Lanzarote, part five - the Mirador del Rio

PART FIVE

The Mirador del Rio. Here it is – heralded by Manrique’s own-design sign.

You can JUST see a wall and window, it’s THAT understated!

Monte Corona, and the road up to the Mirador.

At this point, I would probably show you what the Mirador looks like on the approach, but of course, with it being Cesar Manrique’s first big project, it is invisible until you go inside.

And inside has the WOW! factor in BUCKETS!!

Manrique was REALLY beginning to grow on me, and we hadn’t seen even HALF his stuff we were going to yet.

This place blew us away 

(but unfortunately, it served the second worst coffee I’ve EVER had).

Here I am, feeling disgusted at the coffee, but LOVING the surroundings.

Note the Manrique mobiles hanging from the ceiling.

Another of Manriques works – I am beginning to think this man never SLEPT! He just did SO much in his tragically curtailed life.

If he wasn’t painting, sculpting, or designing, he was campaigning for a better Lanzarote.

Those trade mark windows. He loved huge, panoramic windows and the light they let in. The white theme was accentuated further by this flood of light.

(I wouldn’t like the glazing bill though, and don’t even THINK about double glazing!)

This other photographer was trying to make a monkey of me.

But, of course, I can do that on my own!

Now for the best part – the balconies on the Mirador have the most stunning views.

With Isla Graciosa as a backdrop, you couldn't fail.

Inside again, the incredibly simple, but beautiful fireplace.

Another window to die for.

On the second balcony, dappled sunlight plays on the sea looking across to Famara.

Graciosa & Isla de Montana Clara (behind), and Isla Alegranza (behind, right).

Balcony and cafe windows.

Time to go up to the roof.

Sue warms her bum first on the fireplace.

Simple, incredible, awesome, perfect.

What can I say?

I’ve seen some fabulous buildings and interiors, but this one tops my list by a MILE!

Hazy pictures, but this was a one-shot trip.

On a clearer day, it must be breathtaking up here.

Yes, they are roof windows for more of his beloved light to flood in.

 A panorama from the roof.

(Click on the photo for a larger version)

(YET!) Another Manrique sculpture on a traffic island on the way back.
The way it moves in the wind is hypnotic.

Tomorrow, we intended to O.D. on Manrique, and visit the first house he lived in.

He moved to a quieter part of the island later in life, and that house in  was on our list too.

It was now run by an autonomous Manrique foundation.

Lanzarote, part four - Jameos del Agua and Cueva de los Verdes

PART FOUR.


Today, we got the car, so this was when we began to explore the island.

First, a walk to the front, then a bus to the airport, where we picked up the car.

The beach and rocks, partially covered by the tide now.

All the fit people were using the exercise ‘park’. We’d seen one of these last year in Fuerteventura, and thought what a great idea it was.

But, of course, you need the climate to be good – it wouldn’t work in the UK, I don’t think (and it would probably be vandalised).

 very ‘interesting’ cactus we saw.

We boarded the bus to the airport, three euros each, but not all went well! The hotel reception told us where to catch the bus – but it turned out we were at the ONLY ‘stop’ where it DIDN’T stop!!! Anyway, all ended well as we crossed the road to the bus station, and caught the next one (which, to this day, we have no idea why it was there – according to the timetable, there wasn’t one due for another half an hour???).

The reason I’d not hired locally was that I saved about 50 euros doing it this way – a no brainer!

As we passed by roundabouts, we saw the first of many sculptures on them. This one was a sailing dingy. Not sure if it was a Manrique, but a lot of them were.

This one DEFINITELY was a Manrique!

We picked up the car, then set off north. We had a plan, and today we wanted to see the  Jameos del Agua volcanic ‘caves’.

Well, here I am at the entrance.

You can read more about these phenomenon here; http://www.discoverlanzarote.com/jameos_del_agua.asp

This underground lake, Jameo Chico, is home to the blind crabs.

This is what a lot of people come to see, there are THOUSANDS of them in the lagoon.

But a lot come to see Marique’s touch to this amazing place set among the volcanic ‘bubbles’.

It’s like a paradise, hidden below ground level, but open to the sunshine. The trademark white dazzles in the light.

The underground concert hall in a volcanic bubble. 

What an incredible imagination Manrique had, to be able to ‘see’ all this in his head!

Another of his pieces of work hangs above.

There’s also more of his design in the visitor centre. We climbed the steps to explore.

This was my favourite ‘piece’ :-)

As expected, white dominates again on the inside.

 These mirrors were set into the entrance, and gave that ‘eternal reflection’ phenomena.

Next stop – just a two minute drive away, were the ‘caves of Verde’. Actually, the name of the family who owned the caves once!

Now, yet another attraction on the Lanzarote itinerary. You can buy a ticket for between two and six locations, the more you visit, the more you save (or spend). We had four on our ticket.

People agog at the sheer force of nature that must have occurred to create these ‘bubbles’ or lava tunnels.

They are a total of over four MILES long, and were formed when the nearby Monte Corona threw a wobbler about 5,000 years ago.

Sue & I had visited cave systems before, but this was different. With being young, by comparison, they had none of the usual feature like stalagmites/tites etc, but were still impressive, in a different way.

Locals hid in these ‘tubes’ when pirates visited the island long ago. A sad story is that, due to ONE MANS' betrayal, in 1618, hundreds of them were captured and taken into slavery by Algerians.

The system even had it’s own ‘theatre’, with an almost acoustically perfect auditorium, complete with seating (not very comfortable though).

The guide talked us through the forthcoming events. They do a food and music night, which sounded quite good.

Looking up through the roof, through this huge ‘bubble’ hole.

The underground lake. It looks bottomless, but is, in fact, only a couple of inches deep.

Reflections in it are amazing!

Next was the famous Mirador del Rio.

EVERYONE we spoke to who has visited this raved about it, putting it second only to the Timanfaya volcanic national park.

Lanzarote, part three - the lighthouse and Montana Roja.

PART THREE

Saturday – market day in Playa Blanca, so we first went down to browse, then fetched the bikes and set off westwards. You’d be surprised just how much ground you can cover in a day, and on these sort of prom’s, the going is easy (apart from the crowded bits).

Sue took to it like a duck to water, so I just said; “Stop quacking, and get cracking -  pedalling!” ( groan)

A lovely day for it!

 Looking across the stones to Fuerteventura.

Again, not hungry, but VERY tempted by this – the fish was landed, prepped and STRAIGHT into the kitchens.

Now THAT’S fresh!

Come on Sue, keep up.

After a short while, we reached the  Faro de Pechiguera lighthouse. This new lighthouse was built in the 20th century to replace the smaller, old one, which has stood here since 1866.

The new white one dwarfs the old stone one.

The first thing we noticed was the crashing waves. REALLY exciting to see.

The strong breeze was causing the spume to feather off the crest of the waves. The higher the wave, the better the stream.

The noise was amazing. ROARING and booming.

It was like heaven to us!

It was a dream for me to take pictures here.

(I came close to getting a soaking, but not quite).

You can see the waves crashing in, click HERE 

 I always wanted to get this shot.

 Doesn't have to be sand for Sue to relax!
The sound of crashing waves just SENDS her!

The old and the new stand side by side.

 Sue sits and enjoys the show & the great view across the waves to Fuerteventura & Isla Lobos.

We spent the best part of an hour at Faro de Pechiguera before being drawn to the ‘red mountain’, or Montana Roja, which commanded the skyline from here, even more than from Playa Blanca.

We rode the bikes as far as we could before locking them up at the start of the upward path, and following the stones. Stones are fine, but it doesn’t take Hercules to pick them up and turn them around to point the wrong way (which the kids in the UK would have done by now).

The walk was an easy 20 minute climb to the rim of Montana Roja, the path was dry and stony, and in sandals, a bit uncomfortable!

As if we didn’t know!

Halfway up, we looked over to the cafe we passed on the transfer from the airport.

Sitting as it does in the cup of the pass, I remarked then, what a great position it was in.

This photo emphasises that fact.

 Soon, we were on the rim of the crater, looking over to the ferry coming in and across the bay to where we were yesterday, Castillo de las Coloradas.

As a change from rock-balancing, people had done stone hearts on the crater floor.
(Click on the picture to enlarge to see things better)

Sue admires the view in a stiff breeze. We had to be careful here, as the gusts could easily take you by surprise, and were very strong.

You can see how unforgiving the edge of the crater rock is, but the path around it is a lot smoother and navigable.

Looking back from the top marker cross.

(I wonder why, whoever built it, thinks it needs that huge cairn??)

Looking down on the Pechiguera lighthouse.

The ONLY life we saw was this little lizard. I really do wonder what they eat,

and how they eke out a living in this harsh terrain?

Looking back across the bay to the other volcanoes.

We walked right around the rim, before dropping back down to pick up our bikes. Exploring done, it was time to hit the beach.

We went to Playa Flamingo, and did a bit of snorkelling and swimming. We didn’t stay too long though, as there was a cool, evening breeze, especially felt more when you were wet.

We locked the bikes up at the hotel (not having to return them until the morning), and after dinner, went to look at the beach. At night, it was fully lit with spotlights on tall poles.

Just time for a nightcap before bed. Click HERE