Benidorm 2000

If it could happen, it would to us! Eleven of us set out on a two week holiday to the sunny coast of Spain.

Only four of us would come back alive.

That was a joke of course, but everything else you read in this tragic story of eleven victims of alcohol abuse is true. Read on if you dare....

The Departure

Travelling arrangements were fairly lose but 3 cars and a office supplies van later and we were at Birmingham airport ready to go. Having a pint at the airport seemed necessary and so the holiday had kicked off in style!

Chris managed to rig it so that I was sitting in-between him and Alex. Chris is a chore and so the flight was a little bit of a nightmare, especially when it came to the on-board meal where I received several elbows to the face from Chris and his un-tactful eating styles. Alex managed to put me off my food after mentioning what some of it reminded him of, so I was still hungry when we arrived, however, the little food I did eat that journey would prove to be the most healthy for the next two weeks. Everybody else seemed to be okay with the journey.

The Arrival

Whoa!!! Its hot! It was exciting to arrive at Alicante, the nearest major airport to Benidorm. After passing the Spanish passport controls with no effort at all we were on to coach. This journey was to take around 2 hours, it was very hot and sticky especially as most of us were wearing trousers. However I was sitting next to Ian C and his amusing 'I am going to pull every night' arrogant comments made it a little bit more fun.

We arrived at the hotel (aparthotel amalia) which turned out to be really cool. It was smaller than the rest of hotels and looked like home. We had three rooms and I was sharing with Ian D, Kieran and Ian C. We rushed unpacked and then began the warm up for our first night out!! Paul had been to Benidorm once before and so knew where to go.

The First Night

The first place we went was a bar called Sinatra's. It was really cool environment. We started off with jugs of Sangria, not sure if that's how you spell it, as this was the first night of drinking I felt a little drunk after this drink but that was okey I was enjoying myself.

Alcohol sets in a few drinks later, and doesn't stop for the rest of the holiday.

The rest of the holiday is a blur and becomes impossible to track events with very much detail, however, here are some of the highlights of the holiday.

The Beach

Although very busy the beach was excellent. The sea was quite clean and the sun was very, very hot. We all got a brilliant tan, except Ian C who got negative tan (PC).

Kieran on the Beach

The Bars/Pubs/Clubs

These were all great, I don't think there was one place we didn't like, some of us weren't keen on Karaoke so we avoided that at all costs. Although I do remember myself singing to a Oasis song one night. I met so many Northern people out that it was difficult to think that it wasn't a very hot night in Blackpool.

Gary and Alex in 'Beachcomber'

There was definitely on more than one occasion where some of us made fools out of ourselves by dancing on the blocks, what you do after a few drinks!

On one night we all went to a proper club slightly out of town called 'Ku'. Judge Jules was DJing there for a bit, with the group split down the middle about their impressions of JJ we eventually got everyone to go. It was a really good night, swimming in the pool at the club, in only our pants was a little surreal but made the night that much better.

Benidorm People

Louise handed out flyers outside Hippodrome. She was really cool and Alex, Kieran and myself became good friends with her. We offered to pay for her to go out with us for the night, we even said we would cover whatever money she was making handing out flyers but she never did !

Chris, Kieran, Alex and Gary with Louise

In the above picture you can see Lennon's, another cool bar where we had some great times.

We also met this cool geezer who sold shades, watches and necklaces outside the bars, his name was Monno, we think. I bargained down a Calvin Klien fake from 2000 to 1100 which took 3 days but I got it eventually. I also bought some fake shades aswell but Kieran managed to lose these in the sea for me. Alex bought a cool watch off him on the last night. Both our watches are still ticking so we're happy!

Subway

Every lunch time I tried to make myself eat something half healthy. Being so close to the beach Subway was the best place to eat.

Chris and Gary eating in Subway

This photo was taken because the girls sitting behind us were superfit apparently.

Medieval Night

Not all of us went on this as it had a hefty price tag but it was a fun night out although for me, a little barbaric at times. The Sangria, Lager and err Orangeade was constantly flowing and so we drank as much as this as possible.

Gary, John, Ian, Nick, Mark on Medieval Night

We went with the Thompson Freestylers reps on this tour and the bus journey back from this was a great laugh!! This was the night that when we returned from the bars afterwards we found Ian D lying in my bed covered in his own bio-hazardous sick. Kieran and myself (Ian C only stayed a week) slept on the floor of someone else's room as we didn't want to be in the same flat as Ian D that night!

Water Park

Going to the water park was the best way to sober up after a night out. Some of the slides such as the 'Kamikaze' were great fun, some were more demanding and a slightly more competitive edge was involved. Such as the water rapids, were Alex and myself were taking it 'extreme'. Points were scored for how many people you could knock down the rapids. It was great because you could push people twice the size of you down one of the rapids without having to worry about them being able to come back up and beat you up. You only had to worry about being pushed down with them! The water park was cool, one of the best days out we had.

Kieran, Alex, John, Nick, Gary, Ian, Chris, Paul and Rob at the Water Park

Paul met some girls from Luton and they were lucky enough to be invited out to the water park with us.

Hannah, Katie, ?, ? at the Water Park

Mr James

One day on the holiday Kieran and Ian D found a packet of socks. The label read Mr James and it had a picture of a well dressed man standing next to a fire place with a glass of sherry in his hand. Our disgraceful behaviour on Holiday required us to have a role model, so that, in times of trouble we would know who to turn to. Rob obviously didn't take any notice of this as he acquired three Spanish workmen helmets and drove a digger around a building site in the small hours of the morning. We found a small bar in the sea where Mr. James would probably go and we did a small photo shoot there. Two of those photos are below, the rest of them are currently being wiped up by fashion designers around the world.

Alex and Chris with 'The Pose'

Gary with 'Cheeky Pose'

The Group

Overall the holiday was really good. We all got on well with each other and had a really good time. Roll on Ayia Napa 2001....

Chris, Kieran, Alex, Rob and Gary in Sinatra's