Short Break to Tenerife (August 2023): Day 2

After a good night's sleep we awoke and drew back the curtains to be greeted by the familiar sight of the magnificent Los Gigantes cliffs.

Restaurant cleaning team hard at work already

Now I believe that this craft is affectionately known as the "Jolly Roger" and it plies its trade four times a day from the harbour by the Poblado Marinero complex which was the first place we ever stayed at in the Canaries in 1985. Elizabeth's parents went back there in 1989 with a friend of theirs, Frank, when Catherine was very small and we stayed at home. Frank decided to take a trip on the said ship. Now, whatever the price of the trip, we think it will be too much as the ship bobs about like I don't know what, there's no shade anywhere on board and they ply passengers with rum at regular intervals. Needless to say, when it returned to base, Frank staggered off, clearly the worse for wear, concluding that it had been a great experience - if only he could remember it of course.

We soon went up to the top of the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Think cruise ship and breakfast was roughly the same except for no smoked salmon – boo, hiss – but in a much more spacious environment. But there was unlimited cava, so that was some consolation and the views remained superb.

We’re still very much finding our way around this place and it doesn’t help that there are two types of lift each serving certain floors only. The receptionist said that the hotel was built in 1987, two years after we first stayed down the road at the Poblado Marinero apartments, but neither if us can remember what, if anything, was here at that time, although it is a prime spot so we can only think that there was something. And yet the hotel has such a new look about it, it’s easy to think that it was built only in the past couple of years.

We decided to have a walk out. The area around the hotel is fairly quiet with a few shops and restaurants. We walked along the prom until it ran out and then returned to the hotel for a drink in the pool bar. We are on half board so decided to go to a local pizzeria for lunch. E had a calzone and G had a pizza - huge portions and change out of €20! We were so full! We went back to our room for a siesta.