Literary travel to Saramago’s House Museum

Have you ever visited places featured in your favorite books? Or do you travel to destinations where your favorite writers and artists used to live, or even where your favorite characters once dwelled?

If your answer is “yes”, then you qualify as a literary traveler. But what could a literary travel enthusiast possibly find in the volcanic landscape of Lanzarote? Stay with me as I rewind to 2018 and see how a 5-day getaway to Lanzarote became a getaway for a self-knowledge journey.

Road circling volcanic craters at the heart of Timanfaya Park, Lanzarote
 

Why visit the windy, lunar-like Lanzarote?

I’ve fulfilled most of my wanderlust carried out by books. No less a traveler, though. Navigating through book pages, diving for seashells, collecting pearls, and connecting them with threads of magic realism, still counts as traveling, sailing, and… snorkeling, right?

 So, why Lanzarote? I can trace the beginning of this journey back to 2007. I had to read The Stone Raft, a book by José Saramago, for a literary theory assignment. The plot revolved around the Iberian Peninsula separated from Europe by a giant crack in the Pyrenees, forming a new island, like a great stone raft spinning towards the Atlantic. 

 Nothing captivating so far, I thought. But if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief long enough, you’ll get to admire Saramago’s deep understanding of human nature as much as I did.

Within the perimeter of a finite land (an island), five characters from across Portugal and Spain, accompanied by a sagacious dog, find themselves in a Citroën 2CV, captive in a maze-like road trip, resulting in a journey to self-knowledge.

Likewise, I found myself driving through Martian landscapes, not being prepared for the earthly feeling brought by the inescapable winds of Lanzarote. Trust my words, the windy island of Lanzarote can quite literally blow you away in unexpected directions.

May you have a strong foundation when the winds of change shift, as Bob Dylan once said, but may your traveler’s baggage include all the essentials first!

A traveler's baggage to Lanzarote 

I didn’t sail from Portugal to Lanzarote, as the introduction might have suggested. Either was I motivated by the shores of Lanzarote’s fabulous beaches. As you've probably inferred by now, it was all about a book!

That is why while planning our holiday in Lanzarote, my partner and I thought we covered every detail and knew exactly what to expect. After so much anticipation, my 56x45x25 cm cabin travel luggage to Lanzarote only contained:

• Swimwear: everything for sunbathing at the beach and by the hotel pool, although we ended up spending 95% of the time driving, hiking, and sightseeing around the volcanic landscapes.
• A book: The Stone Raft, set in the Iberian Peninsula, by José Saramago (1922-2010), autographed by the author in October 2009. As an Iberian, born to a Portuguese father and a Spanish mother, my dream was visiting the closest thing to a stone raft drifting on the Atlantic.
• A road-trip sketch: we didn’t go into much in-depth planning apart from Saramago’s and César Manrique’s House Museums, heavily relying on the safe perimeter of the island and our shared interest in road trips.

Thus, we landed at Arrecife Airport as passengers with 2 light-weighted items of baggage. Then, near the airport, we picked up our compact, 2-door rented car, quite oblivious about Lanzarote’s true nature, listening to a post-metal Icelandic band called Sólstafir.

We headed to the Hotel Lanzarote Village in Puerto del Carmen. It was just a 30-minute car ride away from all the other tourist places offering many amenities, services, and easy access to the beach.

Plus, Puerto del Carmen has a vibrant nightlife with many nightclubs and cocktail bars. But the truth is, we didn’t take advantage of the “plus”. We spent our evenings having dinner at a quiet beachfront restaurant, walking along Puerto del Carmen’s dreamy-like promenade, watching the sunset and the palm trees against the orange horizon, or watching planes landing over our heads at Guacimeta beach.

These may sound rather dull plans for most people considering visiting Lanzarote. Of course, your personality and concept of fun will determine the factors you feel comfortable with and the aspects you’ll most likely overlook when planning a trip to Lanzarote. 

And here it lays, the exquisite beauty of the “Island of Eternal Spring”. It fits any traveler's expectations, with plenty of possibilities, even if you prefer traveling in the fall and winter seasons. 

5 useful tips to plan for your trip to Lanzarote

Now, if given the chance to revisit Lanzarote, I know exactly what I would do differently, what I would add to my road trip sketch, and what to pack this time. Here are my 5 tips on what to pack for your trip to Lanzarote so that you can make the most of it, too:

1. Pack proper hiking shoes: apart from the swimwear, remember to pack appropriate hiking footwear, so you can endure on the volcanic grounds of Timanfaya Park or climb Caldera Blanca, the widest crater of the many volcanoes on the island.
2. Pack a hoodie: even if you go in summer, some parts of the island can get chilly because of the wind. Therefore, a hoodie will feel like heaven on your skin, and it is the perfect choice for ear protection, too.
3. Plan trekking routes: there’s plenty to explore on foot, and, believe me, you don’t want to miss a single spot or crater just because you didn’t know all the options in advance.
4. Rent a 4x4 car: it’s not that Lanzarote is like Iceland. Still, I regret not having rented an all-wheel drive or a more robust vehicle instead of a compact, regular one, for the occasional gravel and bumpy roads.
5. Check Ferryhopper’s travel guides: back in 2018, Ferryhopper was new to the ferry travel booking industry, and I didn’t know them, but I’m sure that having access to their guides would have made all the difference.

Nonetheless, don’t take my words and experience as your only source of information. For a comprehensive list of the historical, cultural, and natural wonders you can find in Lanzarote, have a look at Ferryhopper’s travel guide about Lanzarote.

Having said all this, rest assured that it doesn’t really matter how much of an adventure and hiking enthusiast you are to enjoy traveling to Lanzarote. As a literary traveler, you are already adventurous beyond measure. 

By plane or ferry, it takes courage and passion to get out of your comfort zone and take a book to the setting where its writer belonged, which brings me to my trip’s highlight: the tour to Saramago’s House Museum.

Extra tip: if you are already in Lanzarote, no wind is needed to sail away. You can hop on a ferry for a quick trip to the nearby island of La Graciosa. All you have to do is download the Ferryhopper App and book your ferry tickets easily and quickly!

At Mirador del Río, with an amazing view of La Graciosa island.

A tour of Saramago’s House Museum

 In case you landed on this blog as a fan of José Saramago’s literary work, know that there are three houses museums (casas in Portuguese) you should visit in your lifetime, if you haven’t already: 

• A Casa, in Tías, the house where Saramago lived in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, Spain
• A Casa dos Bicos, headquarters of José Saramago Foundation, in Lisbon, Portugal
• Azinhaga’s Delegation of José Saramago Foundation, which houses elements of Saramago’s childhood home, in Golegã, Portugal (70 minutes from Lisbon by car)

However, this is the time and place I revisit “A Casa”, in Tías, a little village in Lanzarote, where the sole Portuguese Nobel Prize lived for 20 years with his wife, Pilar de Río, a Spanish journalist, novelist, and translator.

So, here we go! From Puerto del Carmen to Tías, it was a 7-minute ride, mimicking and laughing at Saramago’s quirky personality in interviews. There was also the option of a 12-minute bus ride, but it wouldn’t have been as fun.

When you get to Tías, the first thing that stands out is a rusty metal tree sculpture in the middle of a roundabout. When you see this tree, you'll know you are near Saramago's cosmos. It depicts an olive tree, which has a symbolic meaning in Mediterranean culture.

Olive tree sculpture on the roundabout near Saramago's House Museum

After the roundabout, we took a left turn, and there it was, “A Casa”. After crossing the entrance door, visitors are welcomed by a real olive tree. And that’s when my sight got blurry, and my memories quite vivid. Always about to cry, just because I was head over heels for this place.

The tour included a guided visit to the house that Saramago shared with his wife. The place had a very Mediterranean feel, but also a cosmopolitan touch with books, paintings, pictures, and other symbolic artifacts from all over the world.

Plenty of references to identify, connect, and be amazed at. I was glad there was a tour guide describing most of those items. When the guide finished her explanation, we could use the audio devices to listen to more details, with different language options.

As a translator, I couldn’t help noticing visitors speaking Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish from Spain and Argentina, Greek (I know because it sounded like Spanish, but wasn’t), German from Germany or Austria (I couldn’t tell the difference, but I knew it wasn’t Swiss-German), and a Slavic language (I couldn’t tell apart).

This babelish tour also included visiting Saramago’s library, which contains a vast collection of books alongside a curated selection of art objects, paintings, and magazines to explore. Adjacent to the building, you’ll also find a souvenir store where you can indulge yourself, as I did.   

But before I spoil this tour any further, I just want to add that it ended with a nice Portuguese-like espresso on the balcony right next to the kitchen, above the garden where Saramago used to sit and play with his dogs.

Saramago's desk, where all the magic happened

Carrying the book in my handbag, I spent there an entire morning. It felt like home and I could finally understand why Lanzarote, a stone raft in the Atlantic, ended up being Saramago’s home.

On my way out, I took a minute to write a note in the visitors’ book, that translates as: “An Iberian's dream come true”. After that, I couldn’t help thinking: “Is this it? Is this the last time I’ll be here?”.

Well, keep reading if you want to find out when this journey really started and how it ended. 

Rewind to when I met Saramago 

Saramago’s humanistic approach to life, observations of the human condition, and profound respect for nature and animals helped me navigate through many challenges, shifts in perspective, and transition into new life chapters.

This reflection brings me back to 2009 and the launch of Saramago’s last novel, Cain. Parallel to this book launch event, the book publisher I worked with as a book editor happened to be organizing an homage to Saramago.

I was responsible for curating the street performance scripts based on Saramago’s characters. How about this for a coincidence? Never in a million years, out of all the chaos, could I have imagined I’d be indulging in one of my special interests at my very first real job!

Well, after all the turmoil of the book launch and homage event (it was a controversial book, but that’s a story for another day), I didn’t want to disturb Saramago at dinner time, but here’s when the chief editor led the way for me and said: 

“José! Here’s Noélia, the one that brought a bag with all your books to the office”. 

This is how I got to approach him, carrying just 3 books this time. Nonetheless, Saramago was kind enough to sign all 3 books, including The Stone Raft.

The only words I could mutter were: “This is my favorite book ever”, and “I am an Iberian, too”. I knew those words were more than enough. He knew what they meant, and maybe that’s why he kindly held my hand and said: “Minha querida!” (“My dear!”).

A minute to soak this moment in, please.   

When passengers become travelers

 It’s about time I tell you how my journey to Lanzarote ended: it didn’t. And here’s a quote from a travel book Saramago wrote in the 1980s, that perfectly paves the way for any other traveler’s initiation story:  

“The journey is never over. Only travelers come to an end. But even then they can prolong their voyage in their memories, in recollections, in stories. When the traveler sat in the sand and declared: “There’s nothing more to see,” he knew it wasn’t true. The end of one journey is simply the start of another.”

In Journey to Portugal, by José Saramago 

Saramago’s poster welcoming travelers to “A Casa”

Following Saramago’s words, I need to revisit Lanzarote and rewind the footsteps already taken. Traveling brings chaos, and shifting winds – like the ones you can experience in Lanzarote –, and every travel experience is a new order waiting to be deciphered or translated.

This is why I wanted to share my literary travel story, to keep inspiring me and others. From time to time, think of a book, an author, a plot, a character, a piece of art, or even a mythological figure that inspires you enough to visit or even revisit a particular place.

I just thought of “The Pérez Galdós House Museum”, in Gran Canaria, a novelist often compared to Tolstoy and Balzac, only second to Cervantes in Spain. After having taken another tour to Saramago’s House Museum, I was ready to hop on a 6-hour ferry trip to Gran Canaria from Lanzarote.

Indeed, island hopping in the Canary Islands is a real option with Ferryhopper. And suppose you are a literary traveler beyond any hope. In that case, you can look for other literary hot spots and plan island-hopping adventures across the Mediterranean, the Aegean, and the Ionian seas, just to mention a few.

Are you already feeling beyond adventurous? Now, I’m also curious about you: where’s your literary travel passion taking you next? What books are you taking on your ferry trips?

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Author Bio

Hi there, fellow viajantes! I’m Noélia, the Portuguese voice of Ferryhopper.😊 Born at the foot of Sierra Nevada, I spent the first half of my life between Granada's desert, the Swiss alpine slopes and the Cabreira mountain range.

After years of travelling by land and air between dramatically contrasting landscapes, I ended up setting down roots in a city known as Portuguese Rome, where I had the chance to start navigating ⛵through pages of books.

Today, as an aspiring sea traveler ⛴️, I live in constant translation mode of this "sea-swarm world of atoms" that surrounds us, which is perhaps why I rather explore the safe perimeter of islands whenever possible.😎🏝️