Taberna de Nino, Calle Tanausu, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote

The food at this taverna was very tasty, copious and well presented, though the kitchen was a bit slow. These facts my be related.  They also charged for the bread though offered gratis a vodka and caramel digestif.

Endeavour Sailing School, Puerto Calero, Lanzarote

I did a week's 'Competent Crew' course at the Endeavour sailing school in Lanzarote, in June 2016, not having previously stepped on a yacht. Whether I am now remotely competent I rather doubt, though I did finally manage to tie those rather tricky knots to secure the boat to the pier at the end! The staff, instructors and other students were very pleasant and patient.

Download 2016: Rivers

Let it stop!

Following a mysteriously flat battery we arrived and were equally mysteriously directed without any queue to a prime and dry parking spot at the near side of the west car park and set up in time to watch a customarily commanding performance from Rammstein. The evening was notable for strange circus acts including 'sword swallower' and 'Mongolian Boy' and heavy disco to 3am in a general mud.

Next day the mud had churned itself into a fine, thick ooze.

Rivers

I was able to confirm that the traditional noodle stall had more and better noodles than the chain-like 'Noodle Hut'. One of the music stages had been replaced by some wrestling arena and, unless I misunderstood, some wrestler was later offered a 'most metal' award on the main stage. Just as there is only one true Dr Who, there are only two true wrestlers, and this gent was neither Big nor Giant. But the people to their own.

Inside

I cannot remember much about the music on Saturday though can confirm Trooper is better than Hobgoblin. Except for the Black Sabbath set, which recovered from a horribly out of tune guitar playing the initial tritone to a set of old material, with myself a half dozen heads from the front -- though eagle eyed observers spotted that there was at least a double of the lead vocal overdubbed. Sunday was wondrous, well, muddy, indeed there were rivers of the stuff. I enjoyed Amon Amarth, Electric Wizard, Gojira, and Iron Maiden showcased their new album, though not the really long song about the airship. It then stopped raining, though the adventures continued as the M1 was, in another mystery, closed. 

Desertfest 2016: The Sunday Sessions

Blood donor.

I did attend the Sunday of Desertfest. Camden, 2016. Highlight for me was Blood Ceremony, after which I legged it down the street to see Electric Wizard from the back of a very crowded Koko. I also quite liked what I saw of Trouble, who have unaccountably been off my radar for their 40 year existence. Godflesh, the closing two-
piece with sequenced drums, I found puzzling.

Necrowhatever

NecroDeathMort similarly, a fuzz of old style synths accompanying a bass. Witchsorrow started it off nicely.

Hesperia Lanzarote hotel

Cliff path just outside the hotel

We stayed at the Hesperia Lanzarote hotel in Puerto Calero in June 2016, on 'bed and breakfast'. It is a large, very pleasant complex on a vaguely Japanese theme with several swimming pools by a small rock beach with unfailingly polite and efficient staff.  Indeed, so nice that once I was lying by the pool, in a grizzled phase, and a manager asked if I was a client of the hotel. There is also a fine spa (with an attractive €60 package for the stay), and small gym, but with few 'animations'; however several cats. It is ten minutes walk from a dozen restaurants and some shops near the marina, but otherwise not very close to anything. A bus runs from above the marina about every hour to Puerto del Carmen, a bigger resort. Lanzarote itself is quite bleak, being mainly volcanic rock, and a day tour will see to it.