October 15, 2025 • 25 mins
Episode 20: Tenerife Through Alexandra's Eyes:
Join me as I chat with Alexandra Paucescu about her favourite holiday destination, Tenerife, and discover what keeps drawing her back to this captivating Canary Island year after year.
In this episode, we chat about:
🍷 What to eat and drink in Tenerife
🗺️ The perfect 2-day itinerary for first-time visitors
☀️ Why the shoulder season is the best time to visit the island
It's a relaxed, conversational episode filled with insider tips, local favourites, and the kind of authentic travel advice that only comes from someone who truly knows the island.
Whether you're planning your next Canary Islands adventure or just dreaming of sun-soaked shores, this episode is your perfect travel companion.
🎧 Tune in now on your favourite podcast app!
📌 Alexandra Paucescu is a writer, intercultural communications expert, mother, diplomatic spouse, and world traveller. You can connect with her here on her media channels or follow her on Instagram @alexandra.paucescu
📌 Next week: I'll be joined by Cassie Beardsly for an inspiring chat about Granada, hidden gems, and cultural curiosities you don't want to miss!
If you'd like to support the podcast, just click the link in the show notes and any contribution you can make helps me keep creating episodes for you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to the Truly Expat Travel Podcast, where I
chat with experts about theirfavorite holiday destinations.
Let's be honest.
Expats are some of the besttravelers around.
Always planning the nextadventure, exploring hidden
gems, and finding the best spotswherever they go.
So who better to ask for travelinspiration?
(00:26):
So thank you so much for comingon.
I guess I feel like I know youbecause I've been following you
for so long on your social mediapages.
So I'm really excited to haveyou on, to be honest.
So yeah, let's get stuck in.
Let's find out.
So who you are, how like how howyou became an expat, and what
(00:47):
kind of traveler are you?
SPEAKER_00 (00:49):
First of all, thank you very much for inviting me.
And I'm really excited becauseI've been also following you for
the last, I think, five years.
We've been uh following eachother online and we exchange
messages.
And so I'm I'm really excited toto talk to you, and I'm looking
forward to to meeting you faceto face, Mansico.
(01:10):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (01:13):
Yes, yes, definitely.
So let's start.
How how did you become an expat?
SPEAKER_00 (01:18):
Expat is the the larger uh definition, let's say
I'm the wife of a diplomat, sowe have more or less the same
life as expat partners.
We've been traveling for thelast plus 15 years or so, mainly
to Europe.
So we've been posted in Europe,in Austria, in Germany, now we
are in Brussels.
(01:39):
So for the last three years, wewe are in Brussels.
But I've been living in the USbefore I got married, and I also
traveled a lot.
I mean, ever since I was ateenager and I I started
traveling because uh before weweren't allowed to, if you talk
a bit of history, sadly.
Um so ever since I could travel,we we did with my parents and
(02:04):
afterwards uh alone with myfriends and now with my husband
and my family.
So we are really keen travelers,I could say.
And so what kind of traveler doyou say you are?
Like, first of all, I think wewe always look for destinations
where I look because I'm the onewho chooses all the destinations
mainly.
And and look for offers and uhbook the the flight tickets and
(02:27):
everything.
So I think I I first uh think ofthe destination of what could
offer to everyone in the family.
So I don't want to get bored.
I mean, I like to travelsomewhere where I can also learn
something and maybe visit amuseum or visit some uh some
historical places.
But my kids are teenagers rightnow, so at this phase, I don't
(02:49):
want to bore them too much withall they do.
And when they were smaller, I Ihave to admit it was easier.
SPEAKER_01 (02:57):
Much easier.
SPEAKER_00 (02:58):
Yeah, but uh so now I have to think okay, so uh
would they like it, what wouldthey want, and so it's uh it has
to be active, but also uhespecially since we moved here
in Brussels, I'm always lookingfor sunnier destinations than
here because it rains a lothere.
So I every chance we get, everyholiday the kids have, we go
(03:20):
somewhere where it's warmer andsunnier.
So this is my main uh criteriaright now.
SPEAKER_01 (03:27):
So I guess that leads us to the next question is
why did you choose Spain?
Like what made you decide thiswas your favorite destination?
SPEAKER_00 (03:37):
As I said, we travel a lot, but I think the closest
to us in general were uh Spain,Italy, and Greece.
And uh the thing that they allthree have in common is they are
Mediterranean countries, so moreor less they have the same
attitudes, where it's light, andthe the food is more or less
(03:58):
similar, of course, the weatheris fantastic, and the the
sceneries are gorgeouseverywhere.
So we've been traveling to allthese three.
Greece is very close to Romania,so we traveled a lot also when I
was a teenager.
I was in Greece quite a lot oftimes.
And then uh Italy is very closeto us also linguistically
because Romanian is a Latinlanguage and is the closest one
(04:20):
to Italian, so we understandeach other very well.
SPEAKER_01 (04:24):
Nice.
SPEAKER_00 (04:26):
Yeah, so the language is really similar.
And uh Spain came a bit later, Ihave to say, but now it's my
favorite out of these three.
I like everything about Spain, Ilike the people, I like the
food, I like the places.
We've been traveling a lot inSpain on the main continent, but
also in the islands.
(04:46):
We just returned actually lastweek.
We were in Palma de Mallorca.
My husband was joking that hehas a colleague, and when they
talk about holidays, where didyou go?
And he says, Okay, I went toMalaga, I went to Palma de
Mallorca.
He's always amazed, oh, you areour biggest fan.
You always go to Spain for aholiday or something.
SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
I think it's obviously caught your heart.
It's uh yes.
And do you think it did?
So the first time you ever haveyou so the first time you ever
went to Tenerife, did you go,was it a spontaneous trip or did
you organize it?
I'm never too spontaneous, Ihave to say, yeah, with kids
when it comes to traveling.
SPEAKER_00 (05:27):
I'm a big planner in everything, and this helped me
also to manage all our life,which is quite chaotic at uh
terms, especially when we movefrom place to place.
So being very, very organized ingeneral really helped me.
And I'm the same with traveling.
So I plan, just to give you anexample, now I have all the
holidays planned until Aprilnext year.
(05:48):
So you sound like me.
Yeah, just I booked already.
So uh I cannot say I'mspontaneous, or at least uh for
the longer, bigger holidays.
No, I'm not.
And I always have to to see,okay, when the when do the kids
have holiday, when we can getholidays.
(06:08):
So I have to adjust all this.
But the first time we've been toTenerife was quite a couple of
years ago, and it was the onlytime that we've been alone
without the kids.
The first time we've been, uh itwas our wedding anniversary, so
we decided every year we triedto go somewhere, and we decided,
okay, let's try Tenerife.
And I I just fell in love withthis island.
(06:30):
I mean, I I would go backanytime there.
Um and ever since we've beenpretty much every year.
Uh, we usually go in autumn, sofor the autumn break, but it's
not a rule.
But I think as uh as an advice Icould give to uh everybody else,
I would say that try to avoidthe summer months, which I
(06:52):
understand are very, verycrowded over there.
So if you go because Tenerifehas this is one thing that I
also like about Tenerife, andwhich is particular to this uh
the Canary Islands, andespecially to Tenerife, they
have the same temperature allyear around, so it's it doesn't
get it's around plus 25 allyear, so it doesn't matter when
(07:14):
you go, you will not feel toohot, too cold.
So this is a huge advantage.
It doesn't matter, it's a yeah,it's something particular.
You you cannot find it in theBalearen or in other islands or
Europe.
SPEAKER_01 (07:26):
So and what does a two-day itinerary look like for
you?
A two-day or a one-dayitinerary.
So if you spent two days there,what would people what could
people do?
Two days not uh it's not enough.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
But if you only had two days,what could we do there?
SPEAKER_00 (07:47):
Okay, so uh one I would say go to the beach.
I'm uh a big uh lover ofeverything when it comes to the
sea everywhere, so I I wouldalways uh spend a couple of days
at the beach and in Tenerifealso.
We preferred the south becausethe island is quite big, it's
the capital of the CanaryIslands, but it's it's a quite a
big island.
(08:08):
And also the the temperature andthe weather, it's slightly
different from south to north.
North is a bit more windier andrainier, and maybe a couple of
degrees less, especially inwintertime, and the summer is
always sunny, so we always stayin the south, and we go.
(08:30):
There is the one beach that wereally like, it's called Las
Vistas, which is really reallynice.
It has uh white sand inTenerifa.
The a lot of beaches have uhblack sand.
I don't know if you saw itbecause it's a volcanic island,
so uh there are a lot of beacheswith dark black sand, which is
(08:51):
interesting ones to see, but I'mnot a big fan of it.
It's to tell you the truth.
It's uh it feels really awkwardwhen you see it on your feet,
honestly.
SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
Yeah, so I prefer the yellow one, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:07):
Yeah, I think we all so the uh the beaches in the
south, the Las Vistas, the onethat I told you, has uh
beautiful yellow sand, so it'svery nice.
But the whole area is uh it'snice, and there is this uh
resort which is called Playa delas Americas, which was
originally designed, I think, inthe 70s or something.
(09:30):
They started building it fromscratch, so there was nothing
there, and they built it as aresort, so you can see this.
It's everything is designed tomake you feel comfortable, to
make you feel like on a holiday,it's full of uh English
tourists.
I I have to say, so everyonespeaks English there, and you
can uh find it.
(09:50):
I mean, every time we've beenthere, we stayed in a different
hotel.
Everywhere they had, besideslike normal breakfast, they had
the traditional Englishbreakfast.
It's very accommodating forthem, but it's a nice
atmosphere, it's a lot also verylively nightlife.
So you can also go to they haveconcerts, they have a lot of
(10:13):
bars, they have live music.
I really like it.
I really like it.
So this would be the first day,and the second day, as I said,
it's it's not enough because theisland is quite big and it's
very diversified.
So that's why I also like Tenefecomparing to other islands,
because it has maybe you youheard about it on the island,
(10:37):
it's this volcano called Teide,which is actually the highest
peak in Spain, so it's almost4,000 meters high.
And one trip there is also agood idea for a day.
It's quite expensive, I have tosay, because it's a national
park, you have to pay to get in,and then to go up, it's a cable,
(10:58):
which is also quite expensive,but it's really worth it because
the view is spectacular.
You can see all the islands allaround from over there if you're
lucky to get a cloudless day.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's also a very um uhpeculiar scenery, it's very
solenaro.
I cannot uh explain.
I mean, it looks like uh from umanother planet.
(11:22):
Okay, it's it's really somethingthat I've never seen uh anywhere
else.
And on the way there, as youenter this national park, it's
full of pine trees.
So it's also because I've beento other islands in the Canaries
and they are not as green, also.
So Tenarifa is also green, has alot of forests, it has a very,
(11:44):
very different but verybeautiful scenery.
Everywhere you look, you findall these plants that some of
them you never see somewhereelse.
All these trees, so and thelight is different.
I mean, so when you're there,I'm like on cloud night.
And um, if you had a third day,please let me take it.
(12:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I should definitely go aroundthe island to visit some of the
cities because it has uh so it'sLa Laguna is the uh former
capital of the island, which isa very, very nice town with
colorful little houses and very,very pittoresque to go around
and check it out.
(12:29):
Capital, which is now Santa Cruzde Tenerife, which is a very
modern city, very big, and ithas um one of my um also my uh
the thing that I like.
Uh I like to see modernarchitecture everywhere we go.
And on the island in Santa Cruzde Tenerife, exactly by the
(12:51):
shore, they have this auditoriumopera house, which was built by
uh Calatrava, SantiagoCalatrava.
It's a famous architect who isoriginally from Spain, from
Valencia, and he did in Valenciaa whole complex of beautiful,
gorgeous buildings, yeah, cityof sciences and art, it's called
in in Valencia, which I alsovisited once.
(13:14):
But the the auditorium inTenerife, it's a really, really
marvelous building, exactly bythe sea.
So uh it's a it reminds me a bitof uh Sydney.
Oh, really?
Yeah, it's not the same uh okayconstruction, but it's also very
modern, very beautiful.
So you you should also go thereand see this.
(13:35):
And there are also other littlevillages and uh cities around
the island that you could see.
There is this uh place, I don'tremember exactly the name of the
village, but somewhere in thecenter, and you can see the
oldest dragon tree.
They say it's the oldest dragontree in the world, which is
really huge.
Yeah, we have a picture manyyears ago.
(13:57):
The kids were quite small, andwe we did this picture in front
of it, and you can see reallythe uh the size of it.
We are like really, reallysmall.
It's like a sequoia orsomething.
Really, really beautiful.
Also, it's another villagecalled Maska, which is somewhere
between the inside the mountain,somewhere in a valley.
(14:18):
So you go on a very, verywinding road, and you arrive
there, and from there you canhave a hike for two, three
hours, and you reach the sea onthe other side.
Okay, and you you can imaginethe the view.
So yeah, I could talk for hoursa bit.
Is it is it a place that youneed a car for?
(14:39):
Most of the time we rented acar, yes.
But I would say that they havethese buses, which are also
quite convenient, they are alsovery cheap.
For example, from the airport,you can go to this south part of
the island to all the resorts bybus.
So it's an option, but to travelaround and to be more
independent, yeah.
(15:00):
I would say you would need thecar.
For example, to go to Moscow tothis village that I said, yeah,
we were by car.
I understand there was also uhthe possibility to get a bus,
but I'm not sure how we like tobe more independent.
I think when you have your owncar, you can do whatever you
want your own.
Yeah, if you get lost at somepoint, yeah, have some nice uh
(15:21):
little dick, or end up indivorce, either one.
SPEAKER_01 (15:29):
Uh is it a hard place to get to from Europe?
SPEAKER_00 (15:33):
From Europe?
No, it's four or five hours fromhere, flight from here, from
depending uh how you you fly.
For example, from Brussels, weuh we always used to the uh tap
the Portuguese airlines, so westopped in Lisbon, and but we it
(15:53):
was also nice because we stoppedin Lisbon for a day, so we were
also um strolling around for fora while and then we we continued
the trip.
There are also some otheroptions.
I'm not sure from here there isany direct flight, but when we
were, for example, in Berlin,yeah, we we we flew directly and
it was I think around fivehours, if I remember correctly.
(16:16):
It's not that far, so it's yeah,it's doable.
SPEAKER_01 (16:19):
Yeah, and I guess in Europe anything's not far.
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
I I just saw yesterday, in fact, there was
someone who was saying, Oh, youin Europe you're always
complaining if it's like four orfive hours, oh it's a long
flight.
But when you come from Asia,it's like for Australia,
everything is like 20 years.
SPEAKER_01 (16:38):
Yeah, yeah, like a couple of days.
SPEAKER_00 (16:41):
Yeah, so I so I should not complain.
It's easy to get there.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:46):
I know I feel spoiled in Asia as well because
we, I mean, uh four hours, fivehours, and I'm just anywhere,
pretty much.
SPEAKER_00 (16:53):
Yeah, and you have a lot of amazing places also and
very exotic ones.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:59):
I mean you're reached, so we well, not like
you, like we have to fly there.
You you can actually literallydrive from place to place.
Not not to Tenerife, but you candrive to place to place.
SPEAKER_00 (17:10):
Is there a I have uh some friends, sorry, that uh
they've been by car to Tenerife.
They took uh something from uhfrom Fadiz, they took uh Ferry.
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
So I wonder how long I wonder how long it takes.
I'd have to look that up.
Was there a standout experienceor moment that made you know
this place the trip that uh oreven on the first trip that you
went on, what made it a standouttime or place that you thought,
(17:41):
okay, this is a beautiful place,I've got to come back?
SPEAKER_00 (17:44):
I cannot really point it out on one particular
thing, but I remember definitelyfrom the first time that we've
been there.
I sensed something I I cannotreally explain it.
Like uh it wasn't like uh maybea deja vu or no, nothing like
this.
But I I felt like I don't know,I I felt really well.
(18:06):
As I said, I traveled to a lotof places and I never felt the
same.
I mean, I I like going to thebeach, so I'm like happy, as I
said, going to the North Sea ifI to stand there or to Nokia
High Spear or maybe the light isthe atmosphere, the whole thing.
And uh you cannot really pointit out.
So I I really like the island, Imean, and I always encourage
(18:27):
everyone to visit it.
So I'm like uh they should giveme a price for you could be the
ambassador.
SPEAKER_01 (18:35):
Is there a is there a food or a drink you have to
try?
SPEAKER_00 (18:38):
We beat, I mean, I uh I don't eat meat in general,
so I eat only fish.
So you can imagine when you goon such an island, you are like
in the best place.
So there's a lot of uh ofseafood and uh fish.
But I discovered this drink, uh,which it's not something that I
usually drink because I neverhave coffee in general.
(18:59):
So I'm very sensitive to coffee,so I never have any beverages
with coffee.
But on this island, I meansomebody told me about it, I
have to admit it, and I tried itout.
It's this thing calledbarraquito, which is a special
kind of coffee, but it's coffeewith milk and also with a bit of
liquor, a Spanish liquor.
(19:20):
I think it's liquor 43 orsomething, is the name.
I'm not completely sure, butit's a Spanish one.
It's really, really delicious,and it also comes when when they
bring it to you, they bring itusually in uh in a glass, so you
can see the different layers.
It's really, really nicelooking, and it's also really
good.
(19:40):
Yeah, but I have to be verycareful because if I drink one,
I will not sleep forward.
SPEAKER_01 (19:48):
You have to be careful you don't drink it at
night.
SPEAKER_00 (19:50):
Yeah, but I definitely recommend it, at
least right once.
SPEAKER_01 (19:53):
Yeah, that's uh I and is it just for that area?
Like, can you get is it a is isit a particular drink that's
really just found in that area?
SPEAKER_00 (20:03):
Only in the canaries, yeah.
You cannot find it in Spain, forexample, because I I looked for
it everywhere else with maybethey they might have it under a
different name, I'm not sure,but uh under this name it's only
there, so it's specific.
Okay.
Is there one from there?
SPEAKER_01 (20:20):
Is there one thing that you wish you knew before
you got there?
Sure.
SPEAKER_00 (20:26):
I mean, the first time we've been, as I said, it
was just the two of us, so itwas more of a party trip.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I could say the next times we'vebeen, because I told you we've
been a couple of times already.
We've we've rented a car andwe've been around, so we we
discovered a lot of places, andI always try to do things,
(20:48):
different things every year.
So I I try to organizeeverything.
And the only thing which staysevery year, it's um they have
this um aquapark, which is uhcalled Siam Park, which is
really, really great.
And it's it's big and it's it'salso very nicely done because
it's in an Asian style, and youyou have flamingos inside, and
(21:10):
you have all this big uh orangefish in uh in the pond.
So it it really looks reallynice, but it has a lot of water
slides, and so the kits arereally number nine.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, but the thing is that, forexample, this is what I I mean,
I as I said, I'm very organized,so to me it was never a problem,
(21:31):
but I could tell others theyshould know to to buy tickets
well in advance because if yougo there, there is a long, long
queue.
Uh it doesn't matter if you goexactly at uh the opening times,
you will still have to wait alot, and if possible, take a
fast track uh pass also.
SPEAKER_01 (21:49):
Uh-huh.
Okay.
That's it.
But it's worth it.
That's good.
Because I was gonna ask you doyou have any tips or a bit of
advice for anyone that wants touh that's thinking of going to
Tenerife for the first time?
SPEAKER_00 (22:03):
So this would be one of them.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
The second, if possible, don'tgo in summer, as I said before.
Uh we've never been in summerbecause I we've been so many
times.
I started following a lot of uhgroups of Tenerife residents.
Yeah, yeah.
So I I tried to find all thesenew places and to discover new
(22:25):
things about the island, andthey always say, I mean,
especially the the locals, theyalways complain that especially
in July and August, it's reallycrowded.
And yeah, because they have avery large and uh also quite
developed network of highwaysaround the island, so it's
really easy to travel around,but they complain that in
(22:46):
summertime all these highwaysare jammed.
So I I would not go there, andit's like especially if you come
from Europe, it's not worth itanyway, because in Europe you
have nice weather in July.
Why you go there?
SPEAKER_01 (23:00):
So yeah, you want to go save it out.
SPEAKER_00 (23:04):
Yeah, to go in spring or to go in uh winter
time.
We usually, as I said, we go inOctober and November.
Yeah, I would say I've never hadany rainy days, and we've been
many years already.
The water is perfect, theweather is perfect, so yeah, the
best time.
SPEAKER_01 (23:24):
Amazing.
I think it's I'm gonna have toput it on my bucket list now.
On my very, very big bucketlist.
Yeah, wouldn't that be fun?
Show me around like a local.
Thank you so much.
I've had such a great timechatting to you about Tenerife
and just chatting to in general.
So I'm hoping maybe you can comeon again and tell us another
(23:46):
destination that you lovebecause I know that you travel
so far.
So I'll put all of your links inthe show notes because I'm I ha
as I've said in the intro, youhave written some books and
you've done some great stuff andyou've got more stuff, great
stuff happening.
So if anyone wants to followyou, I'll I'll pop it all down
in the show notes for you.
(24:07):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for coming on,and I'll speak to you soon.
It was a pleasure.
Bye.
Bye.
So join us again next week onTruly Expat Travel Podcast,
where I have another excitingdestination in a world that's
too big to be left unexplored.
Chaffanna.
Welcome to the Truly Expat Travel Podcast, where I
chat with experts about theirfavorite holiday destinations.
Let's be honest.
Expats are some of the besttravelers around.
Always planning the nextadventure, exploring hidden
gems, and finding the best spotswherever they go.
So who better to ask for travelinspiration?
(00:26):
So thank you so much for comingon.
I guess I feel like I know youbecause I've been following you
for so long on your social mediapages.
So I'm really excited to haveyou on, to be honest.
So yeah, let's get stuck in.
Let's find out.
So who you are, how like how howyou became an expat, and what
(00:47):
kind of traveler are you?
SPEAKER_00 (00:49):
First of all, thank you very much for inviting me.
And I'm really excited becauseI've been also following you for
the last, I think, five years.
We've been uh following eachother online and we exchange
messages.
And so I'm I'm really excited toto talk to you, and I'm looking
forward to to meeting you faceto face, Mansico.
(01:10):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01 (01:13):
Yes, yes, definitely.
So let's start.
How how did you become an expat?
SPEAKER_00 (01:18):
Expat is the the larger uh definition, let's say
I'm the wife of a diplomat, sowe have more or less the same
life as expat partners.
We've been traveling for thelast plus 15 years or so, mainly
to Europe.
So we've been posted in Europe,in Austria, in Germany, now we
are in Brussels.
(01:39):
So for the last three years, wewe are in Brussels.
But I've been living in the USbefore I got married, and I also
traveled a lot.
I mean, ever since I was ateenager and I I started
traveling because uh before weweren't allowed to, if you talk
a bit of history, sadly.
Um so ever since I could travel,we we did with my parents and
(02:04):
afterwards uh alone with myfriends and now with my husband
and my family.
So we are really keen travelers,I could say.
And so what kind of traveler doyou say you are?
Like, first of all, I think wewe always look for destinations
where I look because I'm the onewho chooses all the destinations
mainly.
And and look for offers and uhbook the the flight tickets and
(02:27):
everything.
So I think I I first uh think ofthe destination of what could
offer to everyone in the family.
So I don't want to get bored.
I mean, I like to travelsomewhere where I can also learn
something and maybe visit amuseum or visit some uh some
historical places.
But my kids are teenagers rightnow, so at this phase, I don't
(02:49):
want to bore them too much withall they do.
And when they were smaller, I Ihave to admit it was easier.
SPEAKER_01 (02:57):
Much easier.
SPEAKER_00 (02:58):
Yeah, but uh so now I have to think okay, so uh
would they like it, what wouldthey want, and so it's uh it has
to be active, but also uhespecially since we moved here
in Brussels, I'm always lookingfor sunnier destinations than
here because it rains a lothere.
So I every chance we get, everyholiday the kids have, we go
(03:20):
somewhere where it's warmer andsunnier.
So this is my main uh criteriaright now.
SPEAKER_01 (03:27):
So I guess that leads us to the next question is
why did you choose Spain?
Like what made you decide thiswas your favorite destination?
SPEAKER_00 (03:37):
As I said, we travel a lot, but I think the closest
to us in general were uh Spain,Italy, and Greece.
And uh the thing that they allthree have in common is they are
Mediterranean countries, so moreor less they have the same
attitudes, where it's light, andthe the food is more or less
(03:58):
similar, of course, the weatheris fantastic, and the the
sceneries are gorgeouseverywhere.
So we've been traveling to allthese three.
Greece is very close to Romania,so we traveled a lot also when I
was a teenager.
I was in Greece quite a lot oftimes.
And then uh Italy is very closeto us also linguistically
because Romanian is a Latinlanguage and is the closest one
(04:20):
to Italian, so we understandeach other very well.
SPEAKER_01 (04:24):
Nice.
SPEAKER_00 (04:26):
Yeah, so the language is really similar.
And uh Spain came a bit later, Ihave to say, but now it's my
favorite out of these three.
I like everything about Spain, Ilike the people, I like the
food, I like the places.
We've been traveling a lot inSpain on the main continent, but
also in the islands.
(04:46):
We just returned actually lastweek.
We were in Palma de Mallorca.
My husband was joking that hehas a colleague, and when they
talk about holidays, where didyou go?
And he says, Okay, I went toMalaga, I went to Palma de
Mallorca.
He's always amazed, oh, you areour biggest fan.
You always go to Spain for aholiday or something.
SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
I think it's obviously caught your heart.
It's uh yes.
And do you think it did?
So the first time you ever haveyou so the first time you ever
went to Tenerife, did you go,was it a spontaneous trip or did
you organize it?
I'm never too spontaneous, Ihave to say, yeah, with kids
when it comes to traveling.
SPEAKER_00 (05:27):
I'm a big planner in everything, and this helped me
also to manage all our life,which is quite chaotic at uh
terms, especially when we movefrom place to place.
So being very, very organized ingeneral really helped me.
And I'm the same with traveling.
So I plan, just to give you anexample, now I have all the
holidays planned until Aprilnext year.
(05:48):
So you sound like me.
Yeah, just I booked already.
So uh I cannot say I'mspontaneous, or at least uh for
the longer, bigger holidays.
No, I'm not.
And I always have to to see,okay, when the when do the kids
have holiday, when we can getholidays.
(06:08):
So I have to adjust all this.
But the first time we've been toTenerife was quite a couple of
years ago, and it was the onlytime that we've been alone
without the kids.
The first time we've been, uh itwas our wedding anniversary, so
we decided every year we triedto go somewhere, and we decided,
okay, let's try Tenerife.
And I I just fell in love withthis island.
(06:30):
I mean, I I would go backanytime there.
Um and ever since we've beenpretty much every year.
Uh, we usually go in autumn, sofor the autumn break, but it's
not a rule.
But I think as uh as an advice Icould give to uh everybody else,
I would say that try to avoidthe summer months, which I
(06:52):
understand are very, verycrowded over there.
So if you go because Tenerifehas this is one thing that I
also like about Tenerife, andwhich is particular to this uh
the Canary Islands, andespecially to Tenerife, they
have the same temperature allyear around, so it's it doesn't
get it's around plus 25 allyear, so it doesn't matter when
(07:14):
you go, you will not feel toohot, too cold.
So this is a huge advantage.
It doesn't matter, it's a yeah,it's something particular.
You you cannot find it in theBalearen or in other islands or
Europe.
SPEAKER_01 (07:26):
So and what does a two-day itinerary look like for
you?
A two-day or a one-dayitinerary.
So if you spent two days there,what would people what could
people do?
Two days not uh it's not enough.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
But if you only had two days,what could we do there?
SPEAKER_00 (07:47):
Okay, so uh one I would say go to the beach.
I'm uh a big uh lover ofeverything when it comes to the
sea everywhere, so I I wouldalways uh spend a couple of days
at the beach and in Tenerifealso.
We preferred the south becausethe island is quite big, it's
the capital of the CanaryIslands, but it's it's a quite a
big island.
(08:08):
And also the the temperature andthe weather, it's slightly
different from south to north.
North is a bit more windier andrainier, and maybe a couple of
degrees less, especially inwintertime, and the summer is
always sunny, so we always stayin the south, and we go.
(08:30):
There is the one beach that wereally like, it's called Las
Vistas, which is really reallynice.
It has uh white sand inTenerifa.
The a lot of beaches have uhblack sand.
I don't know if you saw itbecause it's a volcanic island,
so uh there are a lot of beacheswith dark black sand, which is
(08:51):
interesting ones to see, but I'mnot a big fan of it.
It's to tell you the truth.
It's uh it feels really awkwardwhen you see it on your feet,
honestly.
SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
Yeah, so I prefer the yellow one, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:07):
Yeah, I think we all so the uh the beaches in the
south, the Las Vistas, the onethat I told you, has uh
beautiful yellow sand, so it'svery nice.
But the whole area is uh it'snice, and there is this uh
resort which is called Playa delas Americas, which was
originally designed, I think, inthe 70s or something.
(09:30):
They started building it fromscratch, so there was nothing
there, and they built it as aresort, so you can see this.
It's everything is designed tomake you feel comfortable, to
make you feel like on a holiday,it's full of uh English
tourists.
I I have to say, so everyonespeaks English there, and you
can uh find it.
(09:50):
I mean, every time we've beenthere, we stayed in a different
hotel.
Everywhere they had, besideslike normal breakfast, they had
the traditional Englishbreakfast.
It's very accommodating forthem, but it's a nice
atmosphere, it's a lot also verylively nightlife.
So you can also go to they haveconcerts, they have a lot of
(10:13):
bars, they have live music.
I really like it.
I really like it.
So this would be the first day,and the second day, as I said,
it's it's not enough because theisland is quite big and it's
very diversified.
So that's why I also like Tenefecomparing to other islands,
because it has maybe you youheard about it on the island,
(10:37):
it's this volcano called Teide,which is actually the highest
peak in Spain, so it's almost4,000 meters high.
And one trip there is also agood idea for a day.
It's quite expensive, I have tosay, because it's a national
park, you have to pay to get in,and then to go up, it's a cable,
(10:58):
which is also quite expensive,but it's really worth it because
the view is spectacular.
You can see all the islands allaround from over there if you're
lucky to get a cloudless day.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's also a very um uhpeculiar scenery, it's very
solenaro.
I cannot uh explain.
I mean, it looks like uh from umanother planet.
(11:22):
Okay, it's it's really somethingthat I've never seen uh anywhere
else.
And on the way there, as youenter this national park, it's
full of pine trees.
So it's also because I've beento other islands in the Canaries
and they are not as green, also.
So Tenarifa is also green, has alot of forests, it has a very,
(11:44):
very different but verybeautiful scenery.
Everywhere you look, you findall these plants that some of
them you never see somewhereelse.
All these trees, so and thelight is different.
I mean, so when you're there,I'm like on cloud night.
And um, if you had a third day,please let me take it.
(12:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I should definitely go aroundthe island to visit some of the
cities because it has uh so it'sLa Laguna is the uh former
capital of the island, which isa very, very nice town with
colorful little houses and very,very pittoresque to go around
and check it out.
(12:29):
Capital, which is now Santa Cruzde Tenerife, which is a very
modern city, very big, and ithas um one of my um also my uh
the thing that I like.
Uh I like to see modernarchitecture everywhere we go.
And on the island in Santa Cruzde Tenerife, exactly by the
(12:51):
shore, they have this auditoriumopera house, which was built by
uh Calatrava, SantiagoCalatrava.
It's a famous architect who isoriginally from Spain, from
Valencia, and he did in Valenciaa whole complex of beautiful,
gorgeous buildings, yeah, cityof sciences and art, it's called
in in Valencia, which I alsovisited once.
(13:14):
But the the auditorium inTenerife, it's a really, really
marvelous building, exactly bythe sea.
So uh it's a it reminds me a bitof uh Sydney.
Oh, really?
Yeah, it's not the same uh okayconstruction, but it's also very
modern, very beautiful.
So you you should also go thereand see this.
(13:35):
And there are also other littlevillages and uh cities around
the island that you could see.
There is this uh place, I don'tremember exactly the name of the
village, but somewhere in thecenter, and you can see the
oldest dragon tree.
They say it's the oldest dragontree in the world, which is
really huge.
Yeah, we have a picture manyyears ago.
(13:57):
The kids were quite small, andwe we did this picture in front
of it, and you can see reallythe uh the size of it.
We are like really, reallysmall.
It's like a sequoia orsomething.
Really, really beautiful.
Also, it's another villagecalled Maska, which is somewhere
between the inside the mountain,somewhere in a valley.
(14:18):
So you go on a very, verywinding road, and you arrive
there, and from there you canhave a hike for two, three
hours, and you reach the sea onthe other side.
Okay, and you you can imaginethe the view.
So yeah, I could talk for hoursa bit.
Is it is it a place that youneed a car for?
(14:39):
Most of the time we rented acar, yes.
But I would say that they havethese buses, which are also
quite convenient, they are alsovery cheap.
For example, from the airport,you can go to this south part of
the island to all the resorts bybus.
So it's an option, but to travelaround and to be more
independent, yeah.
(15:00):
I would say you would need thecar.
For example, to go to Moscow tothis village that I said, yeah,
we were by car.
I understand there was also uhthe possibility to get a bus,
but I'm not sure how we like tobe more independent.
I think when you have your owncar, you can do whatever you
want your own.
Yeah, if you get lost at somepoint, yeah, have some nice uh
(15:21):
little dick, or end up indivorce, either one.
SPEAKER_01 (15:29):
Uh is it a hard place to get to from Europe?
SPEAKER_00 (15:33):
From Europe?
No, it's four or five hours fromhere, flight from here, from
depending uh how you you fly.
For example, from Brussels, weuh we always used to the uh tap
the Portuguese airlines, so westopped in Lisbon, and but we it
(15:53):
was also nice because we stoppedin Lisbon for a day, so we were
also um strolling around for fora while and then we we continued
the trip.
There are also some otheroptions.
I'm not sure from here there isany direct flight, but when we
were, for example, in Berlin,yeah, we we we flew directly and
it was I think around fivehours, if I remember correctly.
(16:16):
It's not that far, so it's yeah,it's doable.
SPEAKER_01 (16:19):
Yeah, and I guess in Europe anything's not far.
SPEAKER_00 (16:24):
I I just saw yesterday, in fact, there was
someone who was saying, Oh, youin Europe you're always
complaining if it's like four orfive hours, oh it's a long
flight.
But when you come from Asia,it's like for Australia,
everything is like 20 years.
SPEAKER_01 (16:38):
Yeah, yeah, like a couple of days.
SPEAKER_00 (16:41):
Yeah, so I so I should not complain.
It's easy to get there.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:46):
I know I feel spoiled in Asia as well because
we, I mean, uh four hours, fivehours, and I'm just anywhere,
pretty much.
SPEAKER_00 (16:53):
Yeah, and you have a lot of amazing places also and
very exotic ones.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:59):
I mean you're reached, so we well, not like
you, like we have to fly there.
You you can actually literallydrive from place to place.
Not not to Tenerife, but you candrive to place to place.
SPEAKER_00 (17:10):
Is there a I have uh some friends, sorry, that uh
they've been by car to Tenerife.
They took uh something from uhfrom Fadiz, they took uh Ferry.
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
So I wonder how long I wonder how long it takes.
I'd have to look that up.
Was there a standout experienceor moment that made you know
this place the trip that uh oreven on the first trip that you
went on, what made it a standouttime or place that you thought,
(17:41):
okay, this is a beautiful place,I've got to come back?
SPEAKER_00 (17:44):
I cannot really point it out on one particular
thing, but I remember definitelyfrom the first time that we've
been there.
I sensed something I I cannotreally explain it.
Like uh it wasn't like uh maybea deja vu or no, nothing like
this.
But I I felt like I don't know,I I felt really well.
(18:06):
As I said, I traveled to a lotof places and I never felt the
same.
I mean, I I like going to thebeach, so I'm like happy, as I
said, going to the North Sea ifI to stand there or to Nokia
High Spear or maybe the light isthe atmosphere, the whole thing.
And uh you cannot really pointit out.
So I I really like the island, Imean, and I always encourage
(18:27):
everyone to visit it.
So I'm like uh they should giveme a price for you could be the
ambassador.
SPEAKER_01 (18:35):
Is there a is there a food or a drink you have to
try?
SPEAKER_00 (18:38):
We beat, I mean, I uh I don't eat meat in general,
so I eat only fish.
So you can imagine when you goon such an island, you are like
in the best place.
So there's a lot of uh ofseafood and uh fish.
But I discovered this drink, uh,which it's not something that I
usually drink because I neverhave coffee in general.
(18:59):
So I'm very sensitive to coffee,so I never have any beverages
with coffee.
But on this island, I meansomebody told me about it, I
have to admit it, and I tried itout.
It's this thing calledbarraquito, which is a special
kind of coffee, but it's coffeewith milk and also with a bit of
liquor, a Spanish liquor.
(19:20):
I think it's liquor 43 orsomething, is the name.
I'm not completely sure, butit's a Spanish one.
It's really, really delicious,and it also comes when when they
bring it to you, they bring itusually in uh in a glass, so you
can see the different layers.
It's really, really nicelooking, and it's also really
good.
(19:40):
Yeah, but I have to be verycareful because if I drink one,
I will not sleep forward.
SPEAKER_01 (19:48):
You have to be careful you don't drink it at
night.
SPEAKER_00 (19:50):
Yeah, but I definitely recommend it, at
least right once.
SPEAKER_01 (19:53):
Yeah, that's uh I and is it just for that area?
Like, can you get is it a is isit a particular drink that's
really just found in that area?
SPEAKER_00 (20:03):
Only in the canaries, yeah.
You cannot find it in Spain, forexample, because I I looked for
it everywhere else with maybethey they might have it under a
different name, I'm not sure,but uh under this name it's only
there, so it's specific.
Okay.
Is there one from there?
SPEAKER_01 (20:20):
Is there one thing that you wish you knew before
you got there?
Sure.
SPEAKER_00 (20:26):
I mean, the first time we've been, as I said, it
was just the two of us, so itwas more of a party trip.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I could say the next times we'vebeen, because I told you we've
been a couple of times already.
We've we've rented a car andwe've been around, so we we
discovered a lot of places, andI always try to do things,
(20:48):
different things every year.
So I I try to organizeeverything.
And the only thing which staysevery year, it's um they have
this um aquapark, which is uhcalled Siam Park, which is
really, really great.
And it's it's big and it's it'salso very nicely done because
it's in an Asian style, and youyou have flamingos inside, and
(21:10):
you have all this big uh orangefish in uh in the pond.
So it it really looks reallynice, but it has a lot of water
slides, and so the kits arereally number nine.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, but the thing is that, forexample, this is what I I mean,
I as I said, I'm very organized,so to me it was never a problem,
(21:31):
but I could tell others theyshould know to to buy tickets
well in advance because if yougo there, there is a long, long
queue.
Uh it doesn't matter if you goexactly at uh the opening times,
you will still have to wait alot, and if possible, take a
fast track uh pass also.
SPEAKER_01 (21:49):
Uh-huh.
Okay.
That's it.
But it's worth it.
That's good.
Because I was gonna ask you doyou have any tips or a bit of
advice for anyone that wants touh that's thinking of going to
Tenerife for the first time?
SPEAKER_00 (22:03):
So this would be one of them.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
The second, if possible, don'tgo in summer, as I said before.
Uh we've never been in summerbecause I we've been so many
times.
I started following a lot of uhgroups of Tenerife residents.
Yeah, yeah.
So I I tried to find all thesenew places and to discover new
(22:25):
things about the island, andthey always say, I mean,
especially the the locals, theyalways complain that especially
in July and August, it's reallycrowded.
And yeah, because they have avery large and uh also quite
developed network of highwaysaround the island, so it's
really easy to travel around,but they complain that in
(22:46):
summertime all these highwaysare jammed.
So I I would not go there, andit's like especially if you come
from Europe, it's not worth itanyway, because in Europe you
have nice weather in July.
Why you go there?
SPEAKER_01 (23:00):
So yeah, you want to go save it out.
SPEAKER_00 (23:04):
Yeah, to go in spring or to go in uh winter
time.
We usually, as I said, we go inOctober and November.
Yeah, I would say I've never hadany rainy days, and we've been
many years already.
The water is perfect, theweather is perfect, so yeah, the
best time.
SPEAKER_01 (23:24):
Amazing.
I think it's I'm gonna have toput it on my bucket list now.
On my very, very big bucketlist.
Yeah, wouldn't that be fun?
Show me around like a local.
Thank you so much.
I've had such a great timechatting to you about Tenerife
and just chatting to in general.
So I'm hoping maybe you can comeon again and tell us another
(23:46):
destination that you lovebecause I know that you travel
so far.
So I'll put all of your links inthe show notes because I'm I ha
as I've said in the intro, youhave written some books and
you've done some great stuff andyou've got more stuff, great
stuff happening.
So if anyone wants to followyou, I'll I'll pop it all down
in the show notes for you.
(24:07):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for coming on,and I'll speak to you soon.
It was a pleasure.
Bye.
Bye.
So join us again next week onTruly Expat Travel Podcast,
where I have another excitingdestination in a world that's
too big to be left unexplored.
Chaffanna.
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