After a near disaster visit to Fuerteventura, the next stop on my cruise holiday was Lanzarote. The two islands are very close, less than 20km tip to tip, I reckon a strong swimmer could swim across.
We docked by the marina at Arrecife, the capital city on the island. The marina was one of those new buildings with shops and restaurant, probably hoping to create a vibrant new area away from the old part of city. In reality, many of the units were vacant， and the few that were occupied looked so desolute. There were a few market stalls en route selling handbags, not the type the yatch owners would buy. I thought it made the place look a tad trashy probably not the image the building management had in mind for cruise tourists to see upon their arrival to the island. That said, if you look past the market stalls, the view of yachts docked here, with our cruise liner in the background was a pretty view.
We walked from the marina into town. That probably took no more than 10 - 15 minutes. But if you didn't feel like walking, you can catch a shuttle bus which cost Euro 4 (!!!!) for the 3 minute ride. I think that is a massive rip off especially since the route is wheelchair friendly. That said, the shuttle buses were full. Maybe it's me being stingy...
Anwyay, back to Lanzarote. I found Lanzarote definitely a lot nicer than our previous stop at Fuerteventura. The walk along the seafront was very pleasant - palm trees, clean promenade, clear sky, crystal jade colour sea and pretty white wash buildings dotted around the city.
I followed some people into town walking around some sort of lake that had a lot of little boats bobbling inside. The whole place was still pretty quiet, being a Sunday morning. I walked from one side round to the other and realised it wasn't actually a lake. More like another marina with access to the sea.
Iglesia de San Ginés
One of the popular locations in the city is the Iglesia de San Ginés, or the Church of Saint Genesius in English. It was first built in the 16th century and today is the main focal point of the annual fiesta held on the island in August every year. I did a quick wizz inside the church. It was quite different from the British churches I normally go to (to visit not pray). The white wash exterior could be seen inside and it was a sharp contrast to the dark volcano stone that supported the arches. The ceiling was constructed of dark wood and I felt it gave the church a more homely feel rather than place of worship.
Castillo de San Gabriel
My final stop in Lanzorote during my short stop was the Castillo de San Gabriel. I'm actually really happy that I found this little gem, as I was already quite content with Lanzorote (it doesn't take much to make me happy). I was actually intrigued with the sign first. It took me a while to stand at the correct spot to figure out what it said. Then I saw the pair of impressive pillars behind it. I didn't know at that time, they are the entrance for the draw bridge to the island, for which the castle is located. If you look closely, there's a ball on top of each of the pillars, they are cannon balls.
It's just a short walk to the island, and there are two paths to it. There's one you see in the image below, I went this way over to the island. And the other one with the draw bridge, which is on the left. I came back via this route.
And here's the castle, it doesn't look very big from the outside, but it is a bit bigger than it looks. The castle was originally a wooden fortress, built in 1573 to defend Arrecife from pirates and attacks from North Africa, unfortunately it was destroyed by fire a few years later by the pirate – Morato Arráez. Source
Entry to the museum is free but we had to wait a little while so it didn't too crowded inside. Once it, we were directed up to the rooftop first. There was a very nice view looking back to the city. And to give you an idea of the size of the castle, this is probably around half of the rooftop.
One thing I found a bit odd, was the positioning of the cannon. Why does it point towards the city and not out to the sea where invaders would be coming? Can't work that one out.....
Next we went back down into the castle. There were a series of rooms and they looked like they were filled with interesting information about the history of the castle, and the city. I say looked like, as unfortunately a lot of the exhibits were in Spanish only, no English. Anyway, it was interesting to see the interior of the castle.
The whole place was pretty compact and we only spent about twenty minutes here. We left via the other path going over the draw bridge.
The pillars looks a little gloomy here, partly because it was starting to get cloudy, and partly due to the colour of the stone work. However, you can get an idea of the size of height of the pillars. Pretty impressive for a 500 year old structure.
Another tick off the list for my travels. Next stop is back to UK but not in UK - Gibraltar. See you soon.
