I've just come back from a very short notice holiday in Tenerife, with the aim of getting ready for the long haul of a English winter.

I stayed at the Riu Buena Vista in Playa Paradiso on an all-inclusive basis. The weather was good, the sunshine was more than welcome and I was able to exercise as much as I hoped for.

The hotel was sited in quite a distant location, so much so that there was no real incentive to leave the site at all. It was a mini-resort in itself.

I used the all-inclusive dining to work on my diet and experiment with different types of healthy eating. I laid off the booze, only having about one whisky when I developed a sore throat.

The poolside entertainment I used to take part in as many fitness classes that I could join - step aerobics was the most challenging and the "gymnastic" sessions that got me working on my abdomen muscles were very welcome indeed.

My main task was swimming and drying myself off in the sun before I got back into the pool again.

I had just one trip and this was to do some whale-watching and to have a chance to swim in the sea.

The hotel was running on under half-capacity when I first arrived but more people kept arriving, making the place increasingly busy.

It was quite interesting architecturally and I enjoyed doing an odd bit of exploring, working out how the reach the to top of the hotel's towers during some slack time, for example.

All-in-all the holiday provided everything I could reasonably ask for so I was happy.

Sounds brilliant! Glad you had a good time.
And nice to see you back here.

Glad you enjoyed yourself, sounds like you got what you were look for

You're quite correct, I was after something simple and I found it.

Sometimes bliss can be found in reasonable expectations and patient work devoted to achieving them.

wow, sounds like you had an amazing trip!

It wasn't strictly speaking amazing but it did hit the right note.

I ate well, I got fit and I wasn't chased out of the complex by a baying mob, armed with pitchforks.

Just what the Gorilla ordered ...