Loro Parque and Playa de las Teresitas

Nice Time at Loro Parque

The next day we met for breakfast in the lobby again and enjoyed the first meal of the day. It was the same buffet as the day before, but I liked it and it was more than sufficient for starting a day off. My Vietnamese friend supplied me with information about the interesting things that were happening at work and told me everything about the new interns. There was a lot going on and it was incredibly funny to hear how she was speaking about all the events. Our project manager had become even more annoying but at the same time he was behaving a bit weird and she had to laugh about him many times, so my mood at the breakfast was quite good, even if it was together with my Mum's boyfriend who was in a "normal" mood for the first time since they had arrived. We finished breakfast and talked about the Loro Parque - he was a bit sceptical but didn't say anything, as my Mum had made very clear that she wanted to go there, if he wanted or not. So, we went to the small table with the touristic information next to the reception and asked the woman for Loro Parque tickets. She sold us three and after we had gotten our bags from the hotel rooms, we left the hotel and took the car to get to the zoo. I hoped that the normal mood of my Mum's boyfriend would at least stay like that or improve - even if I didn't believe in that.

We arrived only 15 minutes after the park had opened and found the parking almost empty. That was a good sign - as it was a national holiday that day, I expected that there would be many people, especially families, but that could still happen during some hours. We entered the park and started our tour through the different animal compounds. It was interesting and funny to see all the animals again, even if I had already been to that park two times before. I was surprised that my Mum's boyfriend behaved normally and didn't say a lot of weird or embarrassing things. Furthermore, his mood seemed to be quite good and he was really interested in the animals. Due to that I started to enjoy the day and hoped that it would stay like this for a while. We watched the Orca Show that was as great as the two times before, had a small snack at a kiosk booth and went to the rest of the animals. After one or two hours the park started to become crowded and there were millions of families, as I had expected. We had seen the most important animals and the Orca Show, so there wasn't a lot left to see. We just went into the Loro Show with the parrots because it was about to start when we passed by the building, and afterwards we decided to leave. It had become too full and my Mum's boyfriend couldn't walk any longer with his foot, so we went back to the exit and took the car to the city centre. It was lunchtime and we wanted to have something to eat there.

We had some food in a touristic restaurant (I will not explain the food problems again, it was as embarrassing as always) and discovered the shops at the promenade next to the sea. My Mum bought a nice dress in the Desigual shop, her boyfriend and I had an ice cream and they looked for some nice souvenirs to bring to Germany with them. There wasn't a lot of space for them as they had reserved a lot of space for me in their suitcases in order to take some of my heavy things with them. As my Mum's boyfriend started to have his bad mood again and didn't stop complaining about the hot temperatures and everything we returned to the car and started the way back to the hotel. My Mum and I went to the hotel pool and enjoyed the sunshine and the feeling of not having to do anything while her boyfriend was sitting at their balcony being alone with his incredible bad mood. But down there I didn't care, I read my book and talked a bit to my Mum - I would have never thought that I would say that one day, but I was very happy to finally have some time alone with her and I found out that she was annoyed by her boyfriend, too. Unfortunately, it started to get too cold after a while because the clouds came and the wind started to make it even colder, so we went to our hotel rooms and set a time when we wanted to meet for dinner.

At the dinner buffet we could find almost the same dishes and salads as two days ago and the quality was as disappointing as before, but we had to eat something and live with what the hotel offered. I was just happy that I didn't have to go to the supermarket, cook and wash the dishes, so I was okay with pizza and boring pasta every evening. The only thing that annoyed me a lot was the bad mood of my Mum's boyfriend - he was always complaining, talking too loudly, only eating pizza and drinking litres of coke. Furthermore, he even started to talk to the people at other tables! They all understood him as 75% of the hotel guests were Germans, but it was incredibly embarrassing. When he wasn't complaining or talking to unknown people, there was an uncomfortable silence at the table and I just wanted to get back to my room and relax. I talked a bit to my Mum and tried to ignore her boyfriend. We talked about the plans for the next day: going to Playa de las Teresitas. It was one of the most beautiful beaches on the island and not quite far away. I hoped that the weather would be nice, and we would have a great day there, even if I wasn't too sure about the atmosphere and everything. We finally finished dinner and decided not to get into the city centre this evening as we were all tired, so I could go to my room while my Mum and her boyfriend went to the hotel bar a bit. I really hoped that the next day would become great.

Playa de las Teresitas

The next day we met for breakfast in the lobby, as always, and started the day together. Mum's boyfriend had a even worse mood than the day before and I could already see my great day at the beach become an annoying day at the beach. But I tried to stay optimistic - maybe everything would improve after some croissants and buns. The day was still full of possibilities and opportunities! After breakfast I used the Wi-Fi in the lobby to look for a bit and inform myself a bit better about that beach - parking, experiences of other tourists and useful information. At 10 am we started our way to the Playa de las Teresitas. The duration of the car drive would be about 45-50 minutes - the beach is located a bit more in the east of Santa Cruz. The atmosphere in the car was strange and cold as always and I just hoped to arrive soon. After we had crossed the capital and its harbour my GPS told us that we had arrived, and we would really see the beach already. It looked great! After all the black sand I was happy to see a white beach finally, one can say many things, but a black beach is not the same thing as a "normal" yellow/white beach.

As it was still early in the morning (especially for Spanish people) the large free parking next to the beach was almost empty and we found a space right next to the entrance. We picked up our things from the luggage space and started to look for a suitable spot in the sand. There were several groups of sunbeds that one could rent and due to the handicap of my Mum's boyfriend we chose a place near the parking under a palm tree. It was simply a wonderful place and not even the behaviour of her boyfriend would be able to ruin that atmosphere. We paid the sunbeds and sat down to relax. But the relaxation didn't last long, as my Mum wanted to move and enjoy the beach by walking around a bit. As there was nothing, I would have wanted less than staying there along with her boyfriend I hurried up to come with her. We walked next to the sea, our feet in the water and simply loved to be at that place. She told me how happy she was that I had chosen that beach and I was content that she liked it (well, my Mum loves every kind of beach, so there is nothing you can do wrong with a place like that). We walked until the end of the beach (it's not a large one as you can see at the pictures) and took some pictures to remember that day and that place. The only thing that was a bit annoying at the beach was the strong wind - it could have been much warmer and nicer, but the wind made it almost a bit too cold. While we were walking it was okay, but when we stopped to take pictures it became really cool.

After a while we returned to our sunbeds and found the sleeping boyfriend of my Mum who was waking up the whole beach with his snore. Even when he was sleeping, he was embarrassing! I sat down and started to put some sunscreen on - even if the wind made it cool and possible to be in the sun completely, we were almost in Africa and the sun rays were strong. My Mum did the same thing and after we had finished, we started to relax at our sunbeds. My head had been in the shadow at the beginning, but due to the wind I had to move to the sun with the whole body after a while as it became too cold. But totally in the sun it was really great and relaxing, and I finally started to sleep a bit. I heard my Mum talking to her boyfriend who didn't want to move or take his T-Shirt off. He was sitting there in long trousers and a T-shirt and making a grumpy face - but I didn't care. It was my holiday and I wanted to be at this beach, chilling and enjoying the wonderful atmosphere.

Unfortunately, after a while my Mum got hungry and wanted to eat something. As I was pretending to sleep in order to be left alone, my Mum asked her boyfriend if he was hungry, too. As always, he wasn't and said that he didn't want to eat something in a disgusting hut at the beach. I noticed that the atmosphere became tense again and "woke up". In order to avoid any more discussions, I suggested to eat something in Santa Cruz or even in Puerto de la Cruz, as the offers at the beach seemed to be too bad for somebody of us. Even if I had tried to avoid that we started to discuss, of course, and my Mum began to have a bad mood, as always when she was hungry; but also, a bit because of the behaviour of her boyfriend (something I could really understand). Finally, we decided to pack our things, leave the beach and get back to Puerto de la Cruz, as I didn't know good restaurants in Santa Cruz but the one that we had already visited two days before. It was a pity that we had to leave already but it had become quite cold anyway, as the sun had started to be hidden behind the clouds. We went back to the car and started our way back to Puerto de la Cruz. I missed two exits and it took us a while to get back (my Mum started to starve, of course), but finally we arrived at the shopping centre next to the sea where we could park the car easily. We went into the centre and looked for a suitable restaurant - my Mum rejected my first two offers, but in the end, we found a nice place to have something to eat. My Mum ordered a Seafood Paella, I had some pasta and her boyfriend had something weird with sausages (of course, he didn't have Spanish food).

When we had survived our hunger, we continued to walk around the city centre because my Mum wanted to buy some souvenirs and presents for friends and neighbours. Her boyfriend behaved as annoying as always and was talking about things like headache and rash under his arms - like a little child. But when we were about to get back to the car because he said that he couldn't walk around anymore and was feeling too bad we passed by a coiffeur and he wanted to have a haircut. I couldn't believe that - 2 minutes before he had felt too bad to walk and immediately, he wanted to have a haircut! So, we entered, I asked the woman if they had time and she told me that we would have to wait a bit. Annoyed, we waited, and he had his haircut. I was happy when we could go to the parking and get back to the hotel - I was angrier than the last time I could imagine. When we were back at the hotel, I went a bit to the pool with my Mum while her boyfriend stayed in the hotel room, as always, and we talked about the days that had passed. There was only one day left, but we would not have the car anymore, so it would become a more relaxed day and I was happy that we wouldn't meet for breakfast the next morning and I could sleep in.

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