Day 07 - Sat - 11/08/2025 - Santa Cruz de la Tenerife

 The ship arrived in this first port stop in the Canary Islands portion of our voyage around 9am.  We finished our breakfast, packed our backpacks and scanned off the ship.  It was a very long walk town and the port exit.  Along the way we encountered signage that indicated that our return route would be closed off for a pop music concert.  Just outside the exit and across the street we spotted a HOP ON HOP OFF bus stop.  We went over and purchased tickets to ride around the city and get a lay of the land.  


We ended up riding the bus 1.5 laps around the city.  We were treated to sights of the beautiful performing arts center (very photogenic) as well as a number of other sites.  We chose to get off at stop # 8 and then walk back down through the town towards the port entrance.  Along the way we found a nice little cafe and enjoyed a light lunch of salad and a main course item.  Mine was a tuna salad served on diced peppers.  My main course was calamari and French fries. The meals were 8.9€ each which was very reasonable.  Out route then took us to the farmers market, but when we arrived, it was closed and closing, so there was not much to see.  Our friends, JoAnn & Gary visited it earlier in the day and said it as quite bustling.  We did find a supermarket downstairs and purchased some more chocolate.  Our next point of interest was to visit the cathedral, but when we got there, it was closed.  But Gary & Joann were there so we strolled back into the shopping area with them.  

Performing Arts Center

Our partial track


Eventually, we parted ways as they were taking the shuttle back and we went to try and find the adjusted entrance to walk back to the ship.  It turned out to be about 1/2 mile away from where we had entered the city.  It wound through the marina area and what's a few thousand more steps when walking with my best friend?  Back on board the ship, I went to the Shore Excursions Desk to fill Sue Beard in on the closure of the Embroidery Museum in Funchal.  We had a good chat.  We had forgotten that there was a folkloric performance in the Piazza, so I watched that for a bit before returning to the room to drop off my things before dinner.  


After dinner, the evening entertainment was a trio called MOBO which stands for "Music Of Black Origin".  They are from the UK and their shows are excellent.  We saw them last month on our previous cruise. Afterwards I returned to the stateroom as the comedian, Abi Carter=Simpson was performing an R rated show and I didn't want to see it.  I watched YouTube for a while and worked on my blogs.  Angela returned to the room after midnight following her late karaoke session.


Tomorrow we are in La Palma, which is our second stop in the Canary Islands.  It's an early arrival, but we won't get up then as it will still be dark.  


So we  


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