A small rock in the Atlantic: 17/04/2011

G Astronomy in La Palma

Dishes inspired by Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, served at the Parador, La Palma island.

Dishes inspired by Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

The Parador on La Palma is just outside the village of San Jose, in Breña Baja. (Paradors are a national chain of posh hotels, and very nice they are too.) Tonight (April 22nd ) at 8 pm they'll be hosting the first public dinner with a new menu, inspired by astronomical bodies. A professional Starlight guide will be there to talk about the planets, and afterwards, there will be stargazing.

I haven't tried these dishes myself, but people who have tell me they taste heavenly.

Cost: 40€ per person. Reservations are essential, since numbers will be limited. For more information and bookings, phone 922 43 58 28 or email lapalma@parador.es

Dishes inspired by Jupiter, Saturn, comets and the Grantecan telescope, Parador in La Palma

Dishes inspired by Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, comets and the Grantecan telescope.

Labels: astronomy, Breña Baja, food and drink

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Star Party in Santa Cruz de la Palma

The castle on the hill above Santa Cruz (to the north) gets its name from the five-yearly festival where they bring the statue of the Virgin Mary down from Las Nieves into Santa Cruz. It's not much used in between fiestas, but Wednesday 20th April is The World Night in Defence of Starlight, and Astrotour will be holding a Star Party there from 9 pm to 1 am.

You'll be able to see Saturn and its rings through a telescope, watch an audiovisual presentation, and see the main constellations.

The castle is one of La Palma's network of viewpoints recommended for stargazing, and will be named after Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Even though it's so close to the town, you can still see the brighter stars, thanks to La Palma's Sky Law. It should be an interesting night.

Labels: astronomy, Santa Cruz de la Palma

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Holy Week Processions in Santa Cruz de la Palma

Holy Week Procession leaving the church of San Francisco, Santa Cruz de la Palma

It's Holy Week, and in this Catholic country, a lot of people take it very seriously. The bigger churches hold processions, which look very exotic to my English eyes.

It's not so much that they lug the obviously-heavy statues along the street. It's the costumes. They remind me of the Klu Klux Klan. This is unfair, because the costumes concerned are far older than the KKK. They ensure anonymity, but apparently it's not to avoid prosecution; it's to stop onlookers admiring your piety.

Traditional costumes copied by the KKK, Santa Cruz de la Palma

The Tourist Office produce a leaflet which lists the processions and their routes. These photos are of the Good Friday Calgary procession from the church of San Francisco. The men in red and white are from the Brotherhood of the Crucified and the True Cross (Cofradia del Crucificado y la Vera Cruz).

This is the statue of Our Lady of Loneliness (1733, Domingo Carmona).

Procession with a statue of Our Lady of Loneliness, Santa Cruz de la Palma

The statue of Our Lady of Loneliness

These statures are The Crucified (1968, Ezequiel de Leon Dominguez), The Holy Mary Magdelene (XIX century, Fernando Estevez del Sacramento) and St John the Evangelist (1863 Aureilo Carmona Lopez).

Procession with statues of Jesus, Mary Magdelene and St John, Santa Cruz de la Palma

Each Cofradia is devoted to a particular statue, and they're expensive to join - some cofradias in Serville cost over 1,000€, mostly for the costume. To the best of my knowledge, the cofradia exists solely for these processions, and do nothing else. They don't, for example, feed the hungry, buy medicines for the sick, or save whales.

I can easily understand suffering yourself in order to reduce someone else's suffering. Personally I don't see the point of this.