Early morning start on New Year's Eve to get to the airport at 5 o'clock.  Heini woke up and drove us there to get the car for herself for the whole week.  Both girls wanted to stay at home.  So the flight was on 7 and we just killed the time.  My nose started dripping in the airport, must have been the air conditioning or just dust.  Did not want to have a flu for the start of our holiday!  So GT on the plain cured me.  But before we got there we travelled by bus from the gate for a long time, felt like the plane was about to leave from Tampere.  Primavera or something saves money by having the parking lot in the most distant corner of the whole airport.  Plane was covered with snow, windows icy and stairs slippery.  Hmm...

We got in and waiting still a long time to get the plane showered and to the runway.  Flight was long and boring.  Jouni slept and I just watched the movie and wandered.  Meal was ok even though I can't remember what was it.  Well definetely never something to remember, eh?  I had a lady from Pohjanmaa next to me (Jouni always takes the window seat) but I just did not feel like chatting.  Just tired and dosing on and off.

The sun and warmness hit on the way out and it was just lovely!  It was like water for the thirsty, sucking in as much as you can from every anckle.  Then to the bus and waiting for the luggage.  Jouni went straight to the car hire, we had booked car for the whole week and got a brand new Ibiza (9km on the meter).  It was noon and we headed to the south-west and Los Gigantes.  The views were familiar as this is maybe the 4th time in Tenerife.  First time was in the beginning of 90's when we were also just the two of us in Puerto de la Cruz.  Then we've been with the kids and grandparents in Las Americas maybe twice.  We've visited also Cran Canaria and Lanzarote.  Flowers are eye catching as when we left Finland there was c. 1,5m of snow.  Mountains are always striking, Teide being the highest mountain in whole Spain.

Our hotel was in a village, Puerto Santiago, just next to Los Gigantes and the mountains rising up straight from the see to 800m (Berlitz).  Well our diving instructor said 500m.  Anyway those are huge and we had a view from our 7m long terrace to the see and to the mountains.  Our room was in the top in two floors, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living area and kitchenet.  Quite ok so we had a separate dressing room and the terrace as a morning room as we had breakfast there.  Village itself is built by the mountains so the height difference was probably couple of hundred meters from the see to the end of village.  Because of that almost all the houses had a view to the see (well of course only from the other side).  Atlantic is quite rough on this side of Tenerife so there was no beaches like in Los Americas.  But Playa de la Arena was good enough for us as Jouni likes the waves.  I saw only once yellow flag, all the rest was red flag days and swimming was prohibited from children.  Swimming was ok if you like to get a whole body scrub at the same time.  The last wave by the beach was like porrage of sea water and black vulcan sand.

Well about the first day still, we had lunch in a restaurant down from our hotel, El Meson.  Nice fresh fish from the grill served with a good humored waiter (owner?) who had his kids as helpers (day off from school?).  Humor example, my espresso cup size up to 2 litres.  Full stomach, beer, view to the sea, ah it felt like holiday.

The rest of the day was unpacking, visit to the supermercado next to the hotel and then to bed.