Beach vs Pool

Well, there's no contest, is there really?
If you haven't been to the beach for some time, there's something exciting and comforting about stepping onto the warm sand for the first time, the grains slipping between your toes. Then you strip off and edge gingerly into the sea, feel the waves wash over your shoulders and feel in touch with nature.

But all too soon those waves become a little more aggressive, you find yourself submerged, flailing a little bit, out of your depth. This is the sea after all, a great force of nature, beautiful but not to be trusted, people die in the sea...

So you retreat to shaw, the salt drying on your body (and possibly a bit of effluent), the sand now glueing itself to your feet and legs. You lie out on a sarong, trying to scrape off as much of the abrasive sand as possible, the sun cream making it impossible to remove. But you know in the back of your mind the wind from the waves is deceiving you, you feel cool but you're burning, really burning. So retreat into the shade, greasy, salty, dirty.

Now it's time to leave, scurry up to the beach shower and clean off. But someone has built the shower too far into the beach so that you get sandy all over again on your way up to hard ground, the sound grinding between your toes, your Havaianas gritty and painful.

You can see where I'm going with this, I've no love for the beach. And I've a healthy fear of the sea - its a dangerous place. The sea is nice once in a while but I've no yearning to live by the sea.

Now the pool is a whole different kettle of fish. Not every hotel we've been has had a pool and we've always been disappointed when it hasn't. But those that did have been great. The children love it, they can practice their swimming and play fun games but you don't have the wind from the sea to fool you into believing you're not burning. And there's the lovely chlorine of course - killing off all the germs, keeping your skin salt and effluent free. Best of all, there's no sand! It's clean, sanitised, you can lie in the sun or sit in the shade. And when you're done, shower off and get on with your day. What's not to like?

I think I've presented a conclusive case here but feel free to interject with your comments. But if you disagree with my point of view, you'll be wrong, that's all I'm saying.