It’s Fiesta de la Cruz again. I was really busy this year, so I just went for a quick look at Calle Rodriguez Lopez, the street in Santa Cruz where they have all the mayos. As always, it was fun. This year they had a theme of jobs and professions.
The Roque de Los Muchachos is a spectacular place to watch the sunset. For one thing, you’re usually above the clouds (which is one reason the observatory is there.) In fact, sometimes the clouds are so much lower than the Roque that the sun sets well below you. This means that your shadow on a wall is taller than you, and the shadows of your legs go on forever….
On Monday and Tuesday I showed a journalist around for the Tourist Board. On Monday night we went stargazing with Astrolapalma. I loved it. Agustín was very enthusiastic, and now I understand why people enjoy my enthusiasm so much. We started off just after sunset, and we had a lovely view of the old moon in the arms of the new. That’s the poetic name for when you can see…
Spring is obviously here. Some people look for the swifts returning or flowers blooming, but I know it’s spring when the solar telescopes start work after their summer break. It’s not very easy to see whether the Swedish Solar Telescope is working unless you’re close, but yesterday, the Dutch Open Telescope had the clamshell dome down and they were clearly open for science. It must be time to buy…
Today is the perfect day to go and find the larvae of Lepidoptera humunguous feeding beside the roadworks in Fuencaliente. Lepidoptra is the order of insects which includes moths and butterflies. I’ve never seen the cocoons, but I believe the adult form can sometimes be seen at the airport.
Last night was the famous sardine’s funeral in Los Sauces. As usual, there were lots of amazing costumes: some ingenious, some cheap and cheerful, some extravagant, many humourous. It’s traditional to serve fried sardines, and very tasty they are too. One group brought along this amazing fairy tale coach. They were inviting children to have their photo taken in it. Being a…