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Tall Ships 2014
Poster for the 2014 Tall Ships meeting Tall_ships_2014 The Tall Ships are back! They used to hold an annual meet-up in Santa Cruz de la Palma for Christmas, but last year’s was cancelled. Luckily,...
View ArticleHoly Innocents on La Palma
Tall_ships_2014 The 28th of December is Holy Innocents’ Day, which commemorates the massacre of the innocents by Herod in Matthew’s gospel (although according to Wikipedia, it’s probably not a...
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Have a happy 2015
New Year Fireworks in Santa Cruz de la Palma I hope you enjoyed new year’s eve, I hope 2015 brings you whatever you most want. I “left the year” (as they say in Spanish) with the extended family. New...
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Their Majesties, the Reyes Magos
Gaspar visiting Santa Cruz de la Palma Although Father Christmas does visit Spanish children, he’s a new arrival. Traditionally the presents arrive on the morning of January 6th, when the three kings...
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Pitahayas
Two kinds of pitahaya // ]]> The fruits of several different cactuses are called pitahayas. The yellow ones in the picture are Hylocereus megalanthus, and the pink ones are Hylocereus undatus. To...
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The Bell from La Verdad
// ]]> Today we have a guest post by Thomas Cox from Maine, USA The Bell from La Verdad. Photo: Thomas Cox Being a lifelong ocean sailor, some years ago I was intrigued when I found the ships bell...
View ArticleTuesday 13th
// ]]> You know how some Brits and Americans are superstitious about Friday 13th? Well in Spain, some people are superstitious about Tuesday 13th. So this is your chance for slightly cheaper flights.
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Where the Heck is La Palma Anyway?
The Canary Islands are off Morocco. La Palma is at the top left I originally came to La Palma to work at the astronomical observatory here. Almost as soon as I heard I’d got the job, my parents went to...
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Water Mines on La Palma
// ]]> The tap from the water mine on the road to the observatory Although La Palma has more water than the other Canary Islands, many farmers used to be desperately poor and frequently hungry. The...
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A Breathtaking Window on the Universe
A Breathtaking Window cover “A Breathtaking Window on the Universe: A guide to the observatory at the Roque de los Muchachos SECOND EDITION” By Sheila M. Crosby (Non-Fiction Paperback) 164 pages (16...
View ArticleHoly Innocents on La Palma
Tall_ships_2014 The 28th of December is Holy Innocents’ Day, which commemorates the massacre of the innocents by Herod in Matthew’s gospel (although according to Wikipedia, it’s probably not a...
View ArticleWhere the Heck is La Palma Anyway?
I originally came to La Palma to work at the astronomical observatory here. Almost as soon as I heard I’d got the job, my parents went to a travel agent to find out how much it would cost to visit. The...
View ArticleWater Mines on La Palma
Although La Palma has more water than the other Canary Islands, many farmers used to be desperately poor and frequently hungry. The only water for irrigation was rainwater, and obviously they had no...
View ArticleCancajos Salt Pans
You can visit a working salt factory on the southern tip of La Palma, but if you’re staying in Cancajos, in Breña Baja, it’s worth taking a peak at the ruined salt factory. The sea front promenade runs...
View ArticleNativity Scenes in the Canaries
Christmas trees are a newish thing here, although probably most houses have one now. The main traditional decoration is nativity scenes. Some just show the stable, but some public ones are so elaborate...
View ArticleCubo de la Galga
Cubo de la Galga is a very pretty walk along the bottom of the Galga ravine, between Puntallana and Los Sauces. By Palmeran standards, it’s an easy walk. There is now a car park at the beginning of the...
View ArticleThe Red House in Mazo
The Red House, Mazo La Palma’s embroidery museum is upstairs in the Red House in Mazo. Downstairs is a museum about the fiesta of Corpus Christi in Mazo. If you’re on La Palma for June 4th next year,...
View ArticleLa Palma’s Embroidery Museum
The table cloth on the stairs La Palma has a long tradition of gorgeous embroidery. As I mentioned in my previous post, the embroidery museum is upstairs in the Red House, in Mazo. This gorgeous...
View ArticleSpot the Lava Flow
Just north of Fatima, El Paso Ladies and gentlemen, can you spot the lava flow in this picture? This lava flow at Fatima in El Paso is from the eruption of Volcan San Juan (St. John’s volcano) in 1949,...
View ArticleCanary Bell Flower
This is the Canary bellflower, Canarina canariensis, which has no close living relatives. It scrambles over things, like bindweed, with a stem up to 3 m long, and produces these lovely flowers in...
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