One of the most important things about a holiday is the interaction with people and while we chatted to quite a few other guests who came and went during our stay at Gran Tacande the staff were always there. The philosophy of this hotel seems to be customer satisfaction and every person we encountered went out of their way to smile and be friendly.
In the evenings we settled down to watch the entertainment and as we usually sat near the back of the stage area we had a vantage point to watch all the activity. The bar staff worked incredibly hard to keep everyone supplied with drinks and I found Mikel, the manager, the most fascinating to watch as he moved between the tables, taking orders and passing the slips to Juan who took them to Bienve to fulfil. On Mikel's evening off Juan spotted me scribbling a portrait on the back of a glass mat so he gave me a handful and suggested a few subjects. I soon had all the bar boys coming over to be drawn and they all wanted to keep their pictures. Adam the entertainments manager said he had put his in a frame the next time I saw him! These few above are all I managed to keep.
When Mikel returned the next day I put in a bit more effort to try and capture him as he stooped over the tables to write his orders. I soon trained him to put less ice in my Spritz and forget the straws and the fruit hanging on the side of the glass!
Our treat on Thursday mornings was aquabiking. A dozen special bikes appeared at the side of the pool along with a handsome young trainer who set about putting them in the water ready for the class. We had so much fun that we did both sessions in the second week but we were quite surprised how tiring the exercise was. You don't realise how hard your legs are working under the water while your arms are moving, stretching and splashing a lot!
The beaches on Tenerife are dark grey volcanic sand with pebbles on the upper parts which have been made into these delightful stacks. It was fun to watch children collecting the stones and competing to build the highest.
All too soon it was time to say good bye to our lovely new friends and go home. We had a wonderful fortnight and will definitely return next February for our dose of hot sun in the middle of winter.
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