Lanzarote – normal service has been resumed

Lanzarote is like my comfort blanket. It’s a place I know well and feel safe to be on my own when Steve is riding. We do try to get out here once a year with other holidays thrown in along the way.

This year is different, normally we book things individually, we book the flights when they are cheap and search for apartments separately. This year EasyJet had a sale, book your flight and pick an apartment complex from a given list. We found accommodation in the area we like and pressed ‘book.’ Normally Steve brings his bike out, this time he’s decided this holiday is more about relaxing. He’s going to hire a bike whilst he’s here. Not as much riding but similar cost to flying one out.

We also had a coach transfer included in the price, normally we either get a taxi from the airport or hire a car. No car on this holiday. We’ve been coming to the island for that long now and have seen every nook and cranny worth seeing, whilst I’ve missed days out and seeing how the landscape changes and visiting my favourite beaches, we haven’t really missed the car. We walked the two miles there and two miles back for our favourite lunch and then did it all again for our favourite Indian on another day.

After the first couple of days the sun came out, the winds blew strong, making Steve glad he hadn’t brought his bike as it would’ve been really tough riding. He was able to pick and choose the days he hired a bike.

It’s been all about walking, resting, reading and crocheting. I like to buy my wool out here but without a car it’s not that easy. I could use public transport but if you’re a regular reader you’ll know I’m not a fan. Whilst public transport is very different out here, they have coaches for buses, they still pack them full and because of the one way system it will drive about 6 miles to do a 3 mile journey. So, with that in mind I secreted enough wool for two weeks into one of our cases.

The hard part of the holiday has been deciding who ‘cooks.’ We take it in turns. Cooking over here involves deciding where to eat. One day Steve ‘cooks’ and decides our lunchtime and evening meal eateries, the next day, it’s my turn. There are a plethora of restaurants here and we have our favourites. We also like to chuck a few restaurants into the mix that we haven’t tried before. This time we found one that is now in our top 3 of places to eat, Universo, we tried it years ago but it was nothing special, this time it was heaven on a plate. We also found one that we’d never use again. This was a lunchtime choice, chicken burger and chips for 5€, never again, it was round and pink, almost like a big, piece of spam but with no taste. This restaurant has good reviews for its Chinese offerings in the evenings but after our lunchtime experience we won’t be trying it. Anyway, I have my favourite Chinese restaurant so I’m not missing out. The food has been wonderful as always. Although, looking at the picture I’ve put together below, it looks very brown.

Our complex is new to us. We’ve tried a few now around the island. Whilst this apartment and complex got off to a rocky start with leaky ceilings, no tv and WiFi and uncomfortable beds, they have redeemed themselves on most counts. The tv is still hit and miss and can freeze mid programme, leaving that channel out of bounds but we can live with that. The complex has a cat, previously mentioned in Leaky Lanzarote. Being a cat lover and after bonding with it on the day of the torrential rain, I’ve been feeding it. The cleaner gives it breakfast, I give it tea. In reality it’s probably like the cat in the children’s book, Six Dinner Sid, it’s probably eating everywhere, it certainly doesn’t look malnourished.

She comes to talk to me, she understands me better than most people. As a thank you for being her friend, one evening I hear her calling me, going out I find she’s brought me a present, a live but stunned tiny bird on our steps, she looks at me with big proud eyes telling me she loves me. (Humour me, I like to think that’s what she’s saying). A couple of minutes later the bird has recovered enough to fly above the doors and hide in the pipework. The cat berates me loudly for not appreciating it’s gift more.

Mornings are something to behold here. The Dawn Chorus. Everyone seems to smoke or has smoked in their previous years, now on the invention that is probably worse for their health than nicotine, The Vape. With the rise of the sun around 7am, the smell of smoke and candy floss is swirled around in the wind whilst people sit and cough their guts up on the balconies. It really is an awful sound, something you’d expect only to hear in hospital. The sound and smell is enough to put you off. Young people need to experience this and be told, this will be you in 40+ years.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings for now. I’ve some vitamin D to soak up, all the smokers have gone to spend their days in bars so the air is clear. As with life, my holiday now has more days behind us than ahead of us. My book is calling. Adios Amigos.