Don't Forget to Visit the Islands

Although Spain is a huge country and its mainland offers everything you could want from vast country crop fields to towering mountains for rock climbing, it has something more. I'm talking about the islands that are off its coast, these islands will for certain take your breath away with the exquisite views they offer, the beautiful beaches and hot sun that give you that perfect "toasty" color that we always want to have and a lot in entertainment. I've never been to any of them, in fact I've never been to Spain but I do know about the islands because recently my dad was offered a job at Ibiza so I had looked them up. There are two clusters of islands surrounding the coast of Spain, these are the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.


Balearic Islands: Just 85 km off the coast of Valencia, you will find this collection of islands. Much like Hawaii, it consists of separate tiny islands these being: Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The most famous of the four are Mallorca and Ibiza. Mallorca is quite known for its sightseeing such as the Museum of Mallorca and also diving at Drach and Arta, which are two natural underwater caves which offer a whole different view of the ocean world. Ibiza on the other hand is known a lot for its nightlife, the worlds most famous Dj's play there at some awesome clubs and people just dance the night away listening to pure techno and house. I definitely want to visit Ibiza in the future and enjoy a night of pure euphoria with Dj Tiesto and Paul van Dyke which are just two of my many favorites. Now Many people think that in a week they will be bored because its just a tiny island and the beach gets old after a while. Well for me the beach never gets old, but for those who want more than a suntan, don't think that these islands have nothing to offer. They have everything from museums, monuments, national parks and recreational entertainment. Like I already mentioned you will find the Museum of Mallorca, which is a museum focused a lot on archaeology. The museum is a 16th century mansion which is known as "Casa de la Crisitana" meaning "House of the Christian" which offers you to see a variety of pieces from the Talayotic to Moorish settlers. There is a vast collection of weapons and ornaments of religious symbolism from the islands first settlers. I have heard great feed back on this museum and its tours, I would definitely go because not only do you get to see beautiful art but at the same time you get a 101 history class of the island itself. Now if you want to get a little wet go to the Drach caves. Its an impressive view of nature, I just stared in wonder at the picutre, I find so cool and interesting that its something completely natural, nothing man made just all nature. Its actually a set of four caves linked together: the cave of the French, the White Cave and the Black cave and the Luis Salvador cave. The tour involved a complete look around the caves and also offers a classical music concert at Martel Lake. If you want to play a little sport and stay active during your vacay then come and play at one of the many golf courses. I looked into this because my dad is a golf fanatic so this would obviously be in his itinerary. There is the "Son Vida Golf Club" which sort of means "The Life" golf club. It offers a 18 hole course, its a coastal course so you will enjoy beautiful beach scenery and enjoy a cool island breeze. So get those handicaps ready for this 72 par golf course.


Canary Islands: Now the Canary Islands is a much bigger collection of islands, the seven main ones are: Tenerife, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, El Hierro and Ferteventura. Unlike the Balearic Islands which are located in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands are very close to Africa's border thus being in the Atlantic Ocean. What I love about these islands its their geography. In the past the islands faced a lot of volcanic activity so the scenery will range from sandy beaches to landscapes with craters, volcanic cones and rocks. Also the islands offer the spectacular view of Spains tallest mountain peak; Mount Teide stands at 3,718 meters which is about 12,198ft. During my visit at Gran Canaria I would visit "Casa de Colon" a museum that offers the complete history of Christopher Columbus and the islands relationship with the Americas. The museum is divided into five different sections relating to the discoveries of the New World. Now if you didn't know Spain is known a lot for its strong devotion to Catholicism, so the country hosts some of the most biggest and most decorated cathedrals. The Cathedral of San Cristobal at La Laguna, or "the Lagoon" was built on a hermitage back in 1511. Other pieces have been built over the next centuries and a reconstruction was already done in 1825. It was actually first a church, called the Church of Remedies, but then after the Canary Islands bishopric was separated from the Nivar diocese it was converted into the Cathedral that it is today. All of this history is explained to you upon your visit. Finally you have the beaches. Now I thought how the beaches would look like on an island with so much history of volcanic activity. Would they have sand or would they just be rocky cliffs? Don't worry about it. The beaches are beautiful! The beach of "The Teresas" is one where you will find fine golden warm sand. This one is actually a personal favorite for me since it was a two breakwaters and also a man made bar to shield away the strong waves and the traffic of the busy sailing life found at these islands. This makes it a great calm beach to take little kids and it offers snorkeling for entertainment as well. Advice that I do offer, is that you should check with your hotels to learn which are the topless beaches and which are not, I don't think you would want your little children to see what doesn't have to be seen.

As you have probably noticed I love the idea of visiting these islands in the future. It sounds like pure fun, great sights to visit and a lot of history to learn. Give it a try if you have the opportunity, you never know what you might be missing out on.