Tenerife '18

I wrote this post as a lazy summer came to an end and the hustle and bustle of everyday life began to creep up, I just couldn't help and still cannot help but reminisce to when my biggest worry was applying even amounts of sun cream by the Tenerife Sea! 

So here I am, sharing my thoughts and our photos as I walk you through our time in Tenerife. Whether you just want to nosey at the photos or if you are actually going to read all this, I hope you enjoy!

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Adam and I deal with the pros and cons (mostly cons) of a long distant relationship and often dread the familiar sight of an airport, but for the first time ever, here we are, getting on the same plane and going to the same place. 

What a luxury!

We slowly made our way through the pure chaos that is airport security. Thankfully, we avoided the embarrassment of having my knickers being trailed out and put on display the rest of the impatient holiday goers and instead just sailed on through and headed straight for a classic Starbucks before boarding the plane to our first ever holiday together.

After awkward encounters with a highly obnoxious woman and a restless seat hopper, we began our a four hour Season 1:Love Island binge! 

As the plane prepared for landing “first holiday” nerves entered my body and I realised that this is the first time I had been on a real, proper, summer holiday without an adult! I was officially the oldest person in our party. The moment of looking around for an adultier adult became all too relatable. 

We nervous laughed through hypothetical scenarios of pure disaster whilst making our way off the plane, through security, baggage reclaim, a toilet break and safely on the bus before headed to our apartment in Playas de las Americas, Tenerife. 

I've never been to Tenerife, so you could imagine my face as the bus drove around what I could only describe as a desert. Every hotel we stopped was in the middle of nowhere and I was feeling a little uneasy. Having sensed my uncertainty Adam quickly assured me that the further we go in the better it gets. However at one stop he awkwardly adjusted in his seat stating something along the lines of... “ours couldn’t be much worse than that!” 

I’m living off piddly squat, therefore, my mum and Adam pretty much keep me alive; so, when it came to booking a holiday my only condition was it had to be cheap... I was starting to regret that decision. 

As we neared our journey time, I exclaimed how nice the hotel in the distance looked and much to our surprise the driver shouted, “Andorra” and we faced each other in shock. We fumbled with our belongs and hastily got off the bus collecting our bags as relief spread over our faces. This was a nice hotel and it was ours. 

After checking in and struggling to figure out how to get in through our apartment door, or Fort Knox as it was otherwise known for the rest of the week, with no complaints about our home for the next 10 days; we unpacked, did first grocery shop of the holiday, scouted out places for dinner and walked around the town. This is when we experienced one of the most random moments of our holiday. While out exploring we heard music in the distance, and me being me, started to give off about how a hotel could allow their entertainment to be so loud and audacious, when suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a Rudimental concert! An unexpected but great way to end our first night! 

The next three days involved slow mornings, breakfast on the balcony, sunbathing at the beach or pool, croissants for lunch and that glorious post sun nap before getting showered, dressed and heading out for a sunset dinner followed by ice cream and a long walk.

Bliss.

I was so kindly treated with tickets to Loro Parque and Siam Park, which I was so excited for and neither disappointed. On Thursday morning we were up at 7 am and headed on route to Loro Parque. I did not know what to expect as the last time I was somewhere like that I was too young to even remember. I was not, however, expecting a photo to be taken upon arrival, and I now hope that photo has been eternally destroyed as there are no words to describe how awful it was.

Naturally, when leaving the park Adam just had to get me a stuffed Dolphin toy, which we named Diego, who, now proudly sits on my bed over my 'Princess Debbie' cushion!

The only way to end a great day and a lengthy bus journey full of tourists was with a McDonald's, that went down a treat!

The next couple of days were not for sunbathing, although we did try. Fortunately, (well unfortunately for the bank account) we were able to get in some shopping around the town, a picnic on a pebble beach, a walk to Siam Mall and a good old holiday classic game of mini golf. This is the only 'sport' where I can give Adam a run for his money but yet again, he won.

I wouldn't want to hurt his pride...

If you are familiar with any sort of holiday destination, you will be well aware of the numerous restaurant staff  that stand on the side of the street persuading you to choose their place of dining. If you are anything like me, this will definitely deter you from entering. I could be heading straight to their restaurant but if they beckon me in I will turn right around out of spite.

However, we did mange to escape most of their grasps and make our own decisions and we were highly impressed with the quality of (almost) every one. We had everything; pizza, pasta, paella, seafood, risotto, chicken, steak and only one dodgy burger, which I'd rather not talk about for fear of reliving it.

We experienced wonderful sunset views, tasty mocktails and we were even treated to a table-side magician one evening. A little uncomfortable for two people who like to avoid all forms of awkward social interactions but all in all we were very impressed.

One of the highlights of our trip was our highly anticipated day out to Siam Park. I am a massive fan of roller-coasters and water parks but I had never been to one of this grandeur, so I was buzzing. We were aware that getting me into the Park could come with its difficulties as massive crowds would trigger my anxiety. Therefore, we decided to walk and get there before the bus loads of people would start arriving. We beat the crowds on the way into the park, managed to get our locker, bed at the wave pool and into the lazy river before it all got too busy.

The big ride for the day was the Tower of Power. Now, I'm not saying it is an overrated ride but I found the whole experience rather uncomfortable, though it did fill my adrenaline need. Over the 20 seconds it took to reach the pool at the end I felt excitement then panic the relief. Adam went first and quite literally said a prayer. To be fair, looking over the edge, it is an extremely steep drop and I was getting nervcited (a mixture between nervous and excited). It was my turn and quickly after I was aided by the attendant my whole face was hit by what felt like a tonne of water. I couldn't see or breathe, as per the instructions, my legs we crossed and my arms were folded over my chest like I was about to be mummified and my whole body tensed in fear. Just when I thought I was literally going to drown, I managed to catch my breath when I felt myself hit the pool at the end and my body relaxed. I relaxed a bit too much for my liking because as my arms and legs escaped from the intense position I had them, a lil bit of pee escaped from my body and suddenly I was faced with a bunch of strangers who were blissfully unaware of my little accident.  I gathered myself and struggled out of the pool crying with...I don't even know, it was either laughter or embarrassment!!

My experience on the Tower of Power did not dampen our spirits at all as we had the most amazing day going on all the big slides, eating lunch and people watching. I highly recommend the Dragon, it was definitely my favourite ride. I actually beat Adam on the racers, two times out of three...the last time I just let him win. Although, with him being suck a sore loser, he claims "you're only as good as your last game."

Also, have you every tried to go to the toilet wearing a wet swimming costume?? I totally forgot how much hard work that was, every time I went to the toilet, I took 15 minutes, broke out in a sweat and pulled a few muscles. That squelching noise was echoing through the girls bathrooms as we were all in the same boat.

 Our final stop was the wave pool, which was a little too scary for me as Adam thought he had lost me a couple of times under the waves. Overall, I had a fantastic day and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Our final days were filled with packing, souvenir buying, final tan top ups and enjoying every last moment before we headed back to reality.

To begin our journey home, the bus was coming to pick us up at 3:07am and feeling on edge, expecting to miss the bus, neither of us slept very long. After a rather chirpy bus journey and a quick airport breakfast we were headed home to sunny NI. 

What a wonderful experience for our first holiday together, how Adam puts up with me I do not know but what I do know is that I’m definitely looking forward to plenty more; great views, good food, decent tan and average company.