December 27-28, 2019: Headed To Haria

“... it's perfectly possible to live without expecting anything of life; in fact, it's the most common way. ”
- Michel Houellebecq, Lanzarote

Every year for our anniversary, my hubs and I take turns planning a trip to a location that is (1) warm and has (2) hiking, (3) snippets of culture and (4) good food. So far, we are batting .1000. This year is "Pirate's Choice" and he chose the islands of Lanzarote and Fuertaventura. There are 7 (inhabited)  islands in the Canary Island chain and these are the only two we haven't visited until now. 

For those unfamiliar, the Canary Islands for the last few hundred years have belonged to Spain but are actually closer to Northern Africa. They had native tribes until wiped out by the Europeans (I sense a trend.) Christopher Columbus and nearly every other sailor of note who depended on the trade winds to go to the New World depended on these islands as  a final provisioning spot before taking to the seas and the unknown. Lanzarote is the nearest island to mainland Africa. The geology of the islands is for the most part volcanic. 

Levain Bakery: This was crowded and there was a constant stream of people coming in to buy bread.

Perhaps we did take a few pastries with us for brekkie?

The island of Lanzarote is particularly dry with a lunar landscape in places and has about 145,000 permanent inhabitants, most of whom live in the capital city of Arrecife which is also where the airport is located.

Cesar Manrique Airport

Note the airport name: Cesar Manrique. You are going to hear a lot about this individual if you know anything at all about Lanzarote. A native son made good, an architect and artist and "savior" of the island who brought culture and thereby a world biosphere and ecological tourism to Lanzarote well ahead of the other islands in the archipelago...but more about him later.

We arrived around 2pm, picked up our rental car and off we went to lunch on our way to Jardin de Cactus (Cactus Garden.)  I have to give a food porn warning here, because there is  so much tasty food and I don't seem to be able to stop myself from taking photos of it.  We read that there was  a wonderful bakery with sandwiches on the island so that was our first stop out of the airport: Levain. The sandwiches were delicious and all the pastries were a work of art.

We went next to the lovely Cactus Garden, a concept dreamed up by Cesar Manrique (who else?) in which he artfully placed 1500 different species of cactus within a volcanic rock garden. There is also a windmill, cafe and a gift shop. 

Windmills are not an uncommon sight in the Canary Island ( or Balaerics) and were used to grind grain from a variety of plants. On the Canaries, the ground grain is called gofio and you may find it as a cereal, dessert or an additive to thicken stews, etc.

I can't pretend to have memorized all remaining 450 species of cacti, but here are some nice ones.

Interposed amongst cacti are volcanic rock  sculptures.

Cactus flower.

This garden was the last of numerous Manrique projects and is contained in an extinct volcanic crater.

Even the bathrooms at the Cactus Garden have a touch of humor, art and class.

Paul commented on "rock placement"

The rocks here remind me of the front of my secondary school, Red Bank High--which also placed "rocks" on the girl's chest. Most girls in my school had very tiny "rocks."

We truly enjoyed this sojourn amongst our prickly plant partners in all their forms ranging in origin from USA to Madagascar!

From here we travelled up a beautiful coastline of blue sea and whitewashed houses and over into the valley of Haria.

The lushest portion of a reasonably barren island, Haria is a valley of "a thousand palms." Although this is an exaggeration, there are a lot of them. The legend says a palm was planted every time a baby was born.

Recognized by locals and tourist alike as "the friendliest city," Haria is a throwback to the relaxed Canarian life of yesteryear. It's a great place to relax and a contrast to the other landscape.

We rented an airbnb from David, a Brit who appears to have married a local and taken an interest in exotic plants of Lanzarote. Not only is the apartment quaint, there is an extensive garden to enjoy...and a hot tub, sauna and plenty of tree frogs.

The alcove boudoir

Tiny but functional and well equipped cocina

Our deck of sorts. 

Once we got settled a bit, we were off to the town square which is the hub-bub of what qualifies for "action" here in Haria. And later on we were off for a crazy good dinner at La Puerta Verde.

I loved these old guys hanging out in the square juxtaposed onto Paul's hat. All three of the men talked at the same time. I am not sure anyone was listening.

Dos cervezas

the pirate enjoys local bootie

The square around 3pm. Siesta time! It got livelier as the day went on.

We would highly recommend the restaurant which is an essay to both local ingredients and wine. You can't go wrong no matter what you order.

The pirate is thrilled with his "arroz negro."

My Pakistani eggplant. Saffron grows locally. You would have to take out a loan to get that much saffron in Tennessee.

The square at night time decked out for Christmas

Canarian tomato salad. The Canaries supply most of the tomatoes in Europe in the winter. 

Fish croquettes. As delicious as they look.

In case you are concerned that all we did today was eat, we did manage to perambulate about 6 miles...but I am still stuffed.

Tomorrow we go in search of the final home and the final resting place of Cesar Manrique, savior of Lanzarote here in Haria. I'll talk more about him then.

"It is difficult to detach Manrique and his oeuvre from Lanzarote’s most iconic highlights, just as it’s hard to pigeonhole this eclectic figure — architect, artist, ecologist — who produced equally unclassifiable architecture, often built without plans or drawings. "

Paul's Ponderings:  Kind of an interesting day, as travel days tend to be.   We spent the night last night in Madrid near the airport at the Neuvo Boston hotel (a nice place) and had a great dinner at a place we dined at many times, Okela.    It was pleasant there but cool at night (mid 30s).   We left and flew down to Arrecife (Lanzarote) and voila it is 70 degrees and pretty warm.  We drove up to the unique and lovely town of Haria, which is pretty small and low key with a lovely square.   The legend has it that the the palms are so numerous due to the fact that every time a child was born a palm tree was planted.    Not exactly true of course, but these palms are not normal.....Lanzarote is a pretty arid place and brown and lava rock like for the most part, but it is pretty stunning nonetheless like most of the Canaries are.   

This will finish our visit to all seven islands by the time we hike here and move on to Fuerteventura.  We didn't do much today but travel, visit the cactus garden, explore Haria, and have a great meal at La Peurta Verede (the green door).    Tomorrow it is off to some more exploring nearby, including the Manrique sites, some of which we had seen on El Hierro when we visited there (he's a prolific guy in this part of the world).