Pages

3.4.15

A-Z Challenge = CONTRASTS & CARNAVAL

C is for CONTRASTS

If you leave the CANARIAN tourist towns and drive into the COUNTRYSIDE, the CONTRAST is sudden and stark. Los CRISTIANOS is typically touristic – beach, bars, restaurants and shops – but there’s another side to Tenerife that many people don’t see. Just a COACH TRIP into the mountains can be an adventure and give your sunburn a chance to heal. This is the road to Masca - until recently it was only a goat track, and the inhabitants must have thighs like Rugby players!

CARNAVAL in Tenerife is reputed to rival those in Latin America. Almost before one fiesta is over the authorities have announced the theme for next year. This at least give the Carnaval groups time to design their COSTUMES, which can cost thousands of euros and become more elaborate every year. 

 This chap must have trained at the gym all year to be able to carry this one ...
.. whereas some outfits seem to have been made as skimpy as possible...
... and it’s strange how many macho men dress up in drag for Carnaval..
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
COFFEE IN LOS CRISTIANOS - a bit of verse

Sitting quietly with a coffee
Watching people pass
All their lives a mystery
Leaving me to guess.
 That girl with the box of cakes
Celebrates tonight
Some special anniversary?
Or then again, she might
Be having friends round for a meal
And works Canarian hours
So she won’t have the time to cook
As well as take a shower.
And that man looking nonchalant
pretending that his dog
isn't messing on the pavement - 
he'll go in my blog!

21 comments:

  1. Your A-Z challenge is going extremely well, and I love the poem. There were certainly a lot of contrasts in your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Maggie May - that poem was written in a rush and I only posted it because it began with a C, so I'm glad you like it.

      Delete
  2. Wow, Carnaval looks like so much fun! As for those steps up the mountainside...I can't help thinking how brutal it would be to slip and fall. (And I'm famous for tripping while going up steps.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those steps are nothing compared with some I've seen, which were merely rough-cut into bare rock!

      Delete
  3. Copiuos Canarian contrasts at the carnival!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clever comment, Patsy - congratulations on this and on your book launch today.

      Delete
  4. Nice photos! for some reason the skimpy one caught my eye...but beware the nonchalant man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The lady intended to be noticed, so don't feel guilty, Stuart.

      Delete
  5. The 'other' Tenerife looks amazing - a definite contrast. Do you visit often?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ironically, I never got around to going to the touristy parts of Tenerife :D But Los Silos was utterly charming. :)

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
    MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So many of these photographs will strike a chord, ATH?

      Delete
  7. Thanks for stopping by our blog earlier. What part of Australia were you born in? The scenery there looks just amazing!

    Sean at His and Her Hobbies

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Victor Harbour, SA. The scenery is amazing in its own way.

      Delete
  8. The road is almost legendary in its danger level. And the man with the spiky wings? How did he survive the parade, I wonder?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably in excellent condition because everyone else gave him a wide berth!

      Delete
  9. There's definitely an "off the beaten track" side to Tenerife, I'd like to explore it one day. We just stopped there for one day on a cruise but it was lovely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've met a few friends off cruises and taken them up the mountain - they can shop anywhere but Tenerife deserves to be explored.

      Delete
  10. Those Carnival photos looks good though Leicester also has a reputation for a pretty mean Carnival procession. I love the poem. I often wonder about other people too. Fascinating, isn't it :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think all writers start out as people watchers and wonderers.

      Delete
    2. I think all writers start out as people watchers and wonderers.

      Delete

Do leave a message before you go!