Lanzarote, a long weekend

Timanfaya!We visited Lanzarote again, this time with two families: five (5!) children and three adults. On the first day, right after arriving, we picked up the rental car and immediately started sightseeing. Our first stop was Mirador del Mar, with a beautiful view of the nearby island of La Graciosa. After that, we continued to the Cueva Verde, an enjoyable tour through a lava tunnel. Next we visited Jameos del Agua, a partially collapsed lava tube that’s home to many tiny blind white crabs found only on Lanzarote. The whole site was transformed into something special by the local artist and architect César Manrique. Finally, we headed to our villa, checked out the pool, and found two geocaches along the path near the little beach.

On the second day we drove to the center of the island, to the Timanfaya volcano. We had to wait in line for 90 minutes, but after that we could hop straight onto a bus for a stunning tour through the volcanic landscape. After visiting the volcano, we stopped to see some impressive rock formations, deep cracks in the terrain, a perfect spot for a few great photos.

La Graciosa!On the third day we went to the island of La Graciosa, which we had already seen from the viewpoint on our first day. A half-hour boat ride took us there. We bought some sandwiches and rented bikes for a long ride across the island. Getting lost was impossible: there’s only one clear route. At one of the beaches, Alex and I found some salt. It looked surprisingly clean, so I took a little with me to experiment with later. We returned on the last boat of the day and headed back to the villa.

On the final day we took it easy. Checked out, drove to the airport, and headed home. A tiring but wonderful little trip.

April 0.0

A month without alcohol, which in my case only means no wine and no beer because I don’t drink spirits anyway. Normally I only have a few beers during the weekend, so I don’t expect this dry month to be very difficult. I just wanted to try it and see if I notice anything.

To make it more likely that I notice something, I’m adding an extra challenge to this experiment: no coffee. On weekdays I usually drink about four cups a day, so together with the no-alcohol rule this will make for a bit more challenging month. I’m curious to see what the effect will be, and if I even notice anything.

The experiment still seems fairly simple, even with the no-coffee rule, so I’m adding one more twist. I’m going to do it secretly. Not in the sense of hiding anything, but simply by not announcing that I’m spending a month without alcohol and coffee. I’m curious to see if anyone in my family notices.