Lagomar - Omar Sharif

The big news here today was that we had rain in Lanzarote this morning. Well more like drizzle, but still very unusual.

This is Lagomar and I am afraid its impossible to do it justive with just one picture. It uses the César Manrique method of building a large villa into volcanic rock creating rooms that resemble caves with tunnels and secret passges. It has a lake and a rockgarden landscape and also incorporates a swimming pool and tennis ccourrs.

I visited it some years ago to have a meal in the restaurant, but now the whole property is open as a museum. It was famously owned by the actor Omar Sharif who visited it often when making the film 'The Mysterious Isle' in which he played Captain Nemo.

I had always known about the Omar Sharif connection but the thing I only found out today was that on the day he purchased it he was challenged to a game of cards by the developer. He was a well known gambler and during the course of the game the house was put up as a bet and Sharif lost. So he actually only owned it for one day!