Did I tell you that our airline, Air Mediterranee, went into liquidation while we were on holiday in Tenerife? It was quite a shock to get an email on the third day and to realise that we would have to re-book our return flights back to France. It took all of one morning working with both our Kindle tablets but eventually we got onto an EasyJet flight to Paris on the Saturday afternoon and then an Air France flight to Brest on Sunday where we had left the car. This meant we had to find a hotel for the night at Roissy airport. Fortunately we have now been re-imbursed the cost of the original flight but we are still out of pocket for the difference with the extra flights and hotel.
So, back to the holiday, I had mislaid my multi coloured pencil for a few days and when I found it I decided to spend the evening using it, starting with the pot plant in the hotel lounge where we sat for a while after dinner to read the newspaper. Then later in the bar I tried to capture the singer but this isn't a good sketch at all but as it's part of the story I can't hide it from you!
A gin and tonic later and the pencil was working for me! This lovely waitress, Analia, was new to the hotel this year, full of personality and smiles at lunchtime and in the evening. Adam our hardworking entertainments manager was getting stressed when the sound system packed up but he fixed it in the end.
Eventually the star appeared 15 minutes late, trying to be Dolly Parton but not quite succeeding!
I don't think I've mentioned the food at this hotel so here's a look at my breakfast, a delicious plateful of fresh fruit washed down with a smoothie and followed with a double expresso and a homemade oatmeal biscuit similar to a hobnob. Bob took wholemeal bread and smoked salmon, herring or ham for his breakfast. The lunch salads we took in the garden bar and the dinners in the evenings were also always very good quality.
I should also mention that a large part of the holiday is the contact with the other guests and the hotel staff. We were delighted to find our favourite waitress, Ruth was still there after 3 years as well as Antonio the restaurant manager, both of whom welcomed us with open arms and kisses! We missed Mickel, the bar manager who had worked so hard last year as he was not here this time, having had an accident while cycling home one night.
We were pleasantly surprised to find some of the same guests here again too, especially German Christine and Knut, who we had nicknamed Mr Jacket as he wore a different one every evening. We got to know each other a bit better and Christine even decided that the next year they would ask for our room on the sunny side of the hotel.
While I was reading in the sun on the last afternoon of the holiday I became aware of the man next to me making strange noises so I looked across to see what was going on. He was trying to attract the attention of a tiny lizard creeping around the pebbles set into the concrete at the bottom of the wall. We both watched it for several minutes before it disappeared into a crack. I kept the image in my head long enough to get out my pen and make a sketch.
The backdrop of all the hotels at Costa Adeje are the coastal hills and on a clear day you can see mount Teide looming above them with it's white cap of snow. It's quite strange seeing snow when you're sat in hot sunshine in a swimsuit contemplating a dive into the pool to cool down!
Well, that's it for our winter holiday this year, it's also the last time we'll go to Tenerife, 4 years running is enough and we're already researching new destinations. What about South Africa, or Guadeloupe, maybe Antigua or Barbados? The only problem will be getting flights which is unlikely from Brest so we'll have to go to Paris and on from there or even Gatwick which will be complicated but we're retired so we have all the time in the world!
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