Back in 2013 I went on my first ever beach holiday, after being convinced it was a good thing to do by my now ex-girlfriend and current wife.
I have always avoided "Do nothing" holidays because I get far too bored and if I am going to be somewhere new, I want to see or do something different. As an Australian, the beach isn't really something super special, but I do understand getting out of cold-ass Finland from time to time, and this was a mid-winter trip.
We went to Puerto De La Cruz on Tenerife Island, because she got a flight and hotel deal. She got to choose the hotel from a couple of options and went with the "adult hotel" where children were not allowed, thinking it would be quieter.
It was quiet.
The average age of guest must have been skimming 75 years of age. The wildest resort activity was the 7pm bingo session.
It was an "all inclusive" booking, which meant all food and drinks were part of the package, but the food was military issue and the drinks were premixed in the toilets of the local prison.
As you can imagine, we didn't eat or stay at the hotel much and spent most of the time walking around what was perhaps the most uninteresting town I have ever had the misfortune of visiting - and I am from country Australia.
The first day I was filled with excitement and was eager to see what I could, noticing that other tourists walking like zombies. After an hour and passing the same church three times, I realised why.
Of course, I am exaggerating slightly and there were some interesting things like the zoo close by and the volcano. But as my wife gets travel sick, we didn't make it up the mountain and had to stop halfway, luckily in a town that was a little more interesting than the one we were staying in. We had a nice lunch and afternoon walking the streets that overlooked the sea. The zoo was okay too, but a zoo is a zoo and it was zoolike.
We were there a week and I have no idea about the place at all as there was so little to actually do that I think my brain just shutdown. Some people might see this as the point of a holiday, I do not.
We had fun together, but we could have done that anywhere and perhaps we should have chosen the other side of the island - where young people go.
As you can see from the pictures, there are none of Puerto De La Cruz itself, other than the black sand beach, which I thought was cool. I did of course take some other pictures, but they were of animals at the zoo.
Pretty much, the only thing that I was interested in really photographing was my gorgeous wife - so I did. It is funny to look back at these, especially since she has given birth since then and she looks the same and it is me who has put on some weight...
While I didn't enjoy the holiday location, I did enjoy being there with my wife and made sure that I hardly complained about the place - especially since it was her choice. While I myself might not be a beach holiday person, I could see doing something similar with our daughter one day and having quite a different experience. Though, I wouldn't go back to Puerto de la Cruz unless the tickets were free and the hotel was paying us to stay.
Still, a holiday is a holiday and with our last getaway being almost 5 years ago, anywhere would probably do and perhaps a place with bingo and 10 hours uninterrupted sleep would be perfect.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
