It's not October and it's not Munich!

Bus Routes: 470[Granadilla] to San Isidro, 111[Santa Cruz], 103[Puerto Cruz]. (Fares: €1.20*3.30*2.25 total €6.75). Journey time 2 hours door to door.

Return: 102 [Santa Cruz], 111[Las Americas] to Las Chafiras. Taxi to Los Abrigos. (Fares: €3.30*3.75 total €7.05, taxi €4.70 after midnight.). Bus journey time about 2 hrs 20 mins).

[* denotes Bono combined fare reductions]

There is always something different going on in Tenerife, Beer on Saturday, Model boats on Sunday, boats, beer, beer, boats which trip should I make. Santa Cruz is hosting the first, of what it hopes will be a monthly event, model boat day on the lake at Plaza Espania whilst at Puerto de la Cruz it isn't October and it isn't Munich but they are hosting a 'beer fest' as the culmination of a week long series of concerts by 'Die Lustigen Egerländer' Bavarian Orchestra (oom pah band). As you can probably tell from the title the 'beer fest' won so this blog is dedicated to my sister-in-law Susanna who hails from near Essen.

As the price of the fares have increased on the guagua I decided to catch the 12:30 470 from Los Abrigos to give me time for a little sightseeing prior to the festival which was due to start at 19:00 in the Plaza Europa. A ten minute wait at San Isidro to catch the 111 to Santa Cruz saw me straight on the direct 103 to Puerto de la Cruz which was just about to leave Santa Cruz estacion. This turned out to give a journey time of exactly 2 hours which I could not have done much quicker by car. On my previous visits to Puerto del la Cruz I had looked around the areas of the esplanade, commercial centre and the Plaza del Charco where the carnival processions had taken place (see blogs in February) so I decided to make my way directly to the Plaza Europa where the festival was due to take place. There was a charge of €10 admission so I needed to see if I could pay at the door and explore this area of the town. This turned out to be a good decision as this is the old area of the town with the harbour, defences, old streets and churches. There is also a museum in the old Customs House but it was closed when I got there.

I wandered around the harbour, a popular place for the locals to sunbathe and swim, then along the battlements which lead down to the Plaza Europa. There are various old cannon there, each bears its own name in the casting. It was also interesting to note that an arrow denoting the vertical by which the gunner could work out his elevation was cast into the end of the round mounting on the left side whilst on the right the maximum pressure of the barrel was cast to denote maximum amount of powder to be used I presume. I wandered on and purchased my €10 ticket which not only gave access to the festival but also a beer and a bratworst or frikadella meal. I continued on looking around the old streets until I came upon the tranquil Plaza Iglesia (wrong!!!).

On a map I have the church is marked as the 'Iglesia Ntra. Sra de la Peña' the photos show the names Iglesia and Ermita San Francisco. Consulting my copy of 'Baedeker's' it would appear that the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Franca was built between 1681 and 1697, is the town's most important church and is next the the Plaza Iglesia. It turns out that this church is further along the Calle Quintana, the place I photographed with church and café are at the square Victor Pérez, named after a local doctor, created in 1904. The Iglesia de San Francisco was built between 1599 and 1608 making it one of the oldest buildings in the town. This is probably why there was a program of events for the coming fiesta commencing on Sunday 2^nd September for about 10 days in the doorway. After looking around the interior of the church, there are never two the same, I had a drink and a pastry in a lovely café on the opposite side of the square shaded from the afternoon sun.

As 19:00 approached I headed back to the Plaza Europa for the festival. On entry tables and chairs were laid out in typical 'beer fest' format with the band at the front. Apparently the Bavarian Orchestra 'Die Lustigen Egerländer' from the city of Leinach were invited to give a series of concerts in the town in the summer of 1973. Instead of being a 'one off event' the band returned regularly and it has now become a summer tradition of a week of free concerts in various parts of the town culminating in the festival on the Saturday night. I entered to find to long serving benches stocked with plenty of beer taps and a fine selection of German 'fare' from gerkins to shitzells to pastries. I lined up for my beer and a bratwurst before taking a seat at the end of one of the rows as the band started to play in their traditional style. It was not long before I was mixing with German Germans, Canarian Germans, Canarians, Spanish and even a party from Russia. As the evening progressed and the sun fell the 'orchestra' encouraged the dancing, singing and general friendly high spirits for which these events are famous. (Pleasant memories of my time in Germany.) It is amazing how well we could all communicate once a few steins had been quaffed! The event was well organised, after the first refreshment from the tare off tickets everyone proceed to a well staffed counter where tickets were purchased for drinks and the various foods on the menu. Everything was in units, each unit costing €1. Say I wanted a Frikadell and that was 2 units I received a 2 unit ticket marked Frikadella. Take the ticket to the food bars and receive a frikadella and a bun and the ticket stub. Cunning because the bar staff could serve faster and the more items purchased the more ticket numbers for the raffle.

View my 'Beer Fest' Photo Album

When reading the Titsa timetable always remember to look at the time of the first bus as well as the last. The last 102 back to Santa Cruz ran at 23:45 but the first bus ran at 00:45. In this way I was able to stay for the full event which was most enjoyable and I would recommend to anyone in the town at the time.

On Wednesday Los Abrigos celebrates its annual Fiesta San Blas which end on Monday 10th – so not much travelling involved there!

Till next time....