It's Jan's birthday today and by way of celebration we got up at 04.30 and flew to Tenerife. I can't say that getting up at that time of the morning is top of my priority list, but there you go.
As we taxied to the end of the runway a plane took off in the same direction that we were travelling in. In other words this plane took off in direction A to B and we were going to take off in direction B to A. Now, I’m no aviation expert, and cannot fly a plane, but this did not seem to be right. Anyway, take off we did and we didn’t hit anything. Our route to the Canary Islands took us over Tangiers, Casablanca and Marrakesh. All very exotic and it added to the holiday feel. I’d forgotten how much I dislike long flights (actually it's only three hours) but more to the point it wasn’t the most comfortable because I hadn’t been able to bag my usual fire exit seat and so had to sit up the back in cattle class. None of this was helped by the fact that I’d forgotten to pack my book, couldn’t get my tray table down because it wouldn’t pass my beer belly (Note to self: must lose weight) and Jan refused to speak to me because she had her nose in a book. There's only so much joy you can get looking out of a plane window for three hours.
Ryanair typically chose Los Rodeos (in the north of the island) to land at in Tenerife. If I remember rightly, two 747’s hit each other whilst taxiing a few years back and killed several hundred people. The cynic in me thinks that Ryanair chose it because the landing fees are a bit cheaper!
The hotel on the other hand is first class. Hotel Playa La Arena is huge but very luxurious. Our room was very spacious and well appointed. It's probably the best vacation hotel that I have ever stayed in. The hotel’s occupants were, however, mostly very old. The minute we walked through the door the average age dropped about 30 years, and we’re hardly spring chickens. Everything about the hotel is done on a large scale, from the enormous atrium lobby with loads of areas to relax in, to the pools and the restaurants. Cosy this is not, but all very, very well done. Particularly noticeable and appreciated was the food and wine. We were booked on a half board basis, breakfast and one other main meal. If you wanted to pay for lunch, they offered a huge buffet of hot and cold everything, including fillet steak, for 15 euros per head, each as much as you like. Amazing value. The only problem to deal with is your greed!
As we taxied to the end of the runway a plane took off in the same direction that we were travelling in. In other words this plane took off in direction A to B and we were going to take off in direction B to A. Now, I’m no aviation expert, and cannot fly a plane, but this did not seem to be right. Anyway, take off we did and we didn’t hit anything. Our route to the Canary Islands took us over Tangiers, Casablanca and Marrakesh. All very exotic and it added to the holiday feel. I’d forgotten how much I dislike long flights (actually it's only three hours) but more to the point it wasn’t the most comfortable because I hadn’t been able to bag my usual fire exit seat and so had to sit up the back in cattle class. None of this was helped by the fact that I’d forgotten to pack my book, couldn’t get my tray table down because it wouldn’t pass my beer belly (Note to self: must lose weight) and Jan refused to speak to me because she had her nose in a book. There's only so much joy you can get looking out of a plane window for three hours.
Ryanair typically chose Los Rodeos (in the north of the island) to land at in Tenerife. If I remember rightly, two 747’s hit each other whilst taxiing a few years back and killed several hundred people. The cynic in me thinks that Ryanair chose it because the landing fees are a bit cheaper!
The hotel on the other hand is first class. Hotel Playa La Arena is huge but very luxurious. Our room was very spacious and well appointed. It's probably the best vacation hotel that I have ever stayed in. The hotel’s occupants were, however, mostly very old. The minute we walked through the door the average age dropped about 30 years, and we’re hardly spring chickens. Everything about the hotel is done on a large scale, from the enormous atrium lobby with loads of areas to relax in, to the pools and the restaurants. Cosy this is not, but all very, very well done. Particularly noticeable and appreciated was the food and wine. We were booked on a half board basis, breakfast and one other main meal. If you wanted to pay for lunch, they offered a huge buffet of hot and cold everything, including fillet steak, for 15 euros per head, each as much as you like. Amazing value. The only problem to deal with is your greed!
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