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Newsletter #26 - December 12-l8, 1959 |
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Newsletter #26
December llth-l8th, 1959 Received, Wilmington, Delaware on January 2, 1960 Hello to all: [December 12] Here we are on one of the Canary Islands, which are situated off the coast of Africa. It took our plane 5 1/2 hours to bring us here from Madrid and even though it was a rather rough flight, (because of winds and heavy clouds) we enjoyed it immensely as we read or ate most of the flight. I must tell you about our fabulous meal on Iberia Airlines. First we had canapés with dry sherry. Our next course was consommé and then a salad which was dinner size and consisted of hard boiled eggs, shrimps, tomatoes, lettuce and several cold cuts of meats. The main course was Escalopines al Curry, which was rice and delicious veal with a curry sauce. With this main course we were served sauterne wine to drink. Next we had our cheese course, then vanilla ice cream and a banana and tea. After this was all consumed, you had the choice of brandy or anisette and everything was really delicious. So, I'd recommend Iberia Airlines anytime. We walked all about the city of Santa Cruz after checking into our hotel. Santa Cruz is along the coast and our hotel room is only a stone's throw from the ocean which gives us a gorgeous view. The flowers are really outstanding on this island and we've never seen such lovely large roses, and, of course, poinsettias by the billions. We always thought Jamaica had the most poinsettias we had ever seen before, but it doesn't hold a candle to this island of Tenerife. Today [December 13] we took an eight-hour private trip of this lovely and unusual island. Despite the number of hours it took our guide to drive us around the island, we still missed several points of interest. Our first stop was the city of La Laguna which is the home of a charming university. La Laguna has very lovely drives about its city and is on a hill and has grand views of the ocean and valleys far below. Later we drove to Izana which has an observatory. Then we drove on to the base of Mount Teide which is over 12,000 feet high and the highest mountain belonging to Spain. Mount Teide is supposed to be a snow-capped peak, but it was minus snow today. The sun was quite hot today because we were driving half of the day above clouds. This was a rare thing for us as only during air flights have we ever seen heavy clouds beneath us. After coming down from this volcanic mountain we drove through La Orotava valley where much of the land is devoted to the production of bananas. Bananas surely grow lavishly on this island. We never realized there were so many |
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of these trees in all of the world — let alone on one large island. We really saw unforgettable views of desolute grandeur today and all the sights were softened by the delicate flowers of this peaceful island. Our lunch stop was at Puerto de la Cruz which is just like Miami Beach, Florida. On the beach of this city are gorgeous hotels, swimming pools, cabanas, a tempting sandy beach and a wonderful surf. However, it was too cool for us to try the water although we saw some foolish people swimming. Today [December 14] we had a forty-minute flight from Tenerife to Las Palmas on the Grand Canary Island after a delightful two days at Santa Cruz. The weather today was cloudy and quite cool, but we walked for several hours because we wanted to get acquainted with this city and beach. This is the island which Christopher Columbus visited while on his way to America and it was at this same harbor of Las Palmas where Columbus repaired the Pinta's broken rudder. Again we have a lovely room with a wonderful view of the harbor and ocean. Today [December 15] we took a seven-hour tour of Las Palmas. We went with five other tourists and although we saw many beautiful sights it rained most of the day. This is a most unusual thing as our driver and guide stated that they have very little rain all year and must irrigate their fields which, by the way, are quite productive. On this island, nearly all the fruits of the earth are grown… those of cold countries as well as those which only flourish in the sun and humidity of the tropics ... from the avocado pear, the mango and the banana to the apple and peach. All kinds of agricultural produce is grown here as the land is cultivated from the very edge of the sea and continues to be cultivated to a height of 6,000 feet. The main products are tomatoes, bananas and early potatoes. The exportable value of these products amounts to millions of dollars. The climate is sub-tropical, but when we were on top of the high volcano, it felt like the North Pole as we were all very cold. Our driver took us to Teror, a hill city, which we reach after creeping up abrupt mountains and ravines and then suddenly reaching a luxuriant valley. Besides being quaint, it is the religious capital of the island and here we saw the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Pine, the Patron Saint of this island. We viewed a funeral while here. This was quite "unusual as only men attend funerals on this island and most of the chanting and form is done by the priest in front of the cathedral rather than inside. After visiting the sanctuary and admiring the Virgin's treasure of jewels, robes and miracle tokens, we continued on a climbing road through two other villages until we reached the summit of the mountain range and were at Tejeda at an altitude of 4,960 feet. From this height, we could see an imposing view of the peaks and ravines backed by a sea of clouds. It must be gorgeous on a clear day |
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After lunch we passed through the old villages of San Mateo and Santa Brigida. Here we saw extensive fruit and vegetable meadows and banana trees by the thousands — just as on Tenerife. On these islands, they cut bananas every day of the year. Our last important climb for the day was to Bandama Peak where there is a prehistoric volcano with a crater 670 feet deep and 3'300 feet in diameter. This is claimed to be the only inhabited crater in the world. You can see the farm house from the top of the volcano and people have lived there for many years. We later descended through the city of Tafira where you find a lovely valley of orange and lemon trees, other tropical fruits and many unusual flowers. All these can be seen on every turn of the road. We certainly would love to be here in July when they say the cactus is in bloom because this island possesses many, many varieties of cacti and also wild broom. We planned to go to the Dog Tracks tonight but by the time dinner was completed it was too late and we were certainly disappointed. Tonight [December 16] we are back in Madrid after a long day of traveling. We left the airport at 8 A.M. and arrived in Casa Blanca, Morocco at 10:45 and had a stop-over there. Then we arrived in Madrid after 5 P.M. after a frightening experience on the plane --- I'm sure the pilot had to fly instrumentally almost the entire trip because we were in heavy clouds all of the time and could see nothing above or below. We were glad when we were safely landed because it's not much enjoyment when you can't see anything but fog outside your plane window for a six-hour trip. We flew back by another airline - "Aviaco" - and neither our breakfast or lunch was anything to speak about. The city of Madrid was decorated from the airport to the center of the city with American and Spanish flags flying by the thousands. It certainly is too bad we won't be here for Ike's arrival, but we plan to leave in the morning for Valencia. I'm sure our President will be thrilled with Madrid as they sure are going all out to give him a lovely welcome. [December 17] Here it is another night and we must tell you about our trip to Valencia. We started out this morning with fog so thick you had to drive very slowly and keep your lights on until about two in afternoon. We have never remembered fog this bad during the day. anywhere, around York except in small streaks. But, today it was continuous. If the countryside was of interest for those miles, we'll never know as we were lucky to see well enough for driving. About 2 P.M. it very suddenly cleared and we had glorious sunshine until dark. The landscape for the last eighty miles into Valencia was like a lovely garden with every imaginable shade of green as we saw orange and lemon trees, almond and olive trees, pomegranates and palms. The clean, white walls of the farmhouses and cottages gleamed through this brilliant sun and you could see the maze of irrigation channels that flow through the many orchards. Tomorrow we plan to see more of the city although we walked about the center of Valencia since we had to wait for a late dinner — as usual. Our room has a radiator but it throws very little heat so I think I'll stop for tonight, don my men's long underwear I bought in |
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Madrid, put on my warm bed socks and my Turkish sweater and crawl in to bed. Meredith is already breathing heavy as he went to bed at least an hour ago. Friday the l8th - one week before Christmas - and the last day of another newsletter week. And, to throw in for good measure, we had one of the loveliest sunshiny days we've had for a month. Meredith took many pictures in Valencia today and we both think it is a very interesting city. We went to the flower markets as well as the large market which is in a very old and beautiful building. This market really resembled our markets inside, but the exterior was very grand. We saw the cathedral which is foremost among the many Valencian churches and has a very unique tower. Meredith also photographed the Town Hall, the old Stock Exchange Building, the Clock Tower, two very old city gates and the Basilica of the Virgin. The Basilica of the Virgin is the object of the greatest devotion on the part of the people of Valencia. About 1:30 in the afternoon we started toward Barcelona. However, we made so many stops to take pictures of the lovely views of the Mediterranean and the small coastal villages that we are staying at the city of Tarragona tonight and we will have about sixty miles to drive to get to Barcelona tomorrow. If the pictures Meredith took today are good, you will see some lovely parts of Spain as the sky and scenery were just perfect. Our best day in four weeks. Hope you don't get tired of reading descriptions of cities and landscapes as that is about all we see and since there is really very little else we can do as we don't know the local language and cannot enjoy the plays, movies or nightlife of the cities and country through which we travel. We do not meet very many tourists since this is not tourist season. Therefore, we must be content with looking, eating and sleeping. Our health is still fine and we miss all of you very much. Next week will be our toughest week away from home but after the New Year we won't mind it as much. Our trip is now almost half over. We received our reservation for sailing home in Madrid. We had planned to sail on June 20th on the Gripsholm out of Gothenburg, Sweden but since we have reviewed our itinerary we think we can sail by the seventh of June. Now we are waiting to see if our reservation on the Gripsholm can be cancelled and we can get a booking on the Kungsholm. We'll let you know about this after the booking agents in Paris let us know by writing us in Rome in January. Until next week, Fondest regards Meredith and Charlotte |