Tenerife!!

We had so much fun in Tenerife! We were only there for 2 1/2 days, but we crammed alot of good times in a very short time frame. We didn't do anything cultural or mind enhancing. We did, however, eat some of the best food I've ever had, laugh constantly with Lilly and Aron, and succumb to total relaxation. Tenerife is one of the Canary Islands, which are owned by Spain. They are located off the western coast of Africa on about the same latitude as the southern border of Morocco.

Our 6am flight meant a very early start on Friday. We drove the car to Gatwick and treated ourselves by parking in the short-term garage. For some reason, it was only about 5GBP more expensive than the off airport long term parking. Lilly and Aron were already checked in when we arrived, so we joined them for a little breakfast coffee and sandwich. In no time, we boarded our Monarch Airline flight and anticipated the end of our 4 1/2 hour journey. We landed on the southern coastline, so it was one of those "looks like we're going to land in the water" landings. We went straight to the rental car desk and got ourselves a convertible. If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right, right?

We stayed at the Iberostar Grand Hotel Anthelia, easily the most beautiful hotel in which I have ever stayed. Their service was just as beautiful as the building, starting with our greeting of smiles and champagne. Our rooms had porches that looked directly onto the pool and allowed easy access to the entire resort. The pool in front of our room was heated, but it wasn't hot enough for me. They had two other saltwater pools that overlooked the ocean. Great view, but waaaaayyy too cold!



We spent Friday lazing by the pool trying to soak up some much needed sun. Lilly took a jog along the promenade and found a restaurant that she thought looked good, so we pried ourselves away from our chairs and headed to dinner in the evening. Was she ever right. We got the best waiter who basically ordered our entire meal for us. It was all delicious and we decided to go there again the following night...highly unusual for us since we generally like to try new things. We went for a few after dinner drinks at a bar next door and then off to a club for a little Latin inspired dancing. Our evening ended around 3am, officially putting us past the awake-for-over-24-hours mark.



We woke around 9:30am on Saturday, determined not to waste any time despite our late night. Our room rate included breakfast, thank goodness. Most half board breakfasts are your run of the mill dry bread, soggy fruit and stale coffee. Exceeding all expectations, this breakfast buffet was unrivalled. When you can have caviar and champagne with your omelet, you know you are some place special. We hopped in the car after breakfast and headed toward El Tiede, the island's volcano. I've never seen a volcano up close and the drive to it was spectacular. Fields of brown and purple lava rocks anchored bright green pine trees dotted along the skyline. The volcano was topped with snow and just begged to be climbed. Edgar and Aron decided to climb a huge mountain. We won't talk about that here, though. It's a great story and I'm glad we can now laugh at it. We returned to our favorite restaurant for dinner, and once again had the most amazing food. Esposito, our waiter, had already ordered our appetizers before we even sat down. Dinner consisted of a salt encrusted sea bass, salad, and potatoes. We finished with our favorite Catalanian desserts, coffee, and warm brandies for the boys.



Sunday brought rain. So we decided to check out the spa because we read that they had a hot tub. This was no ordinary hot tub. It was a thalassotherapy pool. It was a giant heated pool with all sorts of jets and bubbles and fountains. It also had a sauna, steamroom, cold plunge pool and a hotter hottub. Our 2 hours were over way too soon. As we had hot tea before changing out of our swimsuits, we were all overcome with a sense of complete and utter relaxation. I don't think I've ever had this feeling before, that every muscle in my body (including eyelids) were at peace. I want a thalassotherapy pool. If you ever get the chance to spend some time in one, please do it. We extended our checkout to 2pm, so we raced back to our room to change and get our bags together. It was about 2:15 when we received a call from the front desk asking if we needed help with our bags, not "Get the heck out of your room because you are way past your checkout time!" I have never been so tactfully kicked out of a room in my life! One final lunch by the ocean and we were back at the airport. Our flight was slightly delayed upon take off and we had to circle around Gatwick for half an hour while they de-iced the runway. In case you haven't heard, we had a snow storm here (that story is in another post). We finally made it home at 3:15am, tired, but relaxed and with smiles on our faces. We definitely had sweet dreams that night.



Tenerife is a very popular vacation destination for Europeans. Some parts of the island are compared to Cancun, with mass numbers of people and parties everywhere. We were there during an off-season moment, so things were pretty quiet and subdued. Very large resorts are developed along the coastline and even into the hillsides away from the beach areas. I can see how it might be very crowded and uncomfortable when it's high season and the resorts are filled to capacity. I would never go there during high season because I hate big crowds when I am trying to relax on the beach. It was perfect for us...a nice getaway, we saw some sun, and my face even got a little pink. I think I just may make it through the winter now.