Birthday in Tenerife (part 1).
I didn’t have high expectations for my upcoming trip to Tenerife on the early days of March. I just wanted a warm place to celebrate my birthday. So I googled which place is warm in March and that was Tenerife. To be more precise: South Tenerife.
So we started looking for places to stay. We booked our holidays, the last days of September. Our hotel was Hovima at Costa Adeje.
We started watching videos and blogs about what to do in Tenerife. So we already knew more or less what to expect during our stay there.
Costa Adeje is a famous touristic destination on the south part of the island. Our hotel was an all-inclusive resort and Adults only. This means that in the price. it was included breakfast, lunch, evening meal, drinks and snacks. “Adults Only” means that the average age was 60 years old (we didn’t know that).
Day 1
So we arrived from cold London to warm Tenerife on the 4th March.
We booked a taxi from the South Airport of Tenerife to Hovima hotel. As soon as we checked in, we had dinner at our hotel. The temperature was around 21 degrees in the evening. Perfect!
We then decided to stroll around the area. The hotel was about 5 minutes’ walk from the beach and all the local bars. It was a beautiful and warm night.
We had drinks at La CocKteleria. A cute little cocktail bar in Adeje. I had the most summer-ish drink, a melon cocktail. Super friendly staff, nice music and amazing cocktails. The ideal summer night. 🙂
Day 2
Birthday in Tenerife! (5 March).
Our day started with a rich breakfast at the hotel, and sunbathing at the swimming pool.
We then walked until Los Cristianos, another touristic area in south Tenerife.
We visited the seaside.
I decided to stay at the beach and enjoy the sun. Then we joined them at the restaurant, the paella was already on the table and after lunch we ordered barraquitos.
Barraquito is (an amazing) local café-liquor drink. They serve it in a glass and it has condensed milk, Liquor 43, a shot of espresso, frothed milk, ground cinnamon and a lemon peel.
Yummy!
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
We left Los Cristianos, to reach the capital of the island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the North part of the island. It took us an hour by the car and I was very impressed by the well-maintained road infrastructure. Here the temperature was around 19 degrees. Around 5 degrees less than the southern part of the island. The architecture was so beautiful!
We had a stop at Rayuela Café Teatro for another barraquito.
and then we dined at El Lateral.
We ordered seafood, queso asado (local smoked goats’ cheese), and Canarian potatoes (papas arrugadas).
Almost every meal in Tenerife is served with two types of sauces: The green and the red sauce (mojo). The red sauce (mojo picon) is a bit spicy, with chilli peppers, garlic, cumin, bell pepper, wine vinegar and olive oil. Sometimes they add bread for consistency. The green sauce (mojo verde) is almost the same as the red sauce but with green peppers and green bell pepper and with cilantro or parsley. Papas arrugadas, is another traditional Canarian dish. They are same-sized small potatoes cooked with sea salt. (In the old days they used to boil the potatoes in ocean water).
… and then for a desert I had crema catalana.
Back to the hotel, there was a nice birthday surprise from the hotel. I received a prosecco and a birthday card to my room, wishing me a happy birthday. They also asked me to bring to the restaurant the greeting card to receive my surprise. The hotel has two restaurants. The buffet restaurant and the Ocean themed restaurant where we had to book before eating there. We booked for the 7th of March.
To be continued (click here for part 2) ♥
