The unfortunate thing about living on an island that claims to have "eternal Spring" is that there are VERY few things to do indoors. The one or two options that are available certainly are not for people with young children (museums, shopping, etc.). They don't have mall play areas, or any free indoor play areas at all, they don't really have activity/play centers, or Gymboree, or Children's Museums, or anything of the sort. They do have a couple of places that are glorified McDonald's playlands (if that) where people can take their kids to for a fee, but even those are for children 3 years and up. So, we didn't really plan anything for our Wandering Wednesday.
Anyhow... we woke up to beautiful clear blue skies!! In all fairness, the weather on the North side of the island can differ greatly from that on the South. It can even be raining in Santa Cruz and sunny here in Tabaiba (only 6 miles away), but we checked the correct weather forecast for OUR part of the island and they said stormy.
Well, we decided that we would hang out aroud the house and let the boys take a proper nap and then just take a more "local" excursion in the late afternoon. So, around 4:30, we headed up to the original capital of Tenerife, San Cristóbal de La Laguna (La Laguna for short).
La Laguna was founded by Tenerife’s conqueror, Alonso Fernández de Lugo in 1496 and served as Tenerife’s capital until 1821. The original old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, it is considered the cultural capital of the Canaries, and it is home to the Canary Island’s first University founded in 1701. It has a ton of history and loads of really old (16th-18th century) buildings including cathedrals, convents, mansions, traditional houses with their balconies and courtyards, and more.
Since La Laguna is North, it was quite a bit colder there than in Tabaiba. Although we are aware of this fact, we still lef tthe house unprepared. We wandered the historic district and saw the more important cathedrals, and then decided we (and the boys) were done with the cold and we headed home. It was a really quaint place and we hope to go back during Semana Santa or at least sometime when it's a bit warmer.
Our La Laguna Wandering Wednesday Photos:
Real Santuario del Santísimo Cristo de la Laguna
The Old Quarter and a "Palace" (now a Casino)
Convento de Santa Clara des Asis
Typical Canarian homes (maintained and not exactly maintained)
Catedral de La Laguna or
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios
Iglesia de La Conception
One of the many old buildings and the Palacio de Nava
"History is a symphony of echoes heard and unheard. It is a poem with events as verses." ~Charles Angoff
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