I am typing this several days into the trip and boy, am I glad I didn’t start right away. ‘Cause, honestly, what is there to complain about? I mean, okay, the hotel kinda stinks in all possible senses, but then, a couple of days in, it doesn’t look or smell half as bad. In other news: the trip over went very well, all things considered. For a change, I drove to Oslo in a woken state and it took me 6 hours instead of planned seven. The flight took 6 hours instead of five, my guess is the captain was less woken and lost his way somewhere around London. No, actually I forgot that Tenerife was in a different time zone, so there – 6 hours of stewardesses trying to push their sandwiches and other goodies on us. Thankfully, I passed out for a bit. Modern air travel is… let me stop right there, though as I did decide not to complain.
Sunny Tenerife equipped us with our rental car: I ordered something miniscule like a Polo and was seriously worried about all bags not fitting in. We were generously given a Berlingo instead, which can room a small house and a dog, so all worries were for nothing. Should have brought more stuff.
The hotel is in Puerto de la Cruz on the other side of the island, in the north. It is an aging high-riser block a couple of streets up from the seaside promenade and only a short walk away from the famous (-ish) artificial salt water pool Lago Martianez. “Basic” is the word of the day. Its most prominent feature is the receptionist’s eyelashes and the number of pillars in the parking garage – it’s like driving through a forest. Least impressive is the size of the hot water tank, which allows one person to shower quickly.
On the day of arrival we just zombie our way to the nearest pizzeria, eat and crash unconscious pretty much at once back at the hotel. The day after, very wisely, we aren’t making any plans at all and just loiter around the hotel’s own pool, go to the shop, cook a meal and sneak a careful look around the area, including a charming Orchide Garden and a short walk through the town. Fits very nicely as the decompressing day. The weather is not scorching hot, but deliciously warm. Shirt plus jumper in the backpack warm. Christmas decorations look seriously weird here. For some reason, snowmen are a very popular decorative feature, so we walk around feeling sorry for the poor melting fatsoes.
I miss our dog.