Day 103 - Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

 

Date:  April 21

 

Location:  Day 103 – Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

 

Next Port:  Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, April 22

 

Report:  A volcanic constellation 800 miles southwest of Spain and 70 miles off the coast of southern Morocco, the seven Canary Islands lie at about the same latitude as central Florida. While several of the islands are fertile and overgrown with exotic tropical vegetation, Lanzarote (the fourthlargest island) is dry as a bone, with volcanic craters, lava caves and desert sand dunes. Heat from an eruption in 1730 is still rising through vents in the earth.

 

Lanzarote’s desert landscape has been kept beautiful through thoughtful development. It is quite a holiday resort. There are golden beaches, white resort villages, caves and a volcanic national park.

 

Rather than go into downtown Arrecife, we opted to take the ship’s shuttle service to Puerto del Carmen – a resort area along a beautiful beach about 8 miles to the west. We spent a delightful morning – walking from a small boat harbor along a couple of miles of the town’s wide beach and back. We shared a pizza at a small restaurant on a volcanic outcropping.

 

This village is filled with low, white cottages; lots of bars and restaurants; dive shops; and two or three streets of shops. It seems to be a very popular destination for northern Europeans and SCUBA divers. The tourist menus were printed in five languages: Spanish, English, German, Norwegian and Finnish!

 

After taking the shuttle back to the ship, we hired a taxi to run us up the hill to the former home of artist Cesar Manrique. His home is now a museum and foundation. It was an amazing place. On display was a collection of Manrique’s paintings and sculptures as well as his personal collection of art that included works by Picasso and Miro. But the real attraction was the house itself. It was designed by Manrique and built in the late 1960s on lava flows that occurred from 1730-1736. The two-story building was built over five very large natural volcanic bubbles or lava caves. There are large glass windows that look out onto swirling lava formations. The swimming pool is at the bottom of a collapsed lava tube. The basement level living quarters incorporate the five volcanic bubbles and are connected by means of small passageways bored into the lava. Large trees ascend through openings into the upper rooms. Manrique painted portions of the volcanic rock and the floors a brilliant white. The contrast with the black lava is very dramatic. It was a very unique experience.

 

Manrique is considered the founder of modern day Lanzarote. He designed most of the tourist attractions and convinced authorities to require all new buildings be painted white with green or brown trim (white with blue on the coast) to suggest coolness and fertility. He also led the fight against overdevelopment on Lanzarote.

 

Due to high winds, the planned pool deck party was moved inside. Serving tables were set up on Deck 4 of the Atrium and large dining tables were placed on Deck 5, surrounding the Atrium. Diners could also take their plates into Compass Rose. After dinner, there was an evening of entertainment by the singers and dancers in the Horizon Lounge. It was a lot of extra work, but we understand everyone had a good time.

 

We did not attend because we had an alternative invitation for a good time. We, and Arlene and Bruce, were invited to dine “en-suite” with Marji and Dave in their Voyager Suite. Eric, their butler, had moved in and set a beautiful table for six. We had champagne and shrimp for appetizers and then ordered dinner from a special Compass Rose menu. It was a very special evening.

 

Karen and Larry

 

Photos of our cruise are available at the following web site:

 

picasaweb.google.com/larryworldcruise

 

Pictures of our day on Lanzarote have been added.