A Roadside Coffee Stop
For this Friday morning coffee I headed just along the coast to Auto Bar La Ruta in Marazul, between Callao Salvaje and Playa San Juan.
It is very much a roadside Tenerife stop rather than a tourist resort café, and the menu had plenty of local favourites including carne de cabra, carne fiesta, calamari, chicken wings, croquettes, tortilla and a selection of bocadillos.
I eventually went for a steak sandwich, and when it arrived it was certainly more substantial than I had expected. Proper pieces of beef, salad, cheese and soft onions made it a very filling start to the day.
Playing With the Live Setup
Part of the morning was spent experimenting with the equipment.
I tried different camera inputs, worked on the replay function and tested the live location feature so viewers could see exactly where I was on Google Maps.
These morning shows are often as much about experimenting with new ideas as they are about the coffee.
Then Diego Sat Down
The programme changed completely when Diego sat down and joined me.
He is from La Laguna in the north of Tenerife and had simply found La Ruta while waiting for his partner, who was working nearby.
A casual conversation soon developed into a really interesting chat about Tenerife life.
We talked about how Christine and I first came to the island on holiday before deciding to move here permanently. I also told him how, after moving over, I spent a couple of years working professionally as a magician.
Leaving Tenerife to Come Back
Diego explained that many young people on the island are finding it increasingly difficult to afford somewhere to live.
His own plan had involved going abroad, working and gaining experience before eventually trying to return to Tenerife.
That led us into a wider conversation about salaries, rents and the difference between living in the north and the much more expensive tourist areas of the south.
It was especially interesting hearing the subject from the point of view of somebody who was actually born and brought up on Tenerife.
Coffee and Canarian Spanish
Later we somehow moved from housing to coffee and language.
I told Diego about discovering coffee served over ice during a trip to Ibiza in 1989 and how ordering a carajillo became one of the first things I learned to say confidently in Spanish.
Of course, learning one sentence is very different from understanding somebody when they answer you.
Diego explained how different the Canarian accent can sound even to Spanish speakers from mainland Spain, which made me feel slightly better about still struggling to understand conversations when everybody starts speaking quickly.
An Unexpected Morning
I went to La Ruta expecting coffee, something to eat and a fairly relaxed Friday morning programme.
Instead, a complete stranger sat down and we ended up talking about moving countries, work, housing, languages, YouTube and life in Tenerife.
Those unexpected conversations are often what make the live programmes interesting.
And, of course, Friday morning also means Freaky Friday later with Webby.