Stop time at The Suites Buena Vista Lanzarote
In the 1960s, Lanzarote was condemned to abandonment. He had no water or any (apparent) wealth to compensate for his upkeep. So, after years living in Madrid and New York, the artist Cesar Manrique returned 1966 to the land of him. He knew that there was something very unique on the island, but also that he was about to fall into oblivion. He settled in it and began to persuade the rulers that the future passed through him. Manrique put the island on the map and turned it into a model of sustainable and attractive territory. The charm, almost 25 years after Manrique's death, is still intact. He resurrected her.
Autumn is the best time of year to visit Lanzarote . Let's cross the ocean and travel there.
Cesar Manrique (1991)
DAY 1: BEACH, RETROARCHITECTURE AND MANRIQUISMS
Every journey must start at the top. If possible, at sea level. We will go, almost bypassing the hotel in our brand new rented car to the Caleta de Famara . The arrival is scenic and sets the tone for what this visit will be like. The road ends in front of the sea and gives clues about the geography of the island. It is always important to know what is the scale of the places where we are . Here we see, from the beginning, that there are hardly any people, trees or urban disasters. What if we have inadvertently traveled to a strange planet? We will walk through the town, today a surfer stronghold but still contained and discreet. The streets are still unpaved and locals remember that until recently it was normal to walk barefoot on them. After a short walk taking many photos of us in the white and blue houses and we will go to eat at sun restaurant . If it weren't for the roughness of the sea, we would think we were in the Cyclades. How strange is Lanzarote: sometimes it seems Mediterranean. We will sit on the terrace to feel that we are eating on the sea. We will order chips with mojo (no potatoes), grouper, trips and local wine. Let's greet the mojo and this grape with respect because they will be our friends these days.
Broken Embraces
After the meal comes the beach. Lanzarote has fabulous beaches with a different personality. the of Famara has six splendid kilometers and we can be almost alone in it . The sea is wild, like the landscape; watch out for the currents. Yes, what you see in the background is La Graciosa, an island that we won't have time to go to. At this point, when we are lying in the sun on the sand, we will remember our family and friends who will probably be in the Peninsula with long sleeves, boots and a much worse color than the one we are already catching.
Once the beach session is over, we will go to the hotel. Before we gossip The Norwegians _(Bungalows Playa Famara. Cascabelillo Street 2) _. This retro bungalow development was built in the 1960s by Norwegians. It appeared in Los Abrazos Rotos, by Almodóvar, a name that will appear in this text several times. His film could have been a failure, but neither his eye to choose Lanzarote nor the music of Alberto Iglesias, who can accompany us around the island to finish off its cinematographic status, was. The History of Cinema is full of examples of films (almost 50) shot in Lanzarote. The locals keep anecdotes: "Rita Hayworth slept here" or "my mother's friends were extras with Raquel Welch...". Its landscape makes it a perfect setting for movies that take place either in the remote past (A Million Years Ago) or in the future (Enemy of Mine). or for serve as a background to a heartbreak.
Famara Beach Bungalows. (2 Jingle Bell Street)
Let's not get serious. Once the real estate voyeurism is over, we go to the hotel still with salt in our hair, that pleasant feeling. To stay we have several options that can be summarized in two: beach or interior . If we choose the first we will stay in The Farions.
No, it's not a boutique hotel and it doesn't have an infinity pool, but aren't we a bit tired of über-stylization? Los Fariones is a hotel that maintains its character as a good beach hotel from the 70s and 80s. It has swimming pools and gardens that will make us feel very good and direct access to the beach that is appreciated and. Important: the hotel closes on November 29 to undergo a comprehensive renovation . Let's take advantage of it before in case they eliminate its flavor.
The Farions
The option to stay in the interior of the island is also excellent; it's more immersive, perhaps. Here they call something that is only 8 km from the sea, and we will too. we choose The Suites Buena Vista Lanzarote , a three-bedroom villa in the Geria area. There is something spooky about being here, with its silent landscape. The structure of the house, by the Berlin-based Lanzarote architect Néstor Pérez Batista, is minimal and the relationship between the exterior and the interior is extreme. The design, very careful, helps. This very photogenic place; actually everything Lanzarote is a playground for Instagram lovers . Another good choice is La Isla y el Mar, a new hotel in Puerto del Carmen that, although it is not on the beach, is very close to it and has an interesting design. We sleep where we sleep, we will succeed.
The Suites Buena Vista Lanzarote: LOVE
Quick shower and we go to dinner. We headed to one of the hot spots of the trip, **Los Jameos del Agua**. This is one of the many works by César Manrique that we will see and that are scattered throughout the island. The artist did not propose his works to be admired, but to be lived, they are interventions with a social or cultural function. Lanzaroteños are proud to maintain the island according to Manrique's parameters: clean, uniform . Lanzarote is a resistant place and those of us who are not from there wonder how, except in very specific areas, they have been able to avoid temptations that others have fallen into.
Silence: we have arrived . It is one of Manrique's key works and helps to understand his proposal for interaction between Art and Nature. Manrique takes advantage of a volcanic tube to build, a saltwater lake and a swimming pool . Around them, local fauna and flora, such as the famous blind crab. This is a very simple summary of what this place is, which is quite fascinating. Los Jameos is a tourist center, one of the most visited places on the island day and night. In this rarity you can eat or simply walk. The bar, the restaurant and the exhibition have such a 70's or comic air that it is impossible not to imagine Wilma Flintstone drinking a mixed drink in them. And now, we go to sleep.
Jameos del Agua Restaurant
DAY 2: TOAST, VOLCANIC WALKS AND CONTEMPORARY CUISINE
Let's do what needs to be done. This is: go to Timanfaya National Park . Volcanoes always exert a special attraction. There are few of them, and their sleepy air makes them almost animate. If there is the possibility of visiting a (dormant) volcano up close, you should take advantage of it. We'll go up to Visitor Center also the work of the ubiquitous Manrique and from there we will start the route . The lava forms a terrain called malpaís; It's too pretty a name not to write it. Legend has it that, in 1972, the Apollo 17 astronauts were shown images of Timanfaya to give them an idea.
After this embarrassment of wild nature we need a wine. We return to the area Geria and we will visit a winery. the of The tap , one of the oldest in Spain, can be a good option. There we will meet the malmsey , the local grape and the same gerias. This is the way to cultivate the vine on the island, an ancestral solution consisting of black stone walls that protect the vine from the wind . We will drink a cold white wine and continue the route.
Timanfaya, the most volcanic Lanzarote
We are going to Yaiza . Parenthesis: these days we will see some curious mobiles on the roads. They are sculptures by Manrique that he called Toys of the Wind. Roundabouts aren't always atrocious: they can be pretty; that is something that is learned in Lanzarote. This town is one of the most cared for on an island where everything is . Yaiza is white, quiet and has curious museums such as the aloe vera one. It usually appears well positioned in the ranking of the most beautiful towns in Spain. Walking there means slowing down, doing everything more slowly. That is also traveling. We will eat in Yaiza, at the ** Bodega de Santiago in Yaiza **, an old mansion. We will try to do it under the ficus . Everything is better under a ficus.
Landscape in Yaiza
On the way to the hotel we will make an important stop. We will visit the Cesar Manrique Foundation . The artist lived here from the time he arrived from New York in 1966 until 1988. This is another example of the union of life-work-environment. The House take advantage of the volcanic bubbles and this gives him a tremendous personality. It is easy to imagine the parties that he organized seeing the circular sofas and the dance floor. The pool, so characteristic of his work, plays an important role: it implies the presence of water in a desert terrain. It has an exhibition room in which part of his private collection is exhibited and also with pieces from his private collection of, among others, Tapies, Miró and Chillida . His ceramics are famous but, in a very discreet corner, there is a delicious pencil drawing that Manrique made of his eternal girlfriend Pepita in a swimsuit . The light from the island and the white walls have a blinding effect. With that idea (and many photos) we will finish the visit. When we return to the island, because we will return, we will visit the next house where the artist lived, in Haría, which has just been opened as a House Museum.
Important doubt after the visit to the Foundation: Rest in the hotel or not rest? That is the question. We will spend the afternoon-night in Arrecife , which is halfway between Essaouira, a Spanish provincial capital, and a Caribbean city. We will walk along Calle Real (here is the Spanish province), Plaza de San Ginés (here the Caribbean) and walk along the edge of the sea passing through the Puente de las Bolas. The latter reminds us that Africa is very close, a hundred miles away. We will visit El Almacén, recently reopened. It is also a work by Manrique, from whom it is impossible (and unnecessary) to flee on the island. This cultural center, opened in 1974 with money from Manrique himself, was very active: movies were seen here in their original version and here the artificer brought his friends artists and intellectuals . Now it has just reopened in the same spirit. After El Almacén we will go to the Puddle of San Gines . This lagoon competes in prominence with the sea. It articulates part of the social life of the city day and night. We will have dinner at Naia de Mikel Otaegui, a good example of contemporary cuisine. And we will take the opportunity to settle everything we have seen. After dinner we will go to sleep and dream of turquoise pools from Manrique.
DAY 3: SALINAS, SALTY FLAVORS AND NOSTALGIES
The day will be calmer. Fiance. And more natural. We will visit the Janubio Salt Flats always curious. We will also go to The Hervideros ; These are some very rugged cliffs hanging over water that is just as rugged (the effect is that of boiling water). It is powerful, like the whole island. Let's go back to Almodovar. The director said that his film was shot by an image of a couple embracing in a lagoon. He wrote it like this: “It is a totally dramatic and essentially emotional landscape, and when developing the photo I saw that there was a tiny couple embracing each other in that immensity, they almost blended in with the black color of the sand. From the first moment I was very intrigued by that photo, and I thought that behind that image there was something that I should discover or narrate”.
This landscape is Pool of Los Clicos , in El Golfo; It is a curious formation of a green water lagoon, they say that by an algae, facing the sea. The clash of the blue of the sea, the green and the black sand is impressive. Pedro, we understand that you will stay hooked on this image. After this route between fiction and reality, the countdown begins to return home; not to our town of la Geria, but to house-house. that in the that there are no volcanoes or beaches or sea.
We will eat in front of the sea, to say goodbye to him . If there is time (if not, we look for it) we will take a last bath. We will follow the movements of the locals. If they eat at Tide ”, in Playa Honda, so do we. The food is fresh, delicious and the place is very close to the airport where we will go with great sadness.
We have missed a good walk through Teguise , another of the jewel towns, the visit to Home Jose Saramago and many beach sessions. Life is choice; travel, too. Lanzarote is a charismatic, elusive and photogenic island. If she were a woman she would be a cross between Greta Garbo and Penelope. If he were a place, he could only be himself.
That's how beautiful Teguise is.