Going up in the World

The Palmeran violet, Viola palmensis

Today the whole family wound up at 2,400 m.

My husband works up there, at the Galileo telescope.

My son had a school trip, helping to plant out native flora, like the violet above. The island government’s been doing this for a while, and the results are really starting to show.

And I was tour guiding. I showed two groups round the Isaac Newton Telescope. It was quite a rush to get up there for a 10 a.m. start, but I managed. And I finished just in time for my son to ride down with me, instead of on the bus.

Since I’d been out all morning, I hadn’t had time to cook, so we grabbed a pizza for lunch instead.

Posted by sheila

Sheila came to La Palma with a six month contract and has stayed 24 years so far. She used to work as a software engineer at the observatory, but now she's a writer and Starlight guide.