holiday only cost a couple of hundred quid.
Is this because people can't discern quality these days and believe that things like higher prices or destinations farther away (i.e. quantity) equates to it?
Generally, the cheapest ways of travelling; backpacking, smaller pensions, bus, bike, walking ... are the ways to see the most and get closest to the reality of a destination, which is actually a far more quality experience.
As Big John says, in his Rules for real life: "Travel is supposed ‘to broaden the mind’, so remember that when you are laying in a pool of your own vomit outside a Benidorm bar." (Or a Tenerife one.) You can get just as drunk in Paris and New York (well, you needn't, as I tested that for you too), so it's not places people are embarrassed about, it's the behaviour. Their own behaviour.
People are strange. Of course, it's all about fashion and snobbery and not about reality. Most, if they've been to Tenerife and Benidorm, probably made no effort to get outside the confines of their hotel, let alone the resort, so their perceptions of what these places are all about, are decidedly clouded. Those who really know would not be embarrassed to say that they had travelled anywhere, when they've taken the time to explore it properly.
But, I guess, if you're even reading this, you know that already.
Photos: 1. New York City Skyline, 2. Paris - Eiffel Tower, 3. Benidorm Levante, 4. Parque Las Mesas (That's Santa Cruz, Tenerife's capital.)
