Because the island sits in the trade winds, damp air hits the northeast of the island and has to rise, where it turns into clouds. Because La Palma has a north-south spine called the Cumbre Nueva, the cloud quite often reaches up to the ridge and then tumbles over as the cloud waterfall. This is extremely pretty, and best viewed from around the western side of the tunnel. You can…
Making me look glamorous My next day’s work didn’t quite go to plan either. I’d agreed to be interviewed at the Roque. I wasn’t sure what they were filming, but I had a book to promote, and if I couldn’t promote the book, maybe I could promote the island. At worst, I’d get some practice in at being a media whore. So I dutifully set off with a selection of my working…
The astronomical viewpoint at Fuencaliente has three (modern) standing stones, where the shadow of the setting sun points to another stone at (respectively) the summer solstice, both equinoxes, and the winter solstice. Tomorrow night (Wednesday) there will be a free activity run by Cielos La Palma at the viewpoint, starting at 6:30 pm to watch the sunset, followed by astronomical observations including another chance to see comet PanSTARRS through…
Here’s what was supposed to happen this morning:I was going to sleep until about 8, have a leisurely breakfast, and leave for the Roque at about 9 to show a group of students from Suffolk university around the observatory until about 4pm. I’ve enjoyed the group in previous years, and since it’s all day the money’s nice too. Besides, this year I was rather hoping to sell them some books….
The outside of the church of St Michael the Archangel, Tazacorte On Thursday I was in Tazacorte, so I popped into the church. I’m not religious, but most of the churches on La Palma are beautiful, and worth at least a quick look. Even if the building itself isn’t special, there’s often a beautiful renaissance statue. In this case, I’d recently translated a text that said the church “was built…
Literally. The lorry with 300 copies of my guide book in Spanish “Una espectacular ventana al universo: guía del observatorio astrofisico del Roque de los Muchachos” arrived at Cadiz docks on Saturday 9th March, shortly after the boat to Tenerife left. And they sat on the docks waiting for the next boat until Thursday. So they didn’t make it in time for comet watching on the night of Saturday 16th,…