sunglasses off the side on the way out I step out into the sun. Noticing briefly that last night’s trolley has been discreetly removed, the service here is fantastic!
There is a sweeping stone stair case the leads from the door of my room on the first floor, down to street level. It is immaculately clean, not so much as a leaf on it, and beautifully decorated with flowers carved into the stone wall that runs down the length of the stairs.
Taking the last step your path then opens out into stunning gardens, all perfectly symmetrical and housing an array of bright flowers, some of which I’ve never seen before. Lizards, anything from tiny cute ones to huge slightly scary looking ones, laze about soaking in the sun; lying there as if it’s completely normal, mundane even, so sidestep a lizard on your way to breakfast.
The breakfast bar is located near to the beach; the building is not as grand as the main foyer, but still pristine none-the-less. Inside there is a hot buffet which spreads the entire length of the room containing every cooked breakfast item from around the globe, as well as two further islands which hold masses of fresh exotic fruits, cereals, sweet breads, croissants, cheeses, really everything you could possibly imagine eating first thing in the morning.
Loading up, I get cornflakes with a low fat cherry yogurt and a plate of fresh fruits, every one more juicy and sweet than the last. Once I’ve finished that I know I should be done, that alone was twice the amount I would normally have had at home, but the smell of bacon is so enticing, and it is all-inclusive after all. I am acutely aware that I am persuading myself into another plate, but I’m on holiday, so screw it. Getting up I walk across the room, subtly looking around to make sure no one has noticed my greedy faux-pas, luckily it looks as though everyone in there is too busy being equally as gluttonous to notice.
So with a smile on my face I scoop up generous spoonfuls of scrambled egg, sausages, bacon, beans, grilled tomatoes, seriously anything they have on offer then return to my seat. As I’m walking over I see the table I thought I was at is laid out perfectly. For a minute I stop, I’m pretty sure my table was here but there is no sign of my empty bowl, plate and yogurt pot? Glancing over my shoulder I scan the other tables, in fairness they all look identical, looking back I spot my sunglasses on the table I had been heading to. It is my table; seriously they have cleared and re-laid it already? I’ve only been gone a minute, they are good, real good.
I’ve well and truly polished off breakfast number two, now to figure out what I’m going to do with my time. On the wall next to the doors there is a large chart which runs down all the daily activities as well as the standard one available at all times. Amongst the options, they do varying dance classes, cookery classes in a range of cuisines and most exciting of all, you can learn how to make the towel animals! Awesome!
I think something not overly strenuous, but that might go a little way to reduce the stone I must have put on just since last night; kayaking, sounds fun. According to the instructions, you pick up what you need on the beach front, so stepping through the doors, gracefully held open for me and out into the now roasting sunshine, I don my sunglasses and head round towards the beach.
I had envisaged having to run through a pep talk, or sign my life away in a health and safety waiver, but to the contrary; I was briefly stripped of my sundress (luckily I had thought ahead to have my bikini on underneath) and strapped into a life jacket by a clearly practiced young man, given a paddle and pointed to a row of sea kayaks to take my pick and be on my way.
Huh, I’ve never done this before; gingerly I stick my foot out and poke the closest one person kayak. It moves with little resistance so it must be light. Lifting the end nearest the water, yes it is light, I proceed to drag it two metres across the white sand to the waters edge. Now what? The sea is mostly calm, small waves breaking just off the