One Man in Europe

My time here in Tenerife has drawn to an end, my bags are packed it's time to go.  An evening out with Jose-Luis,Teresa and Yaiza in Santa Cruz, a sad farewell to an island and friends I have come to love, then an early 'plane from Tenerife North to Madrid. British Airways will then fly me to Port Elizabeth, South Africa via London and Johannesburg. 36 hours in the air would take me to my next adventure at   onemaninsouthafrica.blogspot.com

View my Los Abrigos, Tenerife Photo Album Bus Routes: 470[Los Christianos] [Granadilla] and 483[Costa Adeje] [El Medano]. Having arrived and settled in to my apartment it was time to explore the village I had adopted for the next 12 months. First of all I took some photos from the windows as, true to their word, I couldn't get much closer to the sea. The taxi from the airport had dropped me at the top of the village square and I had walked down to meet David from Los Abrigos Properties (he has since sold the business) who had arranged to meet me at noon as I had picked one of the many 'public holidays' to arrive on. We then walked along the street 'Playa Grande' to my apartment block. It now seemed like a good idea to continue to the end of the street and have a look at the beach, which I must admit, takes some getting used to black sand. I also wandered around the opposite headland before, feeling very hungry, I went in search of somewhere to ...

I accepted voluntary redundancy at the end of August 2011 and used the small payout to purchase a good laptop, a reasonable digital (DSLR) camera and a Kindle with GPS. I hadn't taken photos for years and as I was about to move around I had decided that the Kindle would replace my collection of books I was always going to read. The next question was "What to do next?" A friend of mine had been telling me to visit Tenerife for years so I thought why not! Easyjet provided a cheap ticket and a browse around the websites provided a nice little apartment in Los Abrigos. On arrival, after signing the paperwork I was asked if I was interested in hiring a car? Being on a limited budget and seeing how busy the island's roads were I had already decided that I was going to travel by bus. It turned out that Titsa, Tenerife's state bus company provide a 'BonoBus' ticket for either 12 or 30 Euros and the former can be purchased at most supermarkets. This ticket g...

I guess my wanderlust got the better of me after a break from travelling in my previous career when I saw various newspaper headlines about cheap stag weekends in foreign parts. Never having been behind the old 'Iron Curtain' before I was intrigued.  On investigation I found that I could fly to Prague, stay for a couple of nights in a hotel see the sights on foot and return for a very reasonable price. As with most eastern block countries the tram system is very effective and cheap. It is a pity that most UK cities did away with this form of transport in favour of the car.  It is amazing how much ground one can cover in a day or two. I was fortunate that my hotel had both old world charm with modern amenities. The staff could not have been more helpful and the dining room was excellent.