A belated xmas break with my family in Tenerife

Venus, the Philippe Starck yacht commissioned by Steve Jobs, was there en-route on from the Netherlands to the States. Moored-up in a messy docks, it was hard to take photos to do her justice, but while she seems to be one of those love/hate designs, I think she's gorgeous.

I'm sure she's absolutely stuffed with clever gadgetry. The only bit we got to see in operation was the gangway. It's motorised and remote-controlled, of course. It lowers down, then a second section inside extends to the required length.

It also looks like the entire rear section folds down to form a transom, which would presumably allow for cars to be taken on board.

I did, of course, do a Gissa go Mister and was as successful as you might expect.

She was due to depart at 10am, but there was apparently very bad weather in the mid-Atlantic, so she -- like several other large yachts -- was waiting for the weather to pass.

Next on the agenda was a visit to the Auditorio de Tenerife, a kind of baby Sydney Opera House:

Then a drive up into the mountains on a lovely mountain road, with views back into Santa Cruz.

You could see across to Gran Canaria- or at least, the top of it, peeking out of the clouds:

Sunday, Patrick and I took a drive into the mountains:

Tenerife is noted for its 'lunar landscapes', and you can easily see why space movies set on other planets are filmed here:

I had the last-minute idea of star-trail photos, but it turns out you can't use bulb mode (without holding in the shutter button the entire time) without a remote shutter release, which I own but hadn't brought with me. Had to settle for some sunset shots and one star shot:

This was followed by a lovely dinner and very drinkable local wine. The evening sadly ended by returning to the apartment to find we'd been burgled. They took Liz's laptop and Kindle, and a small amount of cash (in four or five currencies) that lives in my travel wallet - just whatever is left at the end of a trip and which I keep there ready for next time.

The good news was that they weren't interested in my passport (which they pulled out of my travel wallet but left on the floor) and hadn't found my Mac, iPad or camera; I've been in the habit for many years of hiding my gadgets when out.