Casa Roja

We are back at the airport this morning with his and hers sombreros and maracas, and la Isla bonita playing from our small speaker. 

All in aid of this...

3,

2,

1...

SUUUUUUURPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!

Gareth has flown out from London to join us for a few days and to top us his tan from his recent trip to India. With Lanzarote such a small island, he landed and was on the beach by lunchtime. 

Ready to witness me and dad take part in our annual bat and ball tournament.  

 Which I won. 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the sunbeds and catching up on Gareth's recent trip, which is now on my bucket list after the way he described how great it was to me! 

Only taking time to move to the sea to cool down, and to pay the passing ice cream/solero/magnum man for a cold snack

Each evening we kick started by having drinks at the bar in our small apartment complex. Along with Gareth's arrival a load more of the group arrived for Ironman, taking us to a group of 28 supporters and triathletes.

Tonight we are off down to the Old Port for dinner, in a fish restaurant called Casa Roja. 

A little red house sat right on the edge of the Port.

It's the perfect spot to fall even more into a relaxed pace of life whilst the waiters brought you local wine to compliment the dinner, watch the boats come in and locals play bowls. 

The waiter gave us a quick history lesson whilst scribbling down our choices. 
Built in 1850, Casa Roja was used as a store for chicken, goats and camels. Over time, it became the meeting place for tradesmen to meet and bring fish to the island.

As soon as the goods came in, it was dried, salted and then sold onto the canarian women. The house then became the main trading area on the island, before being turned into a resturant in the 20th century and been serving up fish ever since.

The old port is now home to small fishing boats and holiday yachts, and you can see the fisherman arrive in the morning with their catch from the night!

So naturally, dinner would be a traditional Spanish fish affair tonight.

I went for the garlic prawns and mushrooms to start, which was sat in a sizzling bowl of oil cooking away. 

Careful, the plate is hot!

And I couldn't resist sharing the fried baby squid with Dad. 

For main...

Locally caught sea-bass with Canarian potatoes. These are a spanish speciality where the potatoes are salted and then boiled. The water is then drained off and the potatoes boiled again and the salt appears on the skin.

Tasty!

Saving the best till last, the waiters brought out a selection if deserts for us all to share. 

Have a few bites, and pass the plate on. Perfect for when you can't decide between...

Lemon cheesecake.

Spanish strawberry cake...

And chocolate brownie.

Look at that ice cream melting. If you could grab it through the screen, I would be handing a portion to you right now. 

I'm going to end up leaving what's left of my abs in Lanzarote at this rate! 

Luckily for dad, he is about to burn all of this off...