Friday, 22 March 2013

Lanzarote - day 2

This morning we raised quite early, around 7, and we took a walk along the beach as the town was waking up. I like walking early in the morning, there's a good feeling to it. The cherry on the cake was seeing two girls INSIDE a gym, running on the platform, when they could have done it outside in the fresh air, along the seafront - really ridiculous!
We then had breakfast at Tentation, a bakery that also sells hot drinks and juices. In our 'package' we also have breakfast (and dinner) included. The choice of food was very good, we can try something different every day.
We then set out and went to the village of Ye with the car. We have two guides with us, one who speaks Italian and the other Spanish and English, so I could finally practice some of my Spanish un poco ;) From Ye we started our walk along the volcano La Corona in the N of the island, and we reached the top quite easily. There's no volcanic activity anymore in Lanzarote, and all the calderas are closed at the bottom. Along the way we saw quite a few endemic plants and we stopped here and there to hear some geological explanations. The landscape is really peculiar, all very interesting, rather unusual for our Alpine standards. We then walked along the mountain, to the local water reservoir, and further on to the Northern cliffs - something really spectacular, basaltic cliffs dropping down some 200m to the ocean. The walk was very pleasant and not hard at all. Plus, the weather too has been great!
Back to the car we stopped for a fruit smoothie, then we went to la Cueva de los Verdes, a spectacular tunnel made by the descending lava. This can be visited because part of it collapsed revealing an entrance. It's very likely that there are hundreds of similar tunnels throughout the island. After returning home we had another refreshing dip into the swimming pool, then we went back to yesterdays' restaurant for dinner, but tonight we had a 'proper' meal of starters (complimentary), soup, stew with potatoes and dessert. The potatoes here are as We met with the Geo group at the Orio airport (BG). The flight -4 hrs- was quite uneventful and on Lanzarote we base at Celeste Apartments, in Costa Teguise. Very cozy, extremely nice setting, I'd surely recommend it. It's a one bedroom flatlet with a small patio, kitchen area and bathroom in a apartment complex. THere's also a swimming pool in the complex, although we're told that the sea's warmer...
We had a welcome aperitif and a dinner where we savoured various local specialities washed down with local white wine.
The group seems quite well mixed, a little old on the average, but ok.
Firs impression of the island: good! Fair weather and wind are my thing. On the way from the airport we encountered a few concrete skeletons of half constructed houses, then abandoned. There's quite a few British people by the look of it, and by the amount of pubs and "all day breakfast" places. There's even a chippy :)
The place is overall very nice, with shops and restaurants, pubs and beaches. Our bungalow is quite close to the sea. I think maƱana we'll be going to the beach before breakfast and tonight we tested the pool. as the scenery. A great first day of trails :)

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