After the chill in the air yesterday we were delighted to awaken to clear blue skies and the return of the sun. It was a perfect temperature for another breakfast on the balcony.
I then continued reading my book whilst Karen ploughed on with her CBT’s.
As arranged we met the others at 11pm in Reception and began our walk along the promenade to Matagorda. This is a lovely walk around a sweeping bay which looked lovely in the bright sunshine. We walked for the best part of an hour before arriving at a cafe called Oceans where exactly as the day before we ordered coffee & cake x 5 plus one tea. We knew the sun was getting hot as the girls were eager to sit in the shade. We had a lot of fun discussing arrangements for Julie’s 60th birthday celebration which we believed to be more imminent than she claimed.
The others decided to walk back along the waters edge, but as Karen had her trainers on in order to try and protect her knee and I fancied stopping somewhere for a toastie, we walked back separately. We found somewhere to stop and ordered toasties which were only 2.50 euros each. When they were delivered we realised why. You could eat each of them in one mouthful. They were made of that light bread that just seems full of holes and were barely toasted. Still what more should we have expected for that price and they filled did fill a hole albeit a small one.
Stopping at Spar for more fruit and baguettes we returned to the apartment for an hour to have some other snacks for lunch.
At 3pm we all made our way to probably the worst maintained Mini Golf course in all of the Canaries and this includes some that have been abandoned. Nevertheless it is the traditional venue for the Lanzarote Golf Open Invitational. This prestigious tournament was instigated a few years back and the ‘cup’ has been held by Glenn who has been victorious every time. The Cup can only be played for when the previous winner is present. It is taken very seriously and there was high tension as we all approached the first hole. As current champion Glenn went first and then we followed in age order. The leaderboard changed almost every hole for the first few holes. The course is very challenging as none of the putts roll straight as the ‘greens’ are bare or rucked and on many holes the actual hole itself (which is a bath plug socket) protrudes the ground meaning there is a ‘lip’ to go over. As well as being poorly maintained the course has the worst design ever. In fact I would say that whoever designed it was either high on something or did not understand the brief. There are features that would never come into play and some leaps and jumps that getting over them owes nothing to skill or judgement. After 9 holes I was somehow 1 shot in the lead. Karen was having a nightmare but battled on. A flukey hole in one on the 10th meant I started to pull away from everyone. Approaching the 18th I was 5 shots ahead. I knew if I took less than an 8 I would win and with a nervous 5, I was victorious for the first time.
Glenn presented the trophy to me. Good job it is small as it has to fit in our cases to go home.
Walking back to the apartments I suddenly thought I should celebrate the victory by buying a jug of Sangria for everyone. At the first bar we came to that was advertising it I got everyone to stop and we made our way in. Whilst my idea and intention were good the execution was poor to say the least. The bar I selected was actually an Indian restaurant and the waiter was not impressed that all we wanted was a jug of Sangria. He was grumpy and did his best to be awkward. Then he took an age to actually prepare and deliver us the drink. He was so grumpy that we all got the giggles about it. The Sangria was fine when it did arrive and he lightened up by the time I paid him. I should have realised that as the place was called Bollywood that it probably wasn’t the best place to stop for a quick drink to toast my success. It was so bad that we might make it a new tradition after each tournament.
After a quick chill and shower we then walked with everyone down to Pinocchios for a meal. This is another old favourite. The food is cheap and we have never had a bad meal. The service is also excellent. I had the Steak (9 Euros) which was very acceptable. Everyone else headed back to the Old Town to another music bar whilst Karen & I headed slowly back to the apartment. Our first stop was at Titto’s which is one of these ice cream parlours where you help yourself and pay by the weight of the ice cream and toppings you have taken. Karen quite enjoyed that. Then we went to the Diamond Lounge where Karen had a strong Irish coffee and I had another Banana Daiquiri which were both really good. We sat for ages talking about our plans for next winters holidays to try and come up with a solution that would allow us to fit in another trip to Lanzarote next February. We think we found one that fits our aspirations and on that note retired back to the apartment and bed.
