Well my trip only half worked. On the way to Puntagorda I stopped off at the Sanctuary of Anguish to take some photos. they have little wax votive offerings on either side of the altar – read more at http://lapalmaisland.sheilacrosby.com/2008/06/anguish-and-waxworks.html I stopped again at El Time for more photos. They’ll be appearing on the La Palma blog soon. I saw my friend, which was great, and got some photos of…
Anguish and Waxworks.
The Sanctuary of Anguish (Santuario de Las Angustias) The Church of Our Lady’s Anguish lies near the bottom of Las Angustias Ravine, where the river Taburiente runs out of the Caldera. (Well, they take a lot of the water for irrigation, so in the middle of summer it trickles. That still makes it the only year-round river in the Canaries). To find it, take the road from Los Llanos to…
The Social Whirl continues
I’m not used to all this fun. On Sunday we went out to lunch with Carlos’s friend Oswaldo, and we got back at 11pm. Since I wasn’t driving, I made the most of my lack of responsibilities. I didn’t feel too good on Monday morning. I did manage a bit of housework, and then it was time to see yet another friend, Steiner, for coffee, to talk about a project…
Geckos
This is a gecko (Tarentola delalandii). They like to live in warm buildings or on sunny walls outside, and this one lives in my house. I think he must have got too close to one of my cats because his tail’s regrowing. You see, if they’re in serious danger of being eaten, their tails come off and provide a wriggling decoy while the gecko runs away. He spent most of…
Baptising the Bodega
My brother-in-law’s new bodega is finally ready. Since it was another brother-in-law’s birthday, and the day after Canary Day, it was a great time to baptise the place. We stuffed ourselves with salted fish and sweet potatoes. I learned how to make kneaded gofio, which I still think is pretty uninspiring food. Then there were two cakes and some biscuits. And of course plenty of beer and wine. And then…
Starlit Skies
Galaxy M51 taken with the Isaac Newton Telescope and Wide Field Camera by Simon Driver. There’s a really simple reason why the Royal Greenwich Observatory moved their telescopes here. It’s one of the three best places in the world for astronomy. The observatory was founded in 1675 by Charles II of England – hence the “royal” for £520 (£20 over budget!). It was the first purpose-built scientific research facility…