More Lanzagrotty - Manrique time, of the Cesar sort

We wonder what the island would have been without the influence of Cesar Manrique. If you don't know about him, look at Wikipedia. An amazing visionary artist and architect who has left his imprint  (a positive one) all over Lanzarote.

The foundation that is based in his very different house / studio is another must visit place. Built on a volcanic trail it has 5 underground areas that are constructed in natural "bubbles" in the lava and it is, simply put, stunning. Very advanced for its time too. Here is a garden area as an example:

And one of the seating / relaxing areas built into the underground bubbles with natural light streaming down:

The underground passageways between these bubbles are stunning. The white finish, careful lighting and the bare lava rock make it quite ethereal:

How about this for a window with a view? Having the rock formation spill into the room with the glass fitted around it is a little different:

Of course, the various sculptures and ornaments were all designed by Manrique too. This is quite a way to use old timber:

Another creation of his is the house known as Lagomar, built into a rock hillside. It has an interesting background:

As you can see, it is partially built into and partially hangs on the rock formation:

It takes full advantage of the beautiful rock, holes, arches etc to create an amazing outdoor living space:

Plenty of sculptures "Manrique style" using left over metal. This is a pretty big beetle:

and this, if you look closely, is a very well endowed animal:

One of Manrique's best legacies are the planning laws which forbid tower blocks which blight most of mainland Spain's coastline. Arrecife has the only one on the island and relatively low rise stuff around it for the capital. It even has a nice promenade area:

The view from the coffee shop in the one tower (The Gran Hotel) is pretty good though - here is that promenade from the 17th floor but through some very reflective glass:

Someone had arranged a lovely model village display in the rocky pool near the saltwater lagoon area in the city. Many models of the area and buildings were placed amongst the stones:

Teguise, the old capital of the island, has a glorious square and church area too:

This shop amused us. The crew's brother had a work colleague who said to him one day (when he was suited and booted in the office) "I see that you are wearing your OSK". To most English people, he was wearing a suit. The antipodean colleague explained that an OSK was an "overnight seduction kit". Plenty of them on sale here:

Although we had left Patrick on board as guard penguin, he seemed to pop up in a local store though. No idea why he wanted a scarf in 25 degrees centigrade but he clearly has his own style: