The Road from Santiago

  We are in La Victoria de Acentejo. It is one of those little small communities which blends seamlessly into the ones about it.  About 9000 people dwell here - and why not. When the Spaniards decided to get a bit more forceful in there in the 1490s they decided to send the troops in and fought not one, but two battles in Acentejo. The first, on 31st May 1494, about 1120 Spaniards took on about 3300 locals.  The military governor, Alonso Fenandez de Lugo had financed his conquest of Tenerife by selling his lands.  Marching against the Guanche his confidence that the muskets, cannon and armour would overwhelm the naked Guanche with their hardened wooden spears. This was not the case. The Spanish were ambushed, overwhelmed and about 80% of them were killed. Alonso Fernandez de Lugo was not to be thwarted. Rebuilding his forces he set out with 1200 Spanish foot and 70 knights.  These included veterans of the Granada campaign He had also allied with some of the loca...

  We are following the TF-5 north eastwards.  Actually, that is a mistruth.  We and the TF-5 are heading in the same direction however it is 50m below us.  The TF-21 follows a path from village to village, merging into a single road of commercial possibilities.   You can’t beat a name that says what it is and ‘Indian Curry’ is a restaurant what declares, in English, it does Indian Curry. It does make me wonder how much Indian cuisine, adapted for the English, has been refocused in Spanish. For 6.95 euros you can have Chicken Tikka Chicken pieces marinated with a touch of cumin, cooked in a clay oven] / Pollo Tikka trozos de pollo marinado con un toque de comino, cocinados al horno de barro. For 15.95 euros a Mr Singh Special - Chicken breast marinated in spiced yogurt with red & green peppers] / Mr Singh Special - Pechuga de pollo marinada con yogur con especias, con pimientos rojos y verde. And Nuggets with potatoes for children for 6.95. / Nuggets c...

  We are in La Orotava. The population numbers 43,000 people. The increase has been a smooth curve since 1900, when 9200 lived there.  Like similar places it went from a tomato based economy to harvesting tourist euros.   We can name check two literarily famed Brits.  Christopher Isherwood completed his novel, Mr Norris Changes Trains here.  Radclyffe Hall name checked the place as somewhere Stephen Gordon was keen to go to.  We will have a photo to honour the role of the splendid chaps in green who keep the flower beds blooming and a reflection of the role of the solo bench. We are off to the Casa de los Balcones - a museum dedicated to the local artisans.  This worthy institution is based in a house built in 1632. It is open from 9 till 7 every day and has a website.  https://casa-balcones.com/   It has some nice pictures of the place. It says it focuses on 16th / 17th century crafts. A gift shop is available.   Reviews often...

  We are effectively going down a steep street - with a few twists on the way - to descend almost 600m.  I realise I am becoming a bit obsessed with this height thing but having lived for a quarter of a century in a place where the nearest hill was about 9 kilometres away and only went up 18m, well, it is all still novel and strange. I think we need to visit a bakery and so a bakery it is..  Panaderia Marrero has a website.  https://panaderiamarrero.com/   It has been going since 1966 and, according to the website, has mission, vision and values.  It also has plumcake with cheese.  The website has some nice photos on it.  It is a 6am to 6pm place during the week, 7 to 1 Sundays and 6 to 3 on Saturdays.  Recent reviews are not happy with the owner. Go there yourself and find out. Should you need more than breaded products just down the road is the supermarket la venta de Barroso. You may have to wait. It opens 8.30am to 2pm and 4.30-8.00 most ...