It was the start of our last week in Tenerife and we were equal parts sad and equal parts expectant to get to Madrid to continue the adventure. We had a lot more exploring to do in Tenerife so we spent time revisiting our favorites and finding a few new places to explore.

Landon’s 11th Birthday in Tenerife

Oh what fun to celebrate Landon turning 11 while in Tenerife, Spain! He was so excited to have his birthday being celebrated there and was looking so forward to it. We loved for him that he didn’t want a party or presents, he wanted the experience of his birthday in Spain. We had secured a few birthday essentials at a nearby party store so he could awake to Feliz Cumpleaños signs and balloons. For his birthday, Landon got to pick the day so he chose to begin the morning with his daily walk to the local Supermercado for a donut. Then, we all went to swim in Los Abrigos, our favorite piscina natural.

Against our will but it was his birthday I suppose, we headed to McDonald’s for his lunch. We don’t allow our kids to eat McDonald’s in the US, so the only two locations they’ve now eaten it are the Amsterdam airport en route to Tanzania and Tenerife, Spain. Lucky ducks. McDonald’s is definitely different in other countries with items being a bit healthier. For example, you can choose grilled chicken bites or a fish dish as your entree vs. a greasy burger. You can also can order beer at McDonald’s in Europe, but Landon needed to wait seven years for that!

We then spent time splashing in the pool and ended the birthday with a dinner at Aqua y Sal – Landon just loves their shrimp and pineapple skewers!

Arona

Another quaint town we walked while in Tenerife was Arona, the old home of our friends in South Carolina who recommended Tenerife in the first place. It was such a beautiful town full of hills and our favorite was a cafe that had the best churros and hot cocoa. Arona is a great town to walk around when you want to escape the busyness of some of the areas of Tenerife Sur.

Los Cipreses, Round Two and a Block Party

You know we made it back to my favorite restaurant, Los Cipreses! This time we got to spend even more time talking with the owners and learning about they run their business and it was fascinating. We had one of the most dreamy nights in Tenerife, one of our last nights there, practicing our Spanish with a local couple and dining on their amazing food and wine – it was the best. As we left the restaurant, we saw an iron cross and a beautiful sunset which we needed to take pictures of to capture the special moment. As if it was a scene in a movie, on the drive home a few minutes after leaving the restaurant we stumbled upon a block party happening for Vilaflor. We pulled over and hopped in, being welcomed by locals to join. The bros played soccer with local kids and I twirled in one of my Spanish dresses to the sounds of the local band warming up their instruments. It was an absolute refining moment on our journey in Spain.

Mt. Teide Hiking

Logan had been excited to hike a portion of the active volcano on the island, Mt. Teide. So we booted up and headed out on a two-hour journey of enjoying the sites. It was fun to get outside and hike a little in Tenerife as it had been mostly beaches we had been visiting in our downtime.

Our Takeaways

Tenerife was everything we hoped it would be and more and really gave us a great introduction into Spanish culture. Although we were exposed to lots of other European cultures while there including French, German, British, Dutch and Flemish, we still got to experience the slower lifestyle that comes with a longer time spent in Spain.

This isn’t “goodbye” Spain, it’s “Chao”; thanks to Tenerife for the best first month in Spain possible!