I put my foot down and said \u2018No Way\u2019!<\/p>\n
Over the last few months there had been multiple attempts to change my mind. Half-hearted appeals from Amanda (who also wasn\u2019t that keen), attempted blackmail by my young nephews, and \u2018it would have been nice if you could have come\u2019 speeches from my father-in-law, but I held firm.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m still not quite sure how it happened but three weeks ago Amanda booked us on the RyanAir<\/a> flight from Manchester to Alicante and found us a reasonable looking four-star hotel just outside Benidorm for a reasonable sum. I still don\u2019t remember agreeing to go, but at 3am last Wednesday I found myself on the way to Manchester airport<\/a> for the 6:30am flight, half feeling like I was being kidnapped. The only thing I was looking forward to was the surprise on their faces when we showed up unannounced.<\/p>\n By God it was hot.<\/p>\n We arrived into temperatures in the late thirties, speeded through passport control like well-travelled professionals with just our hand baggage, and were on the transfer coach within minutes of landing. Here where we sat for just over an hour as family after family of England shirted English and Manchester United<\/a> shirted Irish struggled with their oversized and multi-coloured luggage to the adjacent smoking area for a last fag before the forty-five minute transfer. Bulging at the seams, we set off for the skyscrapers and nightclubs of Europe\u2019s biggest tourist resort.<\/p>\n After three circuits of Benidorm, and two and a half hours on board, we were finally dropped at our hotel, which was a pleasant surprise. It was almost empty, away from the skyscrapers, had large rooms and a rooftop pool, and pretty good air conditioning.<\/p>\n The surprise was getting closer. We\u2019d texted Amandas sister and brother to ask \u2018How are you? What are you doing today? How is the weather?\u2019 as if we didn\u2019t know it was bloody hot. Neither had responded giving us no idea whether they were at their hotel or not. We did what every quasi-Spaniard should do in such a situation….we went for lunch. It felt like the last supper.<\/p>\n Four courses and nine euros later, as the temperature pushed through the forty-degree mark, and we walked up the road to the in-laws hotel, sneaked through reception, found Amanda\u2019s parents by the pool and sprung the surprise.<\/p>\n The beer flowed, comparisons of journeys made, and lunch discussed. I was itching to get out of the stifling temperatures and take advantage of the hotel pool.<\/p>\n So far, so good.<\/p>\n We\u2019d been in the pool for about thirty minutes, fighting on an every-man-for-himself basis with my nephews water pistols, when the shout came up from the far end of the pool….\u2019brown shark\u2019.<\/p>\n All heads turned towards the incident as the lifeguards blew their whistles and went running for their fishing nets. Word quickly spread as the pool emptied, someone had committed the ultimate faux pas and poo\u2019d in the pool.<\/p>\n The pool was quickly surrounded with police tape, filled with chlorine, and put \u2018out of bounds\u2019 for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n Within six hours of landing Benidorm was living up to my expectations. You couldn\u2019t make it up.<\/p>\n Part II to follow…..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I know that I run the risk of being called a Spain snob, but I have never had any desire to visit to Costas, the Balearics, or even the Canaries. I\u2019ve seen them on the telly with their sun reddened … Continue reading ![\"newtownview\"](\"http:\/\/www.visitgalicia.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/newtownview.jpg\")
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