Another day in the car exploring the island.  I’m sticking to the green, wild north side today, I learned my lesson yesterday.  My first destination of the morning was the picturesque mountain village of Masca, located at the furthest west point of all those green squiggles.  It’s set in an incredibly steep gorge, and was … Continue reading Tenerife Part 3

Day One of my two day driving tour of Tenerife.  There was a little kiosk right outside my hotel so I rented a little Fiat Panda and set off up into the mountains!  I couldn’t see Teide from my hotel room so I wasn’t sure what the conditions would be like on top but as … Continue reading Tenerife Part 2

I was quite excited to see my first glimpse of Mt. Teilde, the volcano at the center of the island, and all the lush banana plantations, that I was snapping pictures right out of the airport bus window!The last destination on my 6 week trip to Spain/Portugal: Tenerife, Canary Islands.  I must admit that I … Continue reading Tenerife Part 1

My four weeks of Spanish language studies are over! Here’s another picture of my fellow students along with our long-suffering morning professor, Pablo.  I’ve definitely learned a lot in the last month but still have a lot of vocabulary and tenses to learn before I can actually carry on a conversation but I’ve enjoyed it … Continue reading Class Is Dismissed!

Me, Mary, and Elena enjoying our 2nd out of 3 tapas bars on Calle Van Dyck, a street full of bars & restaurants A new week meant a new student and a new roommate!  First was Elena, knocking on my bedroom door last Sunday night at 11:30pm asking what time was I going to use … Continue reading Week Two In Salamanca

I’ve been a very dedicated little student this week, spending every afternoon and evening after class studying my Spanish.  I was not put into a pure Beginners class, as expected/hoped, but into a “A1+” class which was already finishing up Chapter 7 of the textbook(!), so I have a lot to catching up to do. … Continue reading A “Student” Once Again…

I flew from the Madeiras back to Porto, where I had two nights before heading over to Salamanca where I’ll spend just over two weeks. I’ve been suffering a bit from a gimpy groin pull (what else?!!) so I stayed close to my hotel and caught up on old episodes of Lewis and Vera on … Continue reading Traveling To Salamanca

It’s my last full day in Madeira so I decided to check out the other half of the island – the east side. I scored a front seat in the minivan again, but unfortunately a middle one squeezed between the driver and a Polish Facebook fanatic so I wasn’t able to take many photos during … Continue reading Eastern Island Tour

I’m afraid that Madeira is just so beautiful that I’m going to have to convert my blog into a photoblog. I had nothing planned for today (I know, strange for me) and the sun was brilliant out so I just went for a stroll to check out the waterfront. This baby was built in 1614 … Continue reading A Morning Stroll and the Nun’s Valley

Roads are crazy curvy here and narrow, so as a solo driver I’d be concentrating too much on not plunging over a cliff let alone taking in the view, so I’m taking a few guided tours while I’m here. Today’s tour was the west coast of Madeira, famous for its dramatic scenery. As the trip … Continue reading Western Island Tour