In Tenerife the soft drinks menu for smoothies had the English translation of the fruit ingredients.
Easy / same words
kiwi - kiwi
mango - mango
papaya - papaya
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Thursday, June 18, 2026
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
What does a five star hotel in Tenerife, The Mirador, offer? What does it do right or wrong?
The hotel is El Mirador, Spanish for The Viewpoint. The full name is Joia El Mirador which means Jewel The Viewpoint.
'The urns are earning their keep,' quips my husband, Trevor.
Children under 16 are not allowed. You can see why. Too many columns to collide with and pools to fall into. Apart from the affluent elderly wanting peace and quiet.
I changed my headline from a statement to a question, modern style. I changed the adjective wrong to the adverb wrongly, but the phrase right or wrong seems to be a set you can’t break without sounding odd.
Here goes. Now that's a funny phrase. Never mind.
The Mirador Hotel El Duque
1 High Security
You can't just pop in for a for coffee to see what you think of the hotel, as we tried to do on our first of two visits to Tenerife this year. Eventually we proved we had a booking for later in the year and they let us in.
2 Direct Flights
We flew in and out of Tenerife from Stansted north of London. An English couple we spoke to at breakfast said they flew direct to Tenerife from Bournemouth, which is a large busy airport.
Who knew! Those in Devon and south west England, not us in London.
Once we were staying there and were listed and had a room number to match, the security guard opened the gate after checking the guest list. Some of the English visitors have been coming to this hotel for 15 or twenty years!
2 Off season Rates
The hotel is horrendously expensive, but much cheaper in June before the high season starts in August. We were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary, and my husband's birthday on the night of our arrival.
The busy times for the Canaries ate: November to February; when the Brits are holidaying with children in the long summer holiday; and winter when we escape the cold of British winter.
3 Grand Design
El Mirador looks grand from outside.
The underground security car park has columns painted in colours. A bit tricky to park in some of the smaller spaces in between a wall and a circular column.
The seats and luggage trolleys at the entrance are designed for the guests' convenience.
The architecture and interior design are even more impressive the first time you step inside. The giant urns are inside the entrance.
It looks like the floors and walls are marble and giant tiles, but seem to be a stone which cracks into holes, a bit bumpy for a wheelchair.
The free wheelchair loaned during your stay if you need it, has supports for your feet. (unlike the one I was loaned at the parador on La Palma when I fell downstairs on my last day before departing for Tenerife. The Mirador's wheelchair sometimes bumps a bit over those carefully designed checker board floors, which have occasional matting.
Birthdays
We were greeted by the wonderful Paula who loves to dance on the spot. She remembered it was my husband's birthday. In the room was a birthday card, a small saucer size circular chocolate cake under a tiny dome and a bottle of local Cava with two flue glasses. Plus free bottles of water.
The freebies in the bathroom were a comb, toothbrush, shoe clean kit, make up remover pad set, large nail file.
Buffet Breakfast
Next door to the buffet breakfast room are the toilets. In the ladies are the free combs and toothbrushes. So you look good, and can clean your teeth after breakfast.
Toilet For Wheelchair Users
My only niggle is that the door to the handicapped toilet is the same as all the other doors. It is heavy, a strain for a person on their own to open if they have problems with arms, neck, shoulders, back, or all over.
Smiling Staff
The staff are multi-lingual.
They smile. They are watching to help at the buffet breakfast. They ask permission before removing plates which still have food. Their badges have names. We were able to tell a waiter that Jennifer (from Cuba) had already taken our order for espresso coffee.
You can book through booking dot com or direct. Sometimes booking.com gives a special offer to regular customers, or has a block booking of better rooms, or an early bird or last minute offer. At other times the hotel has reserved its better rooms for its own guests. Or it could be that the part of the rooms allocated to one system is fully booked but the rooms allocated to the other system are still available.
We wanted to extend our stay, at the same standard and price sea view room. First they said no rooms. We found another hotel. Then they said room available, but we had to switch room numbers.
We wondered why. Surely it would be simpler for us to stay in the same room? And the hotel would not have to change sheets and make up the room again.
Avenida de Bruselas s/n,
38660 Costa Adeje
Tenerife, Espana
t +34 922 716 868
-ends-
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Agatha Christie and Tenerife
I and my husband visited Tenerife twice in 2026. Tenerife has something for everyone, romance or culture, wine and wineries, history, connections with Spain and America and Britain, and cosy crime writer Agatha Christie.
Her statue is at the top of a long series of steps, each coloured with the titles of a book. She wrote 66 detective novels and 15 sets of short stories.
Allow plenty of time to climb the steps. I ran up four or five flights, with no end in sight. So I eventually gave up and ran all the way back down to where my husband was waiting in a place where nobody could park permanently.
Every two years a cultural festival of crime writers and Agatha Christie fans is held in Tenerife.
Useful Websites
https://canariasnatureguides.com/en_GB/blog/our-blog-1/post/tenerife-the-haven-of-agatha-christie-queen-of-crime-12
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Products-g187479-Tenerife_Canary_Islands.html
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Spanish_phrasebook
Flag Socks As Souvenirs or Statements
The owner of these socks worked in different countries around the world and bought socks for every country which he visited or where he worked.
You can wear socks on national days, to show your own nationality, to connect with people
Useful Websites For Socks With Flags
https://niftygifts.co.za/products/south-african-flag-socks
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Tuesday, June 16, 2026
200 year old Pinewood wine press at Lagar de Chasna Winery in Tenerife
Lagar de Chasna winery on Tenerife, Canary Islands. Lagar is a grape press. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Trevor, wine educator and wine writer, beside the wine press at Lagar de Chasna Winery in Tenerife, Canary Islands
The old grape press at Lagar de Chasna Winery in Tenerife, Channel Islands. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Tenerife, one of the larger and most popular of the Canary Islands, has many vineyards. We had a tasting of four organic wines at this vineyard.
They are a small place and sometimes are fully busy with a coach party, so you must book a visit, especially if you want to eat there.
One couple had arrived in a two seater bike driven by the tour leader.
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Monday, June 15, 2026
Words you learn in Spanish Hospitals
Ambulance
When I fell down the stairs at a Parador hotel in La Palma in the Canary Islands I was able to call ayuda, meaning help.
Next day on Tenerife before flying to London I was able to understand and be understood at the hospital.
Entrance - entrada
Exit - salida
Emergency - emergencia
Local police - policia local
Police - Policia
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Volcanoes Old And New On La Palma
The place to learn about volcanoes is in the volcano museum in La Palma.
You start with a world view of volcano areas. Maps and diagrams. Then it gets local. So I initially thought it was AI.
No, real day by day footage from various Spanish and international organizations.
Volcano on La Palma. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Copyright.
Then, on the last day of our hikes, my husband took a paid for walking tour with an obligatory guide of the lava left behînd on one side of the still grumbling volcano.
The last volcano was not one spout. Many
The guide pointed to where his former home was buried. The government had paid compensation according to the property’s square footage,
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