Seeking a partial escape from the UK’s seemingly three-month-long “Christmas” season, which now appears to run from the last week of September until 25th December, Bruce set about persuading Geoff that a couple of weeks somewhere warm would be a very good idea. In truth, Bruce would happily have gone away for longer, but eventually agreed to compromise.

Neither of us had been to Lanzarote before and, beyond booking flights and somewhere to stay, we had little idea of what to expect. We were both delighted by what we found. Our villa in Puerto del Carmen was wonderful, the weather was mostly kind (with the exception of the final day), and the food and drink were excellent. We decided to alternate between eating out and self-catering at the villa. Some days were spent doing very little, others slightly more, which explains why, where it made sense, we’ve combined two days into a single page.