The Perseids are usually the best meteor shower of the year. The peak will be on Sunday, with perhaps as many as 100 shooting stars per hour (although any meteor shower is best after midnight). In Spain, this shower is known as las lagrimas de San Lorenzo (the tears of St Lawrence) because it happens near the feast day of St. Lawrence the martyr. Fuencaliente town hall and island’s government…
Malvasia is a white dessert wine from the south of La Palma. It’s too sweet to drink with fish (or to drink like a fish). In fact it’s similar to Maderia or a sweet sherry – more something you’d have at the very end of a meal with the local sweet almond biscuits. In Shakespear’s day Malvasia wine was known as Malmsey, and it was very popular indeed. In the…
On Saturday April 6th, La Palma will host an extreme bike race called Ultrabike. Actually, there are two races, a short one of 34 km and a long one of 110 km. Both routes go through gorgeous scenery in the south of the island, and both involve lots of climbing. For example, the high point of the long ride is 1,575 m above sea-level, but the total climbs add up…
On Saturday April 6th, La Palma will host an extreme bike race called Ultrabike. Actually, there are two races, a short one of 34 km and a long one of 110 km. Both routes go through gorgeous scenery in the south of the island, and both involve lots of climbing. For example, the high point of the long ride is 1,575 m above sea-level, but the total climbs add up…
Tuesday 17th is the fiesta of San Antonio Abad (St. Anthony the Abbot) in Fuencaliente, and at midday the priest holds a special, traditional service to bless the animals in the church square. I went a couple of years ago, out of curiosity. I didn’t know whether to expect pets or farm animals, but there was a charnming selection of both. At twelve promptly, the priest came out, gave a…
The oldest rocks on La Palma are 2,000,000 years old, which is very young for geology. But the youngest rocks are just 40 years old, and it’s their birthday this month. The Teneguía volcano erupted during October and November of 1971. My husband was a teenager at the time, and he remembers going to see it from the San Antonio volcano, and he remembers hearing the deep rumbles at…