Sabado (Saturday) 17 de Abril
Costa Teguise to Puerto del Carmen
16.5 miles/26.4 km
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This was a day of riding. We just had to get back down to Puerto del Carmen and we had all day to do it. So, we stopped at a couple of castles in Arrecife, also enjoyed some drummers in a parade there, and had a wonderful lunch in Playa Honda where I (Derek) had some great tuna and we shared some queso frito (i.e. fried goat's cheese drizzled with honey and rosemary--sounds weird, but it was awesome).
Our route, shown above in red, was the same as our first day, except for the last bit, shown in turquoise. The location of the two castles are designated by the green monopoly forts.
This is the backside of the Castillo de San Jose. It has since been turned into a modern art museum. We didn't feel like paying the five Euros to go in. Plus, we were all sweaty and in no condition to ponder modern art. Either way, the castle, made completely out of lava rock, was really cool and there were some fun pieces out front as well as a great view of the bay at Arrecife, as seen here.
So this is the next castle we came to. The Castillo de San Gabriel. Apparently only saints lived in castles. The name of the drawbridge in the foreground is "Puente de las bolas" due to the two cannon balls on top of it. In any case, this too was a lava rock castle and we did go in this one as it was free, though I think Laura and I both found the exterior and the views of the ocean far more interesting. The castle itself was built in 1590.
These are the drummers we mentioned. We don't really know what the occasion was, but they were drumming for a rather large parade winding through the narrow pedestrian streets of Arrecife. They were good, and loud, and a lot of fun.
Here I am a bit closer to the castle. You can see some sailboats in the background. Don't know what the occasion was, but there were a lot of them making their way past the castle.
And here's Laura firing a cannon towards the walls that hold the sea back from flooding Arrecife. Oops! Now Lanzarote is two islands. The Teguise Market
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We took Sunday off from the bikes and rode a bus to the Sunday market in Teguise. Basically, every Sunday the locals gather here to sell goods to tourists like us. Some of the stuff is really ridiculous (like cheap beach towels and plastic sand castle making equipment) while other vendors have some really neat things, like jewelry made from the lava rocks of the island, though you have to be careful about what you're buying as some of the jewelry can be plastic imitation of lava rock. We also found some really nice handmade textiles and fabrics. Teguise itself was a quaint village with a nice town square and a castle on a hillside up above it. The day was pleasant and we had a really great time. We returned to Puerto del Carmen in the afternoon where we proceeded to lounge on the beach and do some sandy yoga before walking down the main street to find a really great restaurant where the host chatted us up about his Norwegian girlfriend and served us perhaps the best meal we had during the whole trip, culminating in strawberry flambee for dessert. It was phenomenal!
The map above shows a little shopping basket at Teguise.
This gives you a general feel of the Teguise Market: fairly crowded and with tons of vendors. In the background you can see the Castillo de Santa Barbara (again with the saints). It was first built in the 1300s and served to defend Teguise (the old capital) against Moorish raiders.
There was also lots of music at the market. Here's one of the many Spanish guitarists who was playing there.
Finally, a picture of the clock and bell tower in the main square. The name of the church to which the tower belongs is La Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. As for the evening, unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures at the beach in Puerto del Carmen or at our restaurant. So, use your imagination.
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