Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain: On a ship map, Tenerife is almost exactly the same distance from the equator as Ft. Lauderdale. Our route from here to there is basically due west.
As you might conclude, the weather here is pleasant in December as it is in Florida. It is probably hot and muggy in summer, FL sure is.
The other DrC tells me the island is home to nearly a million people, a quarter of them here in this port city. The sizable harbor is ringed with 12 story apartment buildings, essentially wall-to-wall. More of.them march up the hillside behind the port.
We guess this is “Snowbird City” for Europeans who can afford to winter here. As it is part of the EU no visas are needed and the euro is the monetary unit. One of the volcanic mountains of this island is the third highest in Europe, at over 12,000 ft.
Trivia factoid: the Canary Islands are not named for the small yellow songbird, but rather for the dog, canis domesticus, the root word for “canine.” Apparently early European visitors found wild dogs here.
Also peculiar, early inhabitants built a step pyramid here roughly halfway between Egypt and the Yucatán, in both of which they are also found. Coincidence? Nobody knows.
