44
tenerife
UP TO 61 FREE SHORE EXCURSIONS
BARCELONA TO LISBON
Seven Seas Voyager®
ALL-INCLUSIVE
FARES FROM
$9,399
per person
DURATION
12
NIGHTS
DEPARTS
NOV 2
2020
INCLUDES FREE BUSINESS CLASS AIR*
Ports Visited: Barcelona, Alicante, Granada (Motril),
Gibraltar, Arrecife (Lanzarote), Santa Cruz de Tenerife,
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tangier, Seville (Cádiz),
Lisbon O
O Overnight in port
A SAVINGS OF $2,500 PER PERSON IS AVAILABLE WHEN ARRANGING
YOUR OWN FLIGHTS AND TRANSFERS.
At our stop at the vineyards at Bodegas Monje, we stood in
silence taking in the extraordinary views — not a sound could be
heard over the beautiful panoramic vistas over the surrounding
countryside and Atlantic sea beyond. That is until we were invited
to sample the Listán Negro, when we were reanimated into a deep
discussion about the differences between red and white wine. I
am of those that strongly prefer reds and this one was exquisite.
It tasted like chocolate covered raspberries in a glass. And then I
tried the Listán Blanco, grown from century-old vines. Everyone
watched my expression of shock and confusion and then laughed
at my inevitable request for “un poquito más, por favor,” (a little
more wine, please). That’s when I knew that this tour had changed
my life, as my new favorite wine was white.
As a newly welcomed member of the white wine club, I was
told by a local that I should return to the island at the end of
November for the feast of St. Andrew. It’s a day when locals
celebrate both their patron saint and the first production of
the wine for the year. Puerto de la Cruz stages a pop-up wine
market around the harbor to which all the local bodegas come
to showcase their wines — all while local children drag strings of
empty cans across cobbled streets to create as much racket as
they can. In a whispered aside, he told me that the real ticket is
to head to the streets of Icod de los Vinos on the eve of the feast
where daredevils take to the steep streets to slide down
on tablas (boards).
Who knew white wine lovers were such revelers?
SEARCHING FOR FRIENDSHIP
At the end of the day, our group was busy exchanging
information and comparing calendars, but we quieted down just
enough to let our guide get in a few parting words. A man after
my own heart, he quoted Shakespeare’s Henry IV, “But I faith, you
have drunk too much canaries and that’s a marvelous searching
wine, and it perfumes the blood ere one can say: What’s this?”
As it turns out, during Shakespeare’s time, wine from the Canary
Islands was quite coveted and imbibed in the courts of Europe.
Naturally, mention of this wine made its way into not only
the aforementioned, but also in the Twelfth Night and the
Merry Wives of Windsor.
At the end of our ride, strangers had become friends — some of
which I still keep in touch with today. So perhaps The Bard was
right and canary wines do help you find excellent company.
Mari de Armas is a travel writer specializing in luxury cruising. She is a
regular contributor to the official blog of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Luxury
Goes Exploring. Read more of her posts at RSSCBlog.com.
Taste the good life when
visiting Tenerife…
✛ SEVEN SEAS SOCIETY® MEMBERS ENJOY ADDITIONAL SAVINGS
OF UP TO $1,300 PER SUITE