THERE ARE NO CANARIES IN THE CANARY ISLANDS

There are some things in life that I find bitterly disappointing. One of them was when I learned (thanks, Jim) that snakes swim in both fresh and salt water. Another one was when I learned that the Canary Islands do not have palm trees full of canaries. In fact they are apparently named for the Latin word for dog - I didn't see huge pacts of dogs there either. Tenerife, Canary Islands, or more accurately Tenerife Island, was our first port of call. We arrived at dawn.

We didn't have a lot of time ashore but I was determined to see something of the place other than the tourist areas. After Jim and I had coffee, I saw a streetcar and hopped on to see what I could see. It took me about 30 minutes up into the hills above the city, to another town where I did the kind of shopping I like to do - looking around in the local pharmacy and grocery store.


The views from up there were great and I found the streetcar clean, efficient and inexpensive. A great way to people watch, too.

I was pleased to see that as in other places in Spain, Tenerife has nice street art.


And also an amusing sign. I guess they just wanted everyone to turn off the faucet:


This was our ship, Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. As cruise ships go, it is not one of the biggest, which suited me just fine. Also, our cruise wasn't full so it was us and about 1,500 other people.

We had to be back aboard by 1:30 pm, which gave me ample time to explore. One couple had not set their watches back (we had a time change after Gibraltar) and so nearly missed the boat - we had already pulled away from the pier and the port authorities had the couple's passports in hand when they strolled down the dock. I was surprised that the captain actually came back for them. All of this drama was happening on the starboard side, which was where our stateroom was so we had a grandstand view.

Next stop, after five days at sea, is St. Maartens in the Caribbean.

Audrey