Tenerife

Nicola and I returned last Friday from a well-earned week away. We stayed in Playa de las Americas, which was far from the 18-30 resort many people had led us to believe. Maybe it was because we were staying in a timeshare apartment, we had a better class of surrounding(!).

You can see some more pictures by clicking here. Our adventures included:

* A trip to go up Mount Teide, which at nearly 15 000 feet high is over three times as tall as Ben Nevis. The air is thin and the journey up there makes your ears pop. I have to confess to feeling a little dizzy and unsteady on my feet when I was up there, presumably as a result of the altitude. We had an excellent tour guide called Mauricio who told us a lot about the fascinating way in which the volcanic rock has formed the space-age landscape.

* We went to an overpriced water park called Aqua Land. The slides and rides were great, the queues to get food and the prices were less so. They could also have done with more shady areas to queue in, as the sun was very strong...

* We accidentally ended up in a lap dancing bar. No, really! We wanted to go a clib that played Spanish music. Nicola had got chatting to a girl who worked in this place, and I suppose we should have cottoned on when she asked if Nicola was interested in doing any "work". Nonetheless, the next evening we went along and as soon as we went in, we realised that we were in a "Gentleman's Club". The girl from the previous evening insisted we stay for a drink, and two drinks cost us 16 Euros (about £11)!. As soon as we finished them, we got out of there...

* We played water polo at the hotel. I have never played it before and it was fun, although I was let down by my lack of swimming ability. It didn't help that I was on a team of young kids, whereas the other team had two really big guys! Still, it is not the winning, more the taking part...

* The most outlandish activity was "bob-diving". You get into an underwater scooter, and can go to the bottom of the sea and meet the fish! Nicola loved it, I was feeling a bit nauseous due to the choppy seas (we had to get on a boat to take us out to the bay where we were diving). When I put on the wetsuit, I was feeling very claustrophobic (man, those things are tight!), and when we went underwater, a combination of that and the pressure from going so deep meant that I couldn't take it anymore. While Nicola finished her underwater excursion, I spent most of the time parting company with my breakfast. Still, I am glad I tried it, and at least I know not to try scuba diving in the future!

* I tried an authentic Tortilla (Spanish Omelette), which was great but terribly unhealthy. Nicola drank Sangria. We ate Canarian Paella. And considering that the Canaries are fruit-growing country, it was impossible to get decent fresh fruit out there. So we came back feeling fatter than we went!

All in all we had a good time. But, as with many trips away, one of the best things was coming home. And after getting up at 4.30am for our flight home, we had to set ourselves up for the Sport Relief mile the next day. After all that, I needed another holiday just to get a rest before returning to work on Monday!