Good afternoon readers,

So here I sit in the departures area of Tenerife South, waiting for my flight while watching bedraggled families slowly make their own ways back to reality.

This holiday has been fantastic. I really recommend the island of Tenerife with its diverse climates, rich abundance of beautiful vegetation and delicious drinks (we discovered a delicious coffee called a Barraquito which is made using Licor 43 (which has landed in our duty-free))

One activity that I’d very much recommend is a sunset and stargazing tour. We went with “nightskiestenerife” and it was a truly fantastic and interesting experience. You could say that it was “out of this world” (ba dum tss).

We were picked up from our hotel at about 18:30 and then driven to a small restaurant for a 3-course meal. The food wasn’t anything to really rave about but it was edible (I had a plate of mushrooms).

After dinner we drove up towards Teide to watch a wonderful sunset going down behind La Palma. I’d say that chasing sunsets and watching them while drinking wine is actually a hobby of mine.

We were treated with a couple of glasses of cava and the Instagram party began, with many pics being taken. It was very quiet and peaceful, surrounded by trees and filled with the company of a small friendly group of people.

After the sun had set, we continued up the mountain to a little car park. The telescope was set up and the stargazing began.

Tenerife is the 3rd best place in the world for stargazing (#1 & 2 being Hawaii and Chile). Due to the height, darkness and heat you are treated to a very clear sky. The milky way was also visible to the naked eye (as long as you hadn’t disturbed your night vision by using a bright phone).

We saw some fantastic stars through the telescope and there were a lot of “Wow” moments. For me it was an “Oh Sh*t” moment when I saw the moon so close up.

We were treated to some knowledge of the various constellations as well as the life cycle of the various stars we could see. We were quizzed on the location of the North Star. Only two people in the entire group got it right (I decided to just agree with my very knowledgeable partner 😉)

As the night got darker, the dark patches started filling up with stars which can’t be seen back home (thanks light pollution).

This was a highlight of my trip which will forever be embedded in my memory – both removable and permanent 😃

So I myself am heading back to reality. As always, thanks for reading.

Laura xoxoxo