The 19th century butcher’s shop, Breña Baja, La Palma The old butcher’s shop stands on the outskirts of the village of San Jose, in Breña Baja, near the Paradorof La Palma. The building dates from the late 19th century, and it was a butcher’s shop until the 1960s. But now it’s been renovated as a craft exhibition and shop. The famous cigars of The Breñas Although the place is small,…
This is the Barranco de las Angustias the Ravine of Anguish. The name comes from the conquest of the island, back at the end of the fifteenth century. Most of the tribes on the island took one look at the heavily-armed Spanish, and gave up without a fight. Four tribes fought briefly, but soon surrendered. After all, the original inhabitants, the Benhoaristas, had only stick and stones to fight against…
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 girl at the desk said, “Las Palmas de Gran Canaris? Certainly Sir. I’ll just look it up for you.” “No,” explained my father. “The island of La Palma. My…
I got very tired and I had to stop everything non-essential for a while. The English version of my new book is taking longer than usual at the printers, because it landed in the middle of a reorganisation. Meanwhile, I’m still working on the translation. And I’ve just found out that I’ve been doing it wrong. In Spanish, you punctuate the dialogue in a completely different way. So I’m going…
Sunday February 2 : From 12:00 A partir de las 12:00h in the Mercadillo del Agricultor de Puntagorda, Almond shelling competition Friday February 7th: A 6pm in the Pabellón Municipal Fagundo, Exhibition of Rythmic Gimnastics At 8 pm In the Salón de actos de la Casa de la Cultura: wine competition and the presentation of prizes to the winners. At 10 pm in the Comunidad 4 Caminos: party con la Agrupación “Falta Uno” A…
Some of the older houses still use these water filters and coolers in summer. You put the water into the bowl at the top, made of a porous stone (I think it’s volcanic tuff). The water filters through, and drips into the bottom bowl, which isn’t porous. Obviously this filters out any impurities, and because some of the water evaporates, the rest cools down. The stand for the wooden bowls…