More Ketchup than Salsa

Phil was right when we wrote that we were having a rather lazy holiday, in fact I can’t think of a holiday where we have been so horizontal.  Even though we had the hire car we really didn’t do much exploring this time round.  I think this is due to a couple of reasons, firstly because Phil wanted to spend his time reading and writing and lastly because we have already explored the south of Tenerife a couple of times over.  We did have a drive up the mountain to the foothold of Mount Teide and we did spend a few hours in Los Galletas which was very nice.  We didn’t venture anywhere near Playa de las Americas or Los Christianos.

Actually that’s not strictly true because on our last night we met up with Dave & Eva who were staying in the Hollywood Mirage which is on the outskirts of Los Christianos right up on the hill.  Originally we had intended to take a taxi but it made sense for Phil to drive.   We met Eva and Dave in reception and Phil drove to Manhattan’s where we had dinner.   Dave & Eva looked really well and although I knew they were slightly older than us I didn’t realise that they must be cracking on for 70.  It was really nice to catch-up with them both and we had a very pleasant evening.   We’d quite forgotten that like us, Dave & Eva like to travel.  Since we met them last May they have had a Caribbean cruise on the Queen Mary II with 5 nights in New York afterwards.  They went to Poland in the autumn of 2011 and were out in Tenerife in January of this year.  Their stay in Tenerife this holiday was only 5 days because of a family wedding but they were not too bothered as they are off on a 2 week cruise around the Baltic’s next week.  A couple after our own hearts!

Our first job of the day on Thursday morning after checking emails was to go up to the sales office to cancel our timeshare 2 year ‘taster’ package.  Aside from the warnings on the blog from Anne & Jim, Emma and Sue, seeing Dave & Eva the evening before departure reminded us of the many cons of timeshare.  Dave & Eva can’t give there time share away.  They brought into the weeks deal rather than the points system and although their apartment is beautiful the yearly maintenance is a killer.  I really hope that they can sell their timeshare but I think it is very unlikely. 

I made Phil go to the sales office by himself which was cowardly of me and very brave of him.  As expected, the boss sales manager gave him some hard pressure and in the end he ended up offering Phil the same 2 year package for free.  When Phil told me this it made me even more suspicious; why give us a package for nothing that only 2 days before we’d agreed to pay £1,500? Phil did consider going with the free package but in end, quite wisely, we decided to walk away.   You don’t get anything for nothing these days and although we couldn’t see the catch, there almost surely is one.

We decided to have a drive out to seek out some authentic Spanish for our very last lunch but after several unfruitful turns we ended up in El Medano.  We like this little town and were very happy when we spotted a lovely little restaurant on the sea front offering a menu Del dia for only 9 euros.  The view was spectacular and the food was really good.  Very simple, just a mixed salad to start with warm breads and olive oil followed by tuna cooked in garlic with canaries potatoes with sauces.  We washed this down with a glass of white wine which was included in the price and took in our surroundings for an hour or so.  As we had our room for the night of departure, we didn’t have to check out early, which was great as this gave us time to pack up and shower at our leisure.

We got to the airport around 4pm and as usual there was quite a queue at the Ryanair check in desk.  We didn’t have a huge amount of time to hang around and although we had paid for priority boarding we still found ourselves queuing to board for almost an hour.  Our plane was late getting in and we were about 20 minutes late leaving.  But we had good seats near the front and aside from screaming babies the 4 hours soon passed.  The good thing was that our bag was almost the first out and it was easy to get a taxi from outside to Jimmy’s offices in Luton.  Our one only delay was getting out of Luton town centre because it was dark and Phil wasn’t too sure where he was going but eventually we found the motorway.  By this time it was half ten so the roads were quiet and it was about half eleven by the time we got to the caravan.   I had expected it to be very cold in the van but actually it wasn’t too bad.  We put on the heaters and stayed up for a while to unwind for a bit before going to bed.

The inspiration for the title of my blog came from a book that I downloaded on my kindle. It was written by a guy called Joe Cawley and the book is about two English couples that buy and run a bar on the outskirts of Americans.  It was a good read and I would recommend it especially for a holiday read or for anyone that is thinking about looking to run a business in Tenerife.  More ketchup than salsa for me though sums up how I feel about Tenerife, well south Tenerife anyway.  I like the climate, I like the food when it is local but I dislike the commercial, built up areas like Americanas.  So whilst I like ketchup, give me salsa any day of the week.

It was a bit of groggy start to this morning which was a shame because I had a whole list of stuff to do but at least I have got the majority of jobs done.  Namely, unpacking, washing, drying and ironing and it’s now all put away in the cupboards until the next time.  I did a shop at Sainsbury’s and we grabbed a quick lunch at The Manor which was a bit naughty.  Holidays always involve weight gain but I have decided that my new diet and strict exercise regime is going to start on Monday.    

I