A small rock in the Atlantic

Visiting the Observatory, 2009

GranTeCan, the huge new Spanish telescope

La Palma is home to one of the three most important astronomical observatories in the world. (The other two are Hawaii and the Atacama desert in Chile.) The observatory sits at the top of the island, at the Roque de los Muchachos. It's a fascinating place to visit, but it's not normally open to tourists - they're too busy doing science. You can visit the mountain top and see the buildings from the outside any day of the year. But please note:

Days only, not nights. The William Herschel Telescope could see a candle on the moon, and the MAGIC telescope is even more sensitive. They really don't like car headlights. Some years ago there was an incident some years ago where a bus shone its lights right at the Herschel's dome. Now there's a barrier across the road which is shut a half an hour after sunset, and raised around dawn.
The road to the observatory is usually blocked for a few days each winter, by snow or landslides. Use your common sense. If the sign at the bottom of the mountain road says it's blocked, don't go up. I once rescued a couple of German tourists who'd spent the night in the car in the drainage ditch, after going past the sign, thinking that the weather couldn't be all that bad in the Canaries. It can. That night it was thick fog, 60 mph winds, and -5C. Thank God they didn't try to walk, because they'd have frozen to death for sure.

Since the MAGIC gamma ray telescope doesn't have a building, you get quite a good view from the outside. You can get fairly close by parking on one of the heliports (the bottom left as you go up the hill). From there, a footpath goes closer, and there's a display panel that explains how the telescope works.

If you want to see inside, you need to go on a guided tour. In 2009 they will hold 28 open days, each with only one group. Each visit starts with a visit to the MAGIC gamma-ray telescope, followed by one other telescope, and lasts about two hours. Visits must be booked in advance, by calling the receptionist at the Institute of Astronomy on (00 34) 922 425 703. And yes, the receptionist speaks English. Book early -- the places go fast. But no children under 12 allowed.

They also hold private visits, usually for schools or visiting astronomers. You can email your request to adminorm@iac.es. I believe the person who reads the email, speaks English. To be honest, they're unlikely to organise a visit for the average tourist, but if there's a visit organised anyway, you might be able to tag along. Cross your fingers!

The MAGIC gamma-ray telescope

Labels: astronomy, Garafía, La Palma, La Plama, observatory, Roque de los Muchachos

Bookmark with:

St. John's bonfires

In Spain it's traditional to have a bonfire to mark the feast of St John the Baptist, on the night of June 23rd. There are lots of private bonfires on La Palma, and some people use the occasion to have a good clear out and burn the rubbish. Several beaches hold bonfire parties, too. And I'm told that in some cases there's nude bathing.

I don't know about you, but to me, bonfires and nude bathing at midsummer sounds a good deal older than Christianity.

But in Puerto Naos they add their own twist. A covern of witches appears at about 10:30 pm and dances around bonfire. Then they chase the children (who love it, of course).

I asked this lady for a curse on my boss, but she said that they're all good witches, and they don't do curses, ever, even for bosses.

Which is a good thing, seeing as I'm self-employed.

Labels: bonfire, Midsummer, San Juan., St. John the Baptist

Bookmark with:

Procession for the Sacred Heart

They have lots of religious processions on La Palma, where they take the statue out of the church and around the neighbourhood streets, with music provided by the town band. A lot of the statues are beautiful, but if you see a lot of these processions, they do get a bit samey.

This one started much like all the others, only on the salt carpet. But when they got halfway along the first carpet, the statue stopped and brightly coloured bits of paper and bougainvillea petals started raining down from a nearby rooftop, which was very pretty indeed. (I found out later that the papers had "The promises of the Sacred Heart" printed on them - at least twelve different ones.) And the kids scrambled to collect the papers while they released some doves.

At the end of the first carpet, the procession stopped again, beside the old church, where the choir sang about "The Source of Love" - and sang it very well, too.

Then the procession went off through the carpet and pictures of houses, and on round the back streets.

I left the procession to get ready for them coming up the hill through the other archways. And I waited, and waited and waited. It must have been a very long procession, because they still hadn't appeared an hour later.

So I gave up and went home.

Labels: El Paso, fiestas, Sacred Heart, Sagrado corazon