We learn the history of the city and hear about their trees that give off an aroma. The special tour in the Town Hall led us upstairs where a fresco painted on the walls explained some of the major events in the town’s history. The archways in the town hall building were put here by the earliest form of government in the town. 
The arches were built with rocks that come from the mountain and were brought in by hand and carved in place. The city is very quaint and feels like it has a much richer heritage than the few places that we have visited. As we walk out of the town hall, Dominga points a building that she describes at the “Happy Birthday Cake building (later in the day, Tong tells Juan that it was her favorite part of the tour). 
Outside, we are told about a nun, Sister Maria de Jesus, who passed away, was buried and her body was exhumed a few years later in perfect condition. Her body has been preserved much like the buildings in the town and every year, once a year, (the day after St Valentines Day) people come from every where to pray near her body and ask for miracles that are normally granted. 
Dominga has a story that she asked for her miracle and it was granted…she wanted a daughter and a few months later she was with child and it turned out to be a girl. Dominga gets us a private visit into the nunnery
(we didn’t get to ask for miracles) and then into the Museum of History…most of the buildings are preserved former homes of noblemen from the city. Most include a courtyard in the inner portion of the house with wells. The Museum used to be an entire estate and the back courtyard area is amazing. With some incredible plants growing the back yard, this was a very serene place. Everything is protected and preserved very well…The La Laguna people are very proud of the UNESCO honor. The group follows our guide as she winds through the streets and leads us into a church (not quite the St Peters Basillica but still very nice) and then into the Bell Tower. The tower at the top of the Iglesia de la Concepcion has 129 steps to the top and we all make a conscious effort to see the bells. 
After a little huffing and puffing (mostly from Bert) we make it to the top and have the most wonderful view of the city and the mountains. La Laguna was one of the first cities in all of Europe that was designed using the street paths like we see in Charleston and other early establishments. You can see the design from the tower and it is a beautiful site. Bert presented a Carolina del Sur quarter and some other small gifts to our guide and then we bid farewell to the leader of our tour, Dominga (who we learned was named after her father, Domingo, because she was the third daughter and he did not think that he was going to have a son…until a few years later when his wife had a son…Domingo II).
We meet Diego when we return to the bottom and we bid farewell to our tour guide Dominga (who we learned was named after her father, Domingo, because she was the third daughter and he did not think that he was going to have a son…until a few years later when his wife had a son…Domingo II). Bert presented Dominga with a Carolina del Sur quarter and some other small gifts
Diego informs the team that we have an hour or so until we need to be at the next scheduled place. He wants to take us through the major pedestrian street and then into the major open market in the middle of town. We head first to a small confectionary store where we sample some of the pastries…a few of us had a little bit of room in our stomachs and felt weird without something in it. We walk down through the street, in and out of shops and end up in the market where we stop for a café. Diego, who must have been transported from the south because he is a complete southern stud, buys the girls roses and blushes when they ask to take his picture with the flowers.
Juan meets us as we exit the market and we all head to a small area where we can have some beers and coca-cola…yes 2:30 is perfect time for beers and coca-cola. 
After a nice break, we jump in the two cars and head up the mountain to see the scenic points throughout the island. We stop at the first site and take pictures (I think we are up to around 1000 pictures now) and then learn from Diego some history of the area as we look down on La Laguna. The view is of the whole city including the area where there was once a Lagoon for which the town was named. The lagoon dried up some years ago when building in the area increased and most of the trees in the middle of the city where cut down to help build. The lagoon outlines still stands…even though there is no water, the land is not strong enough to handle construction and thus nothing is built.We head towards the top of the mountain and end up in Restaurante Cruz del Carmen for lunch. We were promised something light for lunch but what they call light…I call heavy. Lunch started with…but of course some wine and then some appetizers (cheese, rofio (something made out of ground up corn and some other stuff…I wasn’t paying attention…too busy eating) and onions/tomatoes soaked in oil and vinegar). The main course (or what we thought was the main course) was served shortly thereafter and was mostly vegetables (corn, green beans, potatoes, pears, cabbage, chick peas, pumpkin, carrots) all boiled together and then served on a platter with beef and sausage. We all dug in because it was around 3:30 and our stomachs felt like they needed something in it. As we were almost through with this stuff, the second main course came out…as Bert called it, we were eating the Easter Bunny. The rabbit was prepared with a salty sauce and was good. None of us ate much because we were extremely full from the first ton of food that we had put in our mouths. Juan finished off most of the rabbit that we left behind and then asked the waiter to bring us all coffee and some after dinner drinks. Everyone forced down the coffee to keep awake (we have only been getting a few hours of sleep most nights) and Bert tried some kind of whiskey that burnt my nose hairs. After the whiskey was served, we learn that Diego was the Cabildo chairman in the late 80s/early 90s and he begins to explain the process of government in the islands and throughout all of Spain. It is a monarchy but operates much differently than others. He drew us a diagram to help explain.
This was probably the most interesting point of the day for me as it was amazing to learn how the system operates through an autonomous governmental system in the islands. More on that later in the week as the team will be visiting the Parliament tomorrow. After our belts were loosened another notch, we were introduced to Pedro and Patricia, two Rotarians that would be taking us for a nature walk through the mountain forests.Pedro, who has some kind of job that deals with science, led us out into a nature trail that runs down part of the mountain and told us about 21 different types of plants that only grow here in La Laguna.
Since there isn’t much rain, the plants have adapted throughout the forest to be able to gather water and sunlight. Smaller plants have expanded their leaves while the upper level plants have developed a way to absorb water from the humid air and drip down for the lower plants. Incredible.We hop back in the cars (Juan has to leave) and drive around to another side of the mountain. We end up at a point in the mountains where we see where people have built farms in the valley. We find a goat tied up in a cave that has been turned into a stable and I make a noise and that gets him riled up and jumps toward the door. The view from the top is amazing and Chris makes the comment that he never thought we would see these kinds of views in Teneriefe.
Pedro and Patricia lead us up through the farmland and around a corner, always making sure they stop to tell the group about certain plants (some have healing powers, others are used in food) and then we end up on a cliff. 
This cliff overlooks the ocean and you can see for miles. Carla and I talked about how we could sit here for days and just take in the fresh air and sites. Pedro and Diego tells us a story about cove…The legend goes that an old pirate and his buddies used to park their boat in the cove.
(Juan and Diego respectively)
One guy would stand on top of the peak well above the ocean (they call this a Mirador when you can see out but no one can see you) and when a ship would come by the area, they would bombard it and steal their treasure…a couple of centuries later, a famous brand of rum was named after the Pirate…there is a lesson here kids: rob, steal and cheat and you will eventually be famous.After a few more pictures, it was around 8 and time to head back down to the car. Dinner was supposed to start around 9 and Tong, Chris and I were part of the help staff to cook at Marcos’ house. We made our way back to our respective houses and Tong, Chris and I washed our hands and jumped into the kitchen. We were making Pasado which is kind of like tacos except not really. Tong and Chris were in charge of taking corn flour, sugar and salt, water and milk mixed until it became similar to a dough.
After the dough was mixed, Marcos and I joined in and help patty the dough into round pieces of bread that look like hamburgers. The bread would then be fried and served with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers and fresh guacamole made from the avocado grown in the yard. We were to slice the bread open and put all of the stuff inside to make sandwich. The meal was delicious and very filling. Merci had prepared lemon mousse and some type of coconut cake. After everyone had sampled the dessert, most of the team hung out with the kids and checked email from the living room. Everyone marveled at Merci’s artwork and pondered ways that we could get the pictures home in our suitcases. Bert brought backpacks that were given to us from the Cabildo and it included some information about the town and a picture book on Teneriefe. The night was a relaxing one and seemed to be the perfect end to a day that included a lot of walking and more breathtaking views than can be comprehended…
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