Lost in translation.

Why is Arrecife the capital of Lanzarote? We don't know. It's something about pirates. We were down in caves that saved the locals from pirates, now this. Who knew pirates were such pests? The weird thing is, Teguise used to be the capital, it's in the centre of the island, they moved it to Arrecife which is on the coast. Wouldn't that be easier for the pirates?
Anyway, Arrecife was our destination on Thursday. We dropped by Andy Brot"s place, our bakery of choice, and dropped a few Euros on bread, tea cakes and cherry and apple cakes. Off from there to Costa Teguise through the rain. We strolled along the front and enjoyed the sights and sounds before driving along to Arrecife where we were really lucky to find a parking spot. The front there was lovely. I tried to use a canon to level a high rise that I'm sure would have offended my friend Cesar. We strolled, did a little shopping and had goat for lunch. More or less like beef.

From one end to the other.

Yesterday we decided that if we were going to see the other end of this island we had better get moving, so we started early and made the long, 57 KM! drive to the northern tip of Lanzarote. We drove some wonderful highways that were breathtaking and scary. The north end of the island is much greener than down here in the lava strewn south. The first stop was on a lookout point that dropped away hundreds of metres to the sea. As we looked down we saw 2 car wrecks that they had just left there after, one assumes they had just gone over. From there it was a series of hairpin turns down into a quaint village called Haria. It was sleepy and sun bathed. We strolled around, looked at some local artists' work and had coffee and desserts in a little plaza. This is also called, "The Valley of the Palms". It seems that they plant a palm tree when a baby girl is born, and, wait for it Mutti, two palms when a baby boy is born. Yahoo for our side!
From there we went on to the northern tip of the island and looked down on a beautiful azure sea and a small island with golden beaches. We could have taken a ferry to it but decided against it. Instead we went to the Green Caves. They were great fun and had a fabulous optical illusion where you thought that you were looking down into a large lower chamber when in fact you were looking into a pool of water about 4 inches deep. The caves were part of a 6 km lava tunnel from the crator to the sea. There were no stalagtites or mites or any sort of ites.
Next we had a look at a second cave system that had albino crabs in it. This is the only place on earth that these small blind creatures exist. Cesar had also designed an underground concert hall and a swimming pool that only the King of Spain is able to use. After a delicious paella dinner, it was straight over Stuttgart, as the Grahams say to our place.

Cesar, Cesar, he's the man.

Cesar Manrique is everywhere. Cesar was born here in 1919. By the age of 20 he was a working artist. He worked in Paris and New York before returning to stay in 1966. He was determined that Lanzarote should not become an ugly tourist spot but rather stay true to its rural cultural roots. He seems to have ruled with an iron hand. Everywhere we go he has designed the site. Because of him, 90% of the island houses are white washed with green trim. There is only one highrise building to be seen. He died in a car accident in 1992. Yesterday we went to his house and the house that Omar Sharif lost in a bridge game. I always thought that bridge was a safe game. If Randy Nauta reads this, don't get any ideas. It seems that Omar had Cesar design this great house, built into the lava of the island and then went and put it on the table in a bridge game and went home houseless. Or rather he didn't go home, he went somewhere else I guess. It is now a museum. We haven't seen it as we went on a Monday and Lanzarote is just about shut down on Mondays.
As I said, we went to see Cesar's house which is now the Cesar Manrique Foundation. It is beautiful. It is built underground in the bubbles that formed in the hot lava back in the 1700's. Each bubble is a room. Cesar joined several of the bubbles together with tunnels. It's very cool. He even had a swimming pool in one.
Today we went up to take a bus tour of the National Park. This end of the island had this huge volcanic event in the 1700's and the tour goes up among the crators. Sheelagh declared it one of the tourist highlites of her life. In the restaurant, designed by you know who, they use the heat from underground to cook chicken and steaks etc. The pictures are the best we could do with our little cannon 720.

In the last blog we briefly mentioned the Church of St Dolores but we were pushed for time and didn't tell the story behind the Hermitage de Los Dolores. As it is Sunday, this will be the little sermonette for the day. In 1735, the village of Mancha Blanca was being seriously threatened by the lava flow. Why there were still people on the island after 5 continuous years of eruptions, I don't know. Anyway, the people of the village, led by the priest marched toward the lava holding a picture of St Dolores and a cross. When they reached the lava flow, the cross was thrust in the ground in front of it and the lava stopped and the village was saved. The people had promised to build a Hermitage if St Dolores answered their prayer but (and here comes the lesson) as soon as the prayer was answered, they forgot all about their promise. In 1777, St Dolores appeared to a young girl in the village and told her to remind the adults of the village of their promise. The Hermitage was completed in 1782 and has been the major pilgrimage spot ever since. So often we forget how very good the Lord is to us.
Yesterday we were the farthest north that we have ventured so far. In an old quarry, Cesar Manrique designed and built a cactus garden. As we drove north the island had much more topsoil, and as a result it was much greener. As we approached the garden the fields were covered with a cactus that is grown for its bugs. The cactus attracts an insect that is called, cochineal beetle. It is collected and crushed and used to make the red coloured dye which coloured the British military coats.
The garden was a wonderfully peaceful place with over 1400 species of cactus. No plastic anywhere, all stone, wood and glass. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
Today we spent the day at a town that on Sundays is competely taken over by a street market. We strolled and got some gifts for people and had an excellent tapas lunch. After a leisurely drive back along the coast we enjoyed a quiet afternoon.
PS Sheelagh has been collecting bathroom signs, here are her favorites.

On the road again,

Greetings from sunny Lanzarote. The last few days have been spectacular. The beauty has been somewhat tempered by the fact that Sheelagh has been battling pneumonia again. We finally gave up yesterday and went to a clinic and the 12 year old looking doctor took some blood and this morning announced that the pills are necessary. At least we feel that the situation is in hand now.
We rented a car today and set off up the island to a place called La Santa, no it wasn't a Christmas town, it is beautiful and the sea put on quite a show as the breakers crashed on the rocks. We walked along the shore and paddled in the tidal pools. Then we stopped for a great lunch in a place looking over the beach. The town had bags of character and hardly any tourists. W
We wended our way across the island, stopping at the Church of St Delores, the centre of Cezar Manrique and other tiny places. Finally as the sun started to go down we stopped in Femes in a wonderful restaurant overlooking the valley down to the sea at Playa Blanca. What a wonderful day.

Who has seen the wind?

For the last three days the hills have retreated behind a shawl of fine sand which has billowed across the Atlantic from the Sahara in North Africa. It has come about 80 Km to cover us in a fine film. The calima is said to preceed warm weather and so far it has been as good as its reputation. We felt very English Patientish speaking of fine films.
We have also come into contact with a couple from Northern Ireland who are keen on Geneology. The husband, Franklin, has been able to find several documents about my Mum's family. It was very exciting for me to see my Grandfather's signature. We learned my Grandparent's age and address. This suggests a visit to Balleymoney. Von, if you read this, I can send you the web sites if you would like.
Today we had a lovely walk into the village along the cliff edge.

The Days of Wine and Flowers

Before we turned the car in on Sat, we drove the bodega route. It goes through the middle part of the island. The way they grow grapes here is unique and has been designated a World Heritage something or other. They dig a pit about 3 ft deep in the black volcanic gravel, plant the vine - I read somewhere that they graft the vine onto the root of a cactus plant but the language barrier has stopped us from asking about it - and build a semi circular wall from volcanic rock to protect the vine from the wind. The black gravel radiates back the heat from the day during the night and holds what moisture there is. It is very labour intensive as each vine is in it's own little pit.
We met an older gentleman, Pepe, who was hoeing his few vines and he tried to give us a lesson in drinking the local vintage but we were sad disappointments to him. We don't like wine, Kathy was still not feeling 100% and Jim felt the challange too great for one person, so we beat a rather shamefaced retreat. We hoped that he wasn't too insulted.
We ended up in Teguise, the oldest town on the island. A lovely spot that we will be returning to. We 're including some pictures of what does grow here with a little encouragement