Family Trees are always interesting, some of my distant relatives were deported on the Ship America to Australia in April 1829 possibly for murder. The Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America in 1620 and had William Mullins onboard. WIlliam Mullins came from Dorking, his house now a nice cafe and according to various searches American Presidents (Adams, Coolidge) were descended from his daughter Pricilla, also Marilyn Monroe. Although William and his wife died a few months after landing in Plymouth, his legacy lived on.
Dorking was also the place where John Wesley opened the Methodist Chapel in 1772 and preached there. Both people sought to challenge the established church of the time and encourage freedom of worship, although by the 21st century true churches they started are not constrained by the same rules they sought to free them for - progress?
We hadn’t intended to have a weekend in Dorking, but we had a free weekend and I found a good offer on the internet so we left on Saturday morning. The dogs had gone to stay with our sitter. The M23 was closed for roadworks, which we didn’t need to use, but it had a knock on effect on the roads around the area.
We hadn’t planned to go to Dorking, but ended up there and it was a great place. Lovely little coffee shops, normal shops and some history to see. It also had an antique centre. We spend the afternoon wandering around the shops, Linda found a Marks and Spencer’s and used up her Christmas vouchers in the sales, I just sat by the door.
Our hotel was the Mercure at Box Hill frequented by Lord and Lady Nelson in their day, although it has changed slightly, I am not sure they had internet. We had a nice room with a balcony to sit on.
There was a hill behind the hotel, so after unpacking, I decided it needed climbing, it was steep and muddy, it was ok going up, but coming down.... I survived. I needed to make room for our dinner at the hotel as it was part of the deal, and I did enjoy the steak.
On Sunday we had breakfast and then went to Polesden Lacey. As we are getting old we have joined the National Trust and started visiting a few properties. This was the home of the Greville families during the Edwardian era.
We had a walk around the grounds and the house. Linda was more interested in it than me, it was just a load of old fashioned furniture and paintings in my view - but the Queen Mother must have liked it as she said ‘this is a delicious house..’ It kept raining off and on, we did get wet a couple of times.
Next stop was Box Hill, but this time driving to the top. It was another National Trust place so we could park for free, need to get value for my subscription. There was a nice trail walk, which was meant to be circular, but Linda didn’t like the mud, so we had to come back another route she had identified (which turned out to be even muddier!).
We saw Broadwood Tower and then the heavens opened and we had to wait under a tree until the rain ceased. It was wet! However, we had brought our hiking boots so although it was muddy, it wasn’t too bad (well I didn’t think it was).
Late afternoon we went to the Hilton at Gatwick Airport as we were flying to Tenerife on the Monday. Traffic was very slow around Reigate but improved the nearer you got. We parked the car in the car park and then caught the bus to the terminal, where the hotel is.
Having arrived at the hotel, Linda realised she had left her phone in the car. Fortunately, the car park is only a 10 minute walk away, so we had to walk back to the car and collect her phone, catch the bus back and then settled in the room.
Linda watched her film Downton Abbey, while I went for a gentle workout in the gym.
Tenerife here we come
The alarm went off at 6am and we had to get ready, I had set a schedule for Linda so she knew where we had to be at certain times. I had to walk back to the car to put the overnight bag in. As I walk fast I was there and back before Linda was ready.
It was then a short walk to check in, quickly through security and into the lounge for breakfast.
We have never been to Tenerife, Canary Islands before, so it will be a new experience. It is part of Spain and in the same time zone as the UK. The flight is 4 hours. Hopefully it will be warm and dry - that will do for me.
It was mid 20’s when we arrived and we certainly didn’t need our jumpers. We collected our hire car and it was a 30 minute drive to the hotel. We are staying at the Hard Rock Hotel and we have Rock Royalty status, which means we get VIP treatment. We have to check in on the 13th floor and then are shown to our rooms. It is a studio not a room, with a jacuzzi, sofa, balcony and a nice work area. There is a lounge on the next floor where we can get drinks and snacks during the day. We had a walk around the hotel, there is a spa, several swimming pools and lots of restaurants. Our room is on the 14th floor and we have a great view out to sea.
On Tuesday I was up at 7.30am to go for a run, its a lovely location here at Para Paraiso but as it is at the bottom of the hill, the only way is up! I ran on the pavement and it was a mile up the hill to the top, but the good news it was also a mile down the hill, I then added a bit on to complete 5k. The only challenge is being on the 14th floor - its a long way to run up. It was starting to get warm, Linda was still asleep when I got back, obviously needed her beauty sleep.
After a shower, as I was slightly sweaty we went to the Lounge for our breakfast. We have a personal chef who cooks the egg for you. It was a lovely breakfast and then we came back to the room to sit on the balcony.
We have free entrance to the Spa as Rock Royalty. The Spa has a sauna, snow room, jacuzzi and a big pool with beds that spurt water out when you use the button. I tried the sauna and then the snow room - but Linda turned her nose up at the snow room. We sat on the sun beds and relaxed, it was warm today. I got a little burnt as I didn’t realise how hot it was.
We returned to our lounge for afternoon snacks and then went to the adult pool. Linda went for a swim and I just relaxed. Later on Linda relaxed and I went for a work out in the gym and again tried running up 14 flights of stairs. I need to work off all this great food we are eating.
In the evening we had tapas in the lounge. So far I have read about six books including an interesting one by Danielle Strickland on women in leadership. I also have the required reading set by the Prime Minister for the cabinet on High Output Management by Andrew Grove, it does provide some good ideas on leadership.
On Wednesday we went for a walk along the cliff path to the next village where we had a coffee. It is still warm here. We then walked back and Linda saw a Gecko and was very excited, she would have taken a picture of it, but was too slow. However, I found several more for her to look at. In the afternoon we went to the pool, this time making sure we had plenty of sun cream on and didn’t get burnt. The Tapas was nice tonight and I had plenty of it, I needed it after a session in the gym, I would like to say Linda joined me - but she didn’t.
Friday was an interesting day and our plans didn’t work out. Our friends were on a cruise and they were calling into the port at Santa Cruz and we had planned to meet them for coffee and a local tour. We were up early and had a nice breakfast, just got in the car where we received a text, they weren’t being allowed off the boat - not good news.
However, there was nothing we could do about it, we decided that we might as well still go out for the day. Vilaflor is about 5000 feet above sea level and near the national park and Mount Teide. It seemed a good idea to go there, until we got about 2/3 of the way and the road started to get challenging, several hairpin bends, climbing steeply, not great for someone who doesn’t like heights in a car where everything is on the wrong side! However, we made it to the top and the village. It has been there since the 16th century and we had a look around at the Church of Santo Hermano Pedro and next door was a Covent where the Bethlehem order used to reside.
We also found the Peckham Springs of Tenerife, the Fuente Alta as Vilaflor is known for its water richness since 16th century. There is a water fountain there where the animals used to drink, the women would wash their clothes and also their children. Having travelled all this way we did stop for a coffee and fortunately the toilet facilities were 21st century and not 16th :)
The trip down hill wasn’t so bad, although Linda wanted me to stop for some photos, although there were no good stopping places. We finally made it back to the motorway and then went to Santa Cruz, about 60km away. We found an underground car park and then had a walk around. We saw the Mercado Nuestra Señora de Africa, which seemed to be a fish market (or smelt like it). We had a wander down to the port and gave our friends a wave on their ship and then went for a coffee before driving back. We stopped at Siam Mall on the way back, it is a shopping mall with Thai-influenced architecture and a Zen like vibe, basically a load of shops (think Lakeside but a lot warmer!). We had a look around but didn’t buy anything.
We were going to have coffee in Starbucks, but as we were only 20 mins away from our hotel we decided to come back as we could have free coffee and cake here! It has been slightly overcast today but still warm.
Saturday was overcast, both for the weather and ourselves. We have been watching the news and Spain was going into a state of emergency, Jet2 had turned back its planes and BA had cancelled some flights. We were concerned whether we would be flying back on Sunday. However, we did the online check in, but won’t really know till Sunday morning when we go to the airport.
I was up reasonably early and went for a run, in the other direction this time. It was still really hilly, the downside of being on the beach. Linda was just wakening when I returned and we went for breakfast (after I had a shower). Linda then wanted to go for a walk, so we went for a walk, then she complained it was all up hill, I did say ‘I told you so…..and we are only walking, I ran up these hills). We stopped for a coffee before walking back, she was happy now it was down hill!
In the afternoon we went to the pool and Linda had a swim while I read my book. We had one last visit to the Spa, swimming in the whirlpool, and I did use the Sauna and Snow room - Linda sat on her chair and enjoyed the sunshine.
In the evening I managed to fit a session in at the gym.
I did try some of the hand cream, very disappointing, it said anti-aging, but obviously hasn’t worked as I am a week older than when I got here :)
On Sunday we were up early and had breakfast at 8am. We then finished the packing and decided to go to the airport. If we are there then we can just wait. It appears that Spain is going not lockdown from Monday, so we are escaping just in time. Linda wants to go home - I would have been happy to stay in the sun! As I can work remotely.
We dropped the car back off and the bus was ready to take us to the airport. On arrival at check-in we found our flight was delayed by at least two hours, but we checked in and then just sat in the lounge.
What I don’t understand, there are less planes flying, less people travelling so surely it should be easier to keep to schedules and be on time.