Yup, it’s silly. The original battle involved something like 80,000 men, which is almost the population of the whole island. So I was expecting a cut-down version. Heck, Shakespeare did battles by having one man come on stage and say, “Imagine the battle…” So Barlovento had a rather good toy castle with about 12 visible defenders, and the sultan gave a speech about the original battle. Then a ship came…
The Battle of Lepanto
Lepanto is the Italian name for the Greek port of Naupaktos, where a famous naval battle took place in 1571 in which a coalition of Christians trounced the Ottoman Empire. (Actually, there were also battles in 1499 and 1500, but since the Europeans lost to the Turks, we tend to quietly forget them.) And for some reason they stage a re-enactment in Barlovento, every two years, as part of the…
Stop the World, I Wanna Get Off!
I was looking forward to a relaxing summer, but I seem to have been rushed off my feet the whole time. There’s the blog about La Palma, of course, and tour guiding, and helping my nieces practise English, and the current translation, and trying to photograph the fiestas, and the website for Ruido fanzine. Not to mention the housework and paying my son some attention now and then! I got…
A new story at last
For months now, I’ve scarcely touched fiction. I’ve done lots of blogging and translation, and just a smidgen of fiction editing, but no new fiction. Last night I found a website that was asking for 6 word stories. Before I knew it, I’d written one of my own. But by then it was late, and I couldn’t face the rigmarole of registering at the site in order to post the…
A Close Encounter with a Prickly Pear
I went with my friend last week to photograph a leaning dragon tree in Puntagorda, and we found a tame chough there. I think it makes a good living from tourists. And then we went to have a look at the ravine, and I brushed gently against a prickly pear. Of course I got hundreds of spines on the shoulder my T shirt, and I couldn’t think of driving back…
Weather Pre-alert
A pre-alert means don’t panic yet, but check before you go out. High winds are expected tomorrow (Thursday) in the eastern Canaries: Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuertaventura, and the day after (Friday) in all the islands. They expect gusts up to 75 km/h / 46 mph. That’s Force 8 on the Beaufort Scale: “Twigs broken from trees. Cars veer on road.” So Friday might not be the best day for…