The Canary Islands: Arriving in Tenerife

I am off for a new adventure in a couple of hours. It’s been a crazy set of miracles that set this in motion in just this past week. I finished work on Wednesday a week ago and had no idea what to do with myself, so I did what I always do…start researching. The idea of spending a long, cold winter in Budapest in lockdown due to Covid didn’t light me up. Without the Christmas Markets, closed this year like most everything, it just felt grey and cold. So I googled “the warmest place in Europe” and found it is the Canary Islands. I’ve had my eye on them for a while, I’ve just not been able to make it work. It is 2020 after all.

THEN the miracles started happening…4 hours into my research for possibilities, the Canary Islands government literally announced lowering their restrictions to make it easier to get in. I couldn’t believe it. So I upped my research game and finally found a direct flight to Tenerife…turns out there are only 2 a week and no other direct flights to any other island. Decision made, Tenerife it is. I found a lovely villa on the west side of Tenerife in the village of Los Gigantes, balcony with views of the water, walking distance to several other villages, beach & promenade, and hiking in the mountains. The place was available for the rest of the year, until January 4th, 2021. I booked it and the flight to leave within the week. I continued my research and found a clinic in Budapest, just several blocks from my flat, that offered the Covid test I needed, and they even spoke English. It was feeling like this was meant to be.

I jumped through all the hoops, got my negative test results, got approval from the Spanish Government that is required to get within 48 hours of departure, and was feeling good about getting all my ducks in a row so quickly. Then yesterday, the day before I am to fly out, the Airbnb owner texted saying the Canary Islands government changed their minds after just 1 week and are going back to their previous restrictions limiting entry and stopping access…and she was waiting to hear when the restrictions would go into effect. She notified me last night that they go into effect at Midnight on Friday. I get in at 8:00pm today, Friday.

After arrival: Holy Moly…I am feeling grateful for this series of miracles that seem to be working in my favor. I got through with 4 hours to spare and honestly, it was a piece of cake. At arrivals in Tenerife, the only thing they even checked was my QR code from the Spanish Government saying I was approved to be here.

I arrived to this view. Yay!!