Known for its fun-in-the-sun cocktail lifestyle, Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, also offers some off-beach activities that are equally enjoyable. Here are a few.
Drag Show
Ever met Juicy Jane?
You’re likely to and other flamboyant characters if you see the sassy drag show at Music Hall Tavern (MHT) just off the main road in Puerto del Carmen.
Manchester-born Paul Carroll is the driving force behind this long-standing music venue, businessman, producer and script writer by day, drag queen by night known simply as Mrs. T.
MHT seems like a nondescript place beside a go-cart race track with parking out front. But walk a few more steps and you’re at a terrace where you can enjoy pre-show drinks. Inside is a colorful décor with twinkling fairy lights, hanging lamps adorned with pink boa feathers, chequered floor and velvet curtains draped across the stage.
Our evening began with a three-course dinner comprising pumpkin soup, turkey and Italian ice cream.
Then the fun began. Seven artists, some in groups, some solo, provided a fast-moving set of creative comedy skits, including one involving a simulated shark attack and another zany affair featuring a flustered typist in a clerical office. Two of the highlights were a hilarious rendition of ‘Barcelona’ sung by ‘lookalikes’ Freddie Mercury and Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé and a manic mannikin performance. Some of the acts featured onscreen multi media backdrops, including film clips. Not everything was comedic, there were also some fine singing performances. At the entrance door, guests can pose for free with one of the drag queens for a keepsake photograph.
Classical Music
For something a little less zany, try Auditorio de Tenerife.
Inaugurated over 20 years ago, it’s home to the island’s symphony orchestra and opera and has given a major boost to the island’s cultural sector. In addition to hosting regular classic music and opera seasons, it also hosts other concerts and performances and has its own Learning and Social Programme.
Last year’s schedule included Afro-Cuban music, a percussion group, a string quartet and a symphonic performance entitled ‘La La Land in Concert.’ Some events at the Canary Islands’ International Jazz & Más Festival are also held at the auditorium.
Aside from its on-stage productions, the ornate, avant-garde building designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava with panoramic views over the Atlantic is well worth a visit. It combines an impressive, brilliant white tile-clad building, a ’trencadís’ technique whereby tile pieces are irregularly arranged like a mosaic, with a large outdoor square. There is ample parking beside the building.
Island Hopping
For a break from the beaches and nightlife, why not try a little Island hopping.
La Gomera is a choice destination with Viajes Teide tour agency on the Fred Olsen ferry to the offshore capital of San Sebastián.
About an hour’s journey from Tenerife, the island is a classic example of what happens when Nature gets upset. Stunning scenery of twisted bare rock tossed up volcanically to form sharp-pointed pinnacles, ravines, rounded domes and vertical cliff faces, with some in the wetter northern region clothed in moss-covered laurel forests, twenty-three species altogether here.
More than ten percent of the island, inhabited by around 13,000 people, is now the Garajonay National Park with panoramic views offered throughout the steep, snake-like roads running through it. Having explored the island through the valley of Hermigua with stop-offs for picture-taking we were then treated to a mixed grilled meat lunch with wine and a dessert of Gomeran cheese flan, palm honey and gofio ice cream.
Afterwards we listened to someone whistling an ancient language known as silbo Gomero, originating in Africa and used to communicate across the island’s deep ravines and narrow valleys.
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