Christmas and New Year passed pleasantly and sociably.  I was given a set of DVDs of Breaking Bad, the American hit series which ran for five years from 2008. I was hooked from episode one as I was on The Sopranos one Christmas in Milan.

This time I worked hard at watching it in a disciplined manner rather than sitting up half the night.  When I got to the end of the 54th episode I was puzzled.  The ending seemed more of a cliffhanger leading onwards than a full stop, and a flash forward at the beginning of season five had not been fleshed out.  Internet investigation revealed that season five had been followed by "The Final Season", missing from my set of DVDs.

I set off for a week in Lanzarote having ensured that it would be in my hands shortly after getting back.

Lanzarote was excellent.  The weather was very pleasant, much like the dry season on the Copperbelt and my hotel was fine.  I had a good sea view from my balcony.  Here's the view in the evening:

And much the same view in daylight:

The promenade you can see at the bottom of the picture ran along two or three sandy bays for a fair distance providing a splendid route for a daily constitutional.  The coastline there and elsewhere that I went on the island was pretty flat unlike the ups and downs of the Tenerife coast that I'd walked on the previous year.  Much less arduous.

One of the reasons I chose to visit Lanzarote was to see the volcanic landscape.  It was absolutely stunning.  I took a bus trip through The Timanfaya National Park and was bowled over by the beauty of the place.  My photos don't do it justice, especially those that I had to take through a bus window.  The narrow winding road wasn't equipped with stopping places where you could get out but we did do better than private cars.  They can't travel on all of the tour route.

There is a large stopping area and a splendidly designed restaurant at a high point in the park that is accessible to both cars and buses and here you get to experience the heat that comes up from under the surface.  I don't know how far under but enough heat is produced to cook on.

And to produce zippy bursts of steam when a drop of water is poured down a tube.

Not far outside the park there is more splendid scenery.

The little lump of rock is Roque del Este, the most easterly point of the Canaries.








Other notable sights on that tour were underground in what are properly called volcanic tunnels but you and I might just say caves.  Here's one with a lake:

And here's one with a concert hall:

Emerging from the tunnel/cave you'd find a swimming pool:

I visited various other parts of the island.  Arrecife, the capital, is lovely.

   This is Playa Blanca with the island of Fuerteventura in the background:

Like other places in Lanzarote it has a splendid marina












Altogether a good choice for a winter holiday that whetted my appetite for winter 2019/20.

Since getting home I've been to the movies several times without feeling absolutely satisfied by any of the films.  The Favourite and Mary Queen of Scots were very well received by the critics and they were entertaining enough but I wasn't overwhelmed.  Determined to get full value from my French Institute membership I went to see Jalouse, this week's offering.  The story of a divorcee and her teenage daughter it was essentially a comedy that got to a happy ending via various contretemps such as the mother sneakily cancelling her ex's Club Med holiday with new wife in the Maldives - nasty.

The Lyceum with Bristol Old Vic and others took on the challenge of staging a mountaineering expedition.  David Greig has adapted Joe Simpson's book and the subsequent film Touching the Void about his ill fated climb of Siula Grande in Peru.

The staging challenge is very well met with a mobile suspended framework of interlaced bars and white tissue panels that Joe and his climbing partner Simon clamber about on.  The narrative challenge of a story in which one man crawls alone down a mountain is met by a very clever framing that uses Joe's sister as a goad and sparring partner in his imagination as he fights for survival.  Brilliant show.

There's an initial sequence set in the Clachaig inn (frequented by Joe Simpson and legions of other climbers) with Sarah (the sister), Simon and Richard (who was the non-climbing third member of the expedition) that serves to explain some climbing techniques and tries to address the question of  what attracts people to climbing.