Thursday 23rd February - A Morning of Teror

No, not a typo but the name of a small town towards the north coast that the book suggests. Today's weather forecast is a bit iffy and it is the last day that we will have the car so we decide to go sightseeing. The best way to get there is by motorway up the coast, then cutting the corner to avoid Las Palmas.

The forecast showers come to pass and the Smart Car's self activating wipers get a decent workout. When we leave the motorway there is a reasonable road that winds up the side of the valley to Teror. Parking isn't too difficult and we make our way on foot into the town.

 A cobbled street overlooked by wooden balconies leads to the town square,  dominated by the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pine Tree, a large church built in honour of a vision of the Virgin Mary perched at the top of a pine tree in the 15th century. Presumably the local vino was pretty good back then.

R wishes to visit the museum attached to the church so we go in in search of guidance. The interior is lavishly furnished and decorated.

There is a lady guide, wearing a badge at the back of the church and R puts on her best Duolingo speech to ask "Dondé está el museo?". The lady looks utterly bemused. It must be the Scottish accent. Outside we continue our perambulation. The museum is the other end of the church building. It is just starting to rain again so we invest €2 each and go in. 

The big attraction here is the effigy of the aforementioned Virgin with a small child who looks like a forty year old man. This is paraded around the town as part of an annual festival. The lass gets a new frock every year and some of the previous ones are on display in cabinets in the museum.

There is also a cabinet containing numerous items of sporting memorabilia but there is no explanation for this.

Outside it has stopped raining although the gargoyles are still busy clearing accumulated water from the roof. Teror is starting to fill up with school trips so we decide to press on. Lonely Planet also recommends the town of Arucas, a few miles closer to the sea. As we leave Teror the rain sets in again.

A twenty minute drive takes us to the town where parking is not particularly easy but after a prolonged circuit of steep, narrow but fortunately one way streets we find a spot by a supermarket. We need to shop anyway so this will be fine.

The rain has stopped so we take our picnic to the park, beautifully maintained and surprisingly quiet. This might have been because the listing on Google maps said it was closed today. Opposite the very open main gate is an impressive building undergoing renovation. An information board tells us that it is the headquarters of the local water company.

After lunch and shopping we decide to go for a further LP recommendation, a scenic drive promising spectacular views. In fact it is less interesting than several of the drives that we have already done enlivened more by interesting road signs than anything else.

The drive home was routine and we even managed to find the cheap petrol station (€1.24 per litre). The feeling of triumph was dispelled by passing an even cheaper one a few minutes later.

The beer of the day might look like a repeat but the earlier one was unfiltered. This one was very nice (****) possibly helped by the reganas, which are small hard tasty crackers, reputedly used by Columbus as ship's biscuits.