Open day at the Silk Museum
The silk museum in El Paso will be holding an open day today, Saturday 31st March from 10 am – 5 pm. You’ll be able to taste local wine and cheese, and a folk group will perform at noon.
crafts
Events on La Palma this weekend
Friday night is the best meteor shower of the year, the Perseids. Of course it should be visible all over the planet, but La Palma’s astronomical viewpoints will probably be a particularly good place to see shooting stars. Unfotunately the full moon will spoil the show quite a bit. Astrotour will be in La Polvacera bsketball court from 9 pm – 11:30 pm with telescopes. This year, the island’s annual…
The 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 tablecloth in broderie anglaise is halfway up the stairs. Assisi embroidery, a form of cross stitch. About the only thing in the museum I could see myself making. Now I’m fairly good at cross stitch,…
The Silk Museum
La Palma has a long history of silk production, going back to the 16th century. In fact, at one time, silk was made in all the Canary Islands, but since the 19th century, El Paso, in the centre of La Palma, is the only place which still produces it. They use an old fashioned, labour-intensive technique, the only place in Europe which still does so. You can see most of…
Tobacco in La Palma
I don’t smoke, so everything I know about Palmeran cigars is from hearsay. But they seem to have a very good reputation. Certainly Winston Churchill was known to be a fan, and certainly they get shipped off to the Spanish royal family. Most of the tobacco farms on the island are in Santa Cruz, Breña Baja, and especially Breña Alta. Typically, the crop is grown in tiny fields and given…
La Palma’s craft fair
Every year La Palma holds a craft fair, and the variety is truly astounding. This year the fair was held at the port in Santa Cruz to coincide with the Bajada, and it was as good as ever. There were plenty of the traditional crafts, like silk weaving, embroidery and basket-making, but also plenty of new ones, like this clay sculptor.