Pearly Grey Blog

Hi folks, just a quick update on what’s been going on down here at the best Resort on the planet bar none!!
Well firstly, we have the builders going hell for leather on our upper deck; they are retiling from the Jacuzzi to the royal box and are well ahead of schedule, it is going to look fabulous when it’s all finished!!
Last Tuesday we had our staff Christmas party!! A little early I hear you cry!! But with all the wine flowing we soon got into the festive spirit! We all met up at PG at seven thirty to board the coach, which whizzed us of to the “Chez Regine” restaurant in Torviscas, Las Americas!! We disembarked to be met by some really friendly staff and a FREE BAR!!!!!! You would have thought the staff had run there, as everybody seemed very thirsty all of a sudden! Jeff the rep, who we all nicknamed Javier (the photographer who takes the picks at the BBQ), was already set up and taking everybody’s photos! All the maids, maintenance, admin, reception and restaurant staff looked amazing and the reps scrubbed up pretty well too!
The evening meal, of three delicious courses, was soon being served; for starters we had the choice of goat’s cheese pastry, paté or Serrano ham with melon; I opted for the Serrano ham with melon accompanied by lashings of red wine! For my main meal I had chosen the comfit of duck with marnier sauce, in preference to the steak or the salmon! Accompanied once again with lashings of local red wine.. And last but not least, for dessert I chose the Vodka sorbet over the profiteroles or apple tart!!!
After the food was cleared away, the party began with the ever faithful Karaoke! First up was our newest recruit to the sales team “the king of swing” Kevin Burdis who absolutely had everybody in stitches with Robbie Williams “Feel” - he totally murdered it!! Wow, I was crying with laughter!!
Next up came a stream of singers consisting of the maids, reception, maintenance and our “Queen of Soul” Linda Valle from the sales team, who brought the house down with a rendition of “When you tell me that you love me” by Diane Ross!! And then, just to show how it should be done Lazlo and Dominic sang a Bon Jovi number and I must admit they were incredible!
So after all that merriment the disco got underway and we danced the night away to salsa, jazz and even Chaz n Dave!! Not forgetting the now legendary “Ooops up side your head”!!
A great night was had by all, until reluctantly we boarded the coach back to Pearly Grey and discovered our very own stand up comedian in William from Reception, who entertained us on the coach’s microphone all the way back, in Spanish and English, with his dry wit that had us all once again in stitches!!
So that’s all for now folks, I hope to see you all very soon out here in the beautiful warm sunshine of Tenerife! Have a fantastic Christmas and a prosperous new year!!!
Cheers
Dougie

A fantastic day at Loro Park..

Hi folks, sorry it’s been so long in updating the dairy but with all this golf….!! Only kidding, I have been very busy at work, no excuse I hear you cry, he’s just like Murray!!  At the weekend we celebrated Ana-Maria’s birthday, so what better thing to do than visit the award winning Loro Parc zoo? The parc was opened in 1972 by a German guy called Wolfgang Kiessling, but it has come a long way since its humble beginnings, they now have over 21,000 animals with a total of 570 species!! We decided to go on the “Discovery Tour” which takes you behind the scenes: first of all it takes in the Aquarium, were you get to see first hand all the water filtration systems in action where Mr Kiessling only uses green technologies to filter all the million liters of water. Next, we visited the gorilla enclosure where we even visited their bed rooms!! With all the creature comforts you could ask for, 5 star food, running pure water and the most comfy beds imaginable, it was so fascinating hearing about all the human-like habits these beautiful cousins of ours have! Next up we went behind the scenes of the all new orca (whale) enclosure which was our favorite! This was absolutely fascinating, we went down to the staff quarters about 8m down from the viewing area and we were welcomed by an amazing site! A massive, beautiful orca had swum right up to the viewing window and was checking us out for about thirty seconds; she was absolutely one of the most amazing sights I have ever witnessed! I was speechless (first time for everything)!! All the animals at Loro Parc are so immaculately pampered and the love they receive is amazing!! The behind the tour finished and then we were free to explore the rest of the parc, so first things first, I needed a pint of the good ‘ole golden throat charmer as it was a scorching 85 degrees!! So 2.2 seconds later we were off to the dolphin show to check out all the unbelievable tricks these beautiful mammals get up to, back flips, front flips, 4 meter high jumps, truly jaw dropping stuff!  Next up we were at the orca show; these have to seen to be believed they are huge!! Word of warning though, do not sit in the first four rows as you will get completely soaked! Another jaw dropping show. Last but not least we arrived at the sea lion show, and what a great show they put on, they really seemed to enjoy throwing the football around amongst themselves while jumping through hoops! Loro Parc goes to great lengths to look after these animals in their natural habitats as much as possible and there was not an unhappy animal in sight, they have numerous breeding and rare breeding programs going on continuously, to reintroduce endangered species back into their natural environment, especially the parrots of South America which are on the critically endangered list. All I can say is, we humans have totally messed up our dying planet big style! After all this excitement we went into Puerto de la Cruz for some much needed refreshment. We headed for the plaza (town square) and into the Columbus plaza restaurant; another pint of the local brew was followed by some great food at more than affordable prices. This restaurant specializes in its home made Italian ice creams, where locals queue around the block to sample all those tasty treats!! What ever you do get some After Eight choccy ice cream, wow!  So that’s all for now folks, next time you are over here, ask reception about the trips to Loro Parc, its well worth the effort! On the PG front, the bottom sun deck is looking amazing, the stone we have used is beautiful and really sets it off, so come out and see for yourselves all the upgrades that are now happening around the Resort!! 

So for now folks, take care and drop us a reply, speak to you again soon.  Dougie   

Fiesta night……

Last Tuesday Ana-Maria and I were lucky enough to catch the crescendo of the week long fiestas that engulfed the village of Alcala (20 min.s drive towards Los Gigantes.)

The purpose of the fiesta is to honor their patron saint “Our lady of Candelaria”, who, incidentally is also the Saint of the Canary Islands.

Although primarily a religious fiesta, the emphasis is very much an eating, drinking and dancing, all night long affair (two out of three of which I am very good at!)  Live bands mix a combination of Salsa and Latino rhythm which has the whole town partying in the village square.

The grand finale of the fiesta takes place on 15^th August; this is when thousands of people converge on the harbour of Alcalà to witness their world famous fire work display. This boasts over thirty minutes of every conceivable color and shape illuminating the night sky, this year they even re created lava erupting from the rocks out to sea – amazing!!

After the display we headed back to the main square to sample the live music.

No visit to Alcalà Fiesta would be complete without sampling a hot dog from the “Perros Calientes” stall, where you can witness the fastest hot dog maker in the west! Really, he must make about 12 hot dogs a minute all night long!! Funny, it reminded me of the fish filleters in Hull. Ha ha…

Eventually with Salsa music still ringing in our ears we headed for home. The Canarian locals, ever party lovers, were still converging in the square and would remain to see the fiesta through until morning. 

Next time you are over make sure you check this out; it’s truly a fantastic night for all the family.

That’s all for now folks, as it’s time for the champagne farewell.  Its still 30 degrees day and night over here on our little Volcano in the Atlantic.

Come and see us all soon

Cheers

Dougie

Hi Guys, Just a few words to let you know how excited I am by my new role, all I can say is… “More golf!!” Ha!Ha!.  No, seriously, I am honoured to be part of the Management team and the fantastic future at Pearly Grey! I truly believe that PG has a very unique vibe and I want very much to build on our previous successes.

Pearly Grey is very special to me, as my sister Jocelyn and my brother-in-law Murray have been a huge influence on me over the past 17 years, so it is extra special for me to be given this opportunity to carry on the family link. However, people do move on in life and they will both be sadly missed. But, as one door shuts, another one opens, and it’s going to be a fantastic, bright future down here at good ‘ole Pearly Grey, with all the wonderful upgrading work going on and our fantastic Sales Team that goes from strength to strength on a weekly basis.

The fantastic Dom is at the top of his game, with his unique wit and fresh ideas, not forgetting his incredible singing voice and Tracey is Tracey, a workaholic- somebody nominate her for an O.B.E. for her boundless energy!! On the rep front, we have some great new recruits lined up for the future, so watch out for more news of that. All the administration staff, receptionists, restaurant staff, maids and the maintenance team are all right behind us, so as you can see we have a hugely exciting future in front of us. Justine and I are very enthusiastic about our new roles, so next time you are out here, come and grab a drink with us and share a toast to a fantastic new era, down here at good ‘ole Pearly Grey!! Dougie. P.S. From being a brickie foreman in charge of 20-odd brickies, to managing the PG Sales Team and looking after the reps, all of a sudden being a brickie foreman seems like a walk in the park! Ha!Ha! 

 

Hi Guys, and welcome to the all new “Dougie’s Diary”!!

I have set up this regular new feature to share with you all the latest happenings at Pearly Grey, and also to let you know about all the exciting things there are to see and do and places to go on this stunning Island, so that on your next visit to Pearly Grey hopefully I can make your trip that extra bit special!!

Ana-Maria and I recently spent an amazing night down in the Safari area of Las Americas. We started the proceedings in the infamous “Harry’s Bar” where we ordered a couple of cocktails: Ana-Maria went for a “Cosmopolitan” whilst I knocked back a “Lover Man”, much to her amusement…….I don’t know why!!Then we popped next door to the all new “Maria Bonita” Restaurant, where we received an enthusiastic welcome- probably because we were the only patrons!!

Not allowing ourselves to be put off by the lack of fellow diners, we took our seats and checked out the amazing décor, with the glass bodegas (wine cellars) built into the walls, it was all very trendy but also very reasonably priced. (Note: Remember that I am a Yorkshireman!!)

We had one starter to share (a Yorkshire tradition!!) which was a crumbly Thai fish cake with a tangy lime and dill dressing- delicious!! Then, for her main course, Ana-Maria ordered salmon with scallops, which was accompanied by a champagne and palma honey sauce, served with wild rice…(Whatever happened to egg and chips??)

I kept it simple with spaghetti hoops on toast!! Ha Ha!! No. seriously, I had an amazing, rare fillet steak: “solomillo poco hecho” with a brandy, mushroom and cream sauce- Wow!! After that, we were too full for a dessert (another Yorkshire tradition, Ha Ha !!)

Next, we moved across the road to the “Pirámides De Arona” where they are showing “Romeo In Love”, by the world famous choreographer Carmen Mota - Wow, what an incredibly moving experience this was, with all the Andalusian singing, the dancing and the fantastic costumes. All I can say is, catch this show next time you are over here…. Check it out at: http://www.romeoinlove.com/the-musical/index.html