Canary Islands

Thursday April 18

A big travel day - we coughed up for the 30€ pp hotel breakfast then set off for the drive back to Palma (about 1 hour including stopping for fuel and one incorrect turn) - we dropped the car off with no issues then checked-in for our Binter Airlines flight to Gran Canaria with a connection to Tenerife. Binter Airlines was a complete surprise - 2x2 seating and full service - a nice box lunch with complimentary beverages (soft drinks, beer and wine). With a minus one-hour time difference we finally arrived in Tenerife at 5:30pm - even our luggage arrived in spite of a tight connection in Gran Canaria. We picked up our hire car which turned out to be a micro sized Fiat - getting our 2 suitcases in was a bit tricky - the car also seemed to be an 'early vintage' - 50,000 k's on the clock. We made good time on the one-hour drive to our hotel some 80 k's away - traffic was very heavy for the first 20 k's or so but bumper to bumper in the opposite direction. Our first impressions of Tenerife was that it is over developed in an ugly way - stacks and stacks of medium rise apartments lined the hill sides - the air quality is also poor - totally hazy - it cleared somewhat by the time we reached the south end of the island where our hotel is located - right on the sea but surrounded by other mega-hotels.

Our hotel an Iberiostar (now part of IHG) is one of 10 in the area - ours is the most 'up-market' one. We finally arrived just after 6:45pm to a warm welcome - we pretty much dropped our bags and did a quick change of clothes and headed to dinner at one of the hotel restaurants right on the seafront (well separated from the sea by a major walkway which lines the shore). The restaurant Seasole is Mediterranean cuisine - which means seafood mostly - it was OK but we were both tired - for some reason they gave us a 25% discount and combined with wine at 4€ a glass made it a "cheap eats".

Friday April 19

We both felt a lot better after a good night's sleep - we started with a couple of Nespresso's in the room before heading to the buffet breakfast (which was included in our room rate). Our room was actually a suite with a completely separate living area and huge terrace overlooking the sea complete with outdoor hot-tub and shower. The buffet breakfast is a serious spread with everything you can imagine - after trying a few things we decided we'd stick with fruit and yoghurt on the following mornings.

We then spent the morning checking out the close by shopping center (one of many in the area). It was full of high end designer shops and a grocery store (where we returned later to pick up a couple of drinks for happy hour on our terrace). We walked for many k's along the sea front walkway lined with hotels and restaurants, all with pretty much the same menu. We eventually stopped at one for a sandwich and a drink. 

We decided that was enough for our first day and spent the rest of the day resting, doing some hand laundry and e-mails and web catch ups.

We had decided to go for the hotel's offer of 45€ pp for their buffet dinner provided you went twice - as the menus in the many restaurants did not inspire us. The buffet dinner was fine - but they did not have the sushi and lobster which was on offer the previous evening when we checked it out - looks like the 'specials' change daily - we were happy with lots of salads and some yummy desert.

Saturday April 20

Today was our big day out with a planned trip to La Teide - the 4th highest volcano in the world - but our booking for the cable car was only for 3pm meaning we had to leave our hotel around 1:30pm so we had the morning to dag about.

We drove up a windy mountain road which was excellent (not too many sharp turns) to 2300 meters where we parked at the bottom of the gondola to the summit - in spite of our concerns about finding a parking spot it was pretty easy - just a 10 minute walk away. As we were early we had a snack in the cafe before boarding the gondola - it was fully booked for every time slot. Even though we had driven through some clouds and sizzle it was totally clear on top - and quite warm - 19C. We did a bit of a walk at the top - it was quite rough - we could have used hiking boots - by then we had used up our one-hour allocation of time so we downloaded.

We took a different route back to our hotel - the road was not nearly as good as the one we took up (but we knew that in advance) and it was shrouded in heavy fog and drizzle which turned to rain at times - fortunately there was little traffic - it took a good 1.5 hours to get back to the hotel. Ready for showers and another buffet dinner.

Sunday April 21

It was our last full day in Tenerife - we did a roadie around the whole island stopping for a walking tour of the old town of Las Palmas - being a Sunday most stores were closed but there were lots of tourist about.  We headed down the other side of the island which the freeway did not cover and stopped at the old town of La Oratava up on the mountain side for lunch - the town was very nice but most unexpectedly we had a hard time finding a cafe for lunch - we finally stopped at one and had a drink and nachos which Dieter declared the worst lunch in history (at least his beer was cold and my diet coke met expectations). We then drove on back to our hotel - where we showered and packed up at we had an early departure planned the next morning. We had dinner at the hotel's Italian restaurant which was OK but not memorable.

Monday April 22

So it was time to move onto Gran Canaria - we packed up early and shot through to the airport before breakfast - it was an hour drive and we needed to re-fuel and drop off the car. At the airport we found a priority pass lounge where we could have a coffee and a bite to eat before boarding our flight to Gran Canaria. We landed and collecting our hire car upgrading to a slightly larger one that the micro-sized Fiat we had booked.

The drive to our hotel, the Radisson Blu south of the airport took about 40 minutes on a 4 lane highway. We arrived around lunch time and we able to check in right away which was great. We had a quick lunch in the pool bar/bistro - the mixed dips were a contender for worst lunch of the holiday. 

We walked along the water front but decided to cancel our dinner reservation and had sambos at home. Our hotel room was an amazing one-bedroom with full kitchen and most fortunately a washing machine. There was a small Spar right on site which was great.

Tuesday April 23

We started the day with the hotel breakfast which was included in our rate - the fruit was very disappointing. We drove to Puerto Mogan - a lovely fishing port village - we walked around taking photos but decided against stopping for lunch - I did score a Karl Lagerfeld t-shirt. From here we drove Puerto Rico to check out a much larger Spar - it was in a very new looking shopping center and could easily be the best Spar in all of Spain.

Back at the hotel we went to the pool for a swim and some relaxing.

For dinner we went to "222" the on-site restaurant and had what will probably go down as one of the best dinners of the holiday.

Wednesday April 24

Today we visited the main city - Las Palmas - where we visited the market and the old town stopping at the Columbus museum and the cathedral.  We had another swim and pool afternoon. Sambos for dinner.

Thursday April 25

We went to Masopalomas - and the "English" beach and nearby sand dunes and a lagoon where we saw some giant grey herons. We had lunch at the hotel pool bar then rested and walked and had sambos for dinner.

Friday April 26

So off on our cruise today - we were able to secure a 2pm check-out from our hotel so after breakfast and nice walk we had showers and packed up. We left for the supposedly 1-hour drive to the port around 2pm.