A small rock in the Atlantic

Divine Biscuits from the Cistercian Convent

The Cistercian convent at Buenavista in Breña Alta, La Palma

The Cistercian convent of the Holy Trinity at Buenavista in Breña Alta is surprisingly new. It was founded in 1946, and it's the only closed order on the island. I was surprised to find out that there are only ten nuns who live there.

The convent has a small shop. I first went there about eleven years ago, in search of a rosary made of dragon-tree seeds, for a Catholic friend who was losing her eyesight. The seeds are big enough that you can feel your way through the prayers, and she was delighted. At the time, the shop was still in the older part of the building, and to my eyes, very exotic. The room was rather dark, and seemed darker because of the wooden paneling. The nun who came to serve me stayed behind a tiny barred window, as though she were in jail - until she saw that I had a toddler with me. Then she disappeared, and came round to my side for a good coochi-coo.

A Cistercian nun in the convent's shop, Breña Alta, La Palma

A nun in the convent shop

The new shop is much airier, as you can see. They still sell rosaries and religious medals, but they're best known for their biscuits, pastries and fruit liquors. Since they're handmade, they're a bit on the expensive side (these were €4.50), but they're delicious. My mother-in-law always used to say, "God knows what they put in them, but they taste divine."

Biscuits from the convent at Buenavista in Breña Alta, La Palma

Labels: Breña Alta, buenavista, convent, food, La Palma, La Plama

Bookmark with:

A Craft Shop with a Difference

La Distiladera in Breña Alta sells a variety of crafts from La Palma. The big difference is that most of the products are made by mentally handicapped adults in the special Employment Centre in the same building. This gives them the dignity of supporting themselves, and you a chance to buy good quality souvenirs at a fair price.

They stock a good variety of crafts, from papiere mache wall decorations to beaded keyrings to embroidery and mojo (a Canarian sauce, something like ketchup). I liked the jewelry, but they're best known for fruit liquors (€10 a bottle) and cigars.

They open from 8 am to 3 pm. To find them, take the road from the centre of San Pedro towards La Grama, and turn uphill just below the health centre.

Labels: Breña Alta, Shopping

Bookmark with:

Meeting the Devil

The devil arriving at the fiesta, San Miguel, Breña Alta

La Palma has several fiestas where the devil appears. On Saturday night I went to one in San Miguel, a little village in Breña Alta. It started off like most fiestas - a band playing in the village square, with a couple of kiosks selling drinks and snacks, and a stall selling cheap kid's toys. Then, a little after 1 am, a group of special characters arrived: giants and "big heads" (cabezudos). They're a staple of Palmeran fiestas. The "big heads" are people in costumes including an outsize, moulded head. This lot included a couple of Snow White's dwarves, a wizard, Bart Simpson, and two witches, which is traditional. As usual, the witches had soft plastic sticks to whack people with, which is the bit the older kids love best. The giants are extra tall costumes, maybe twelve feet tall, which must be rather difficult to steer.

The devil, spouting fire at San Miguel, Brena Alta

The whole procession works its way down the hill, until it's below the square with the dancing. Then the devil appears with them. It's a man in a costume including a "big head", with fireworks on his trident and the head. He works his way up the hill again, to just above the church.

Then the cross lights up with fireworks, and the devil promptly scarpers.

And then they light more fireworks, set up to spin like catherine wheels.

Catherine Wheels

Labels: Breña Alta, fiestas, The devil's dance

Bookmark with:

The Scenic route over the ridge

Llanos del Jable, with El Paso behind, La Palma

Los Llanos del Jable, with El Paso behind

The main roads on La Palma form a rough figure 8, with the main east-west road being the LP2 from Santa Cruz to Los Llanos, through the tunnel. But whenever I've got time, I like to take the scenic route, the LP203. This winds up through the heather and bayberry forest, then pine forest, past the barbecue and picnic areas at Pared Vieja and El Pilar. Just west of the top, you pop out of the forest at the Los Llanos del Jable viewpoint. From there you get a great view of El Paso and Los Llanos, the south wall of the Caldera, and Montaña Quemada.

Montaña Quemada means "burnt mountain," and it's easy to see where the name comes from. The only recorded eruption here was in the 15th century, but it looks much more recent than that. The ground is covered in volcanic gravel called lapilli. Don't try to walk in sandles because the darn things get between the sole of your foot and the sole of the sandal, and they're very uncomfortable.

Going west from Los Llanos del Jable, the road winds down through pine forests until it rejoins the main road.

Montaña Quemada, El Paso, La Palma

Montaña Quemada

Labels: Breña Alta, El Paso, Montaña Quemada

Bookmark with:

San Isidro Livestock Fair

Saint Isidore the Laborer

This weekend they're holding the second biggest livestock fair on the island, at San Isidro, in Breña Alta. (The biggest is San Antonio del Monte, in June).

It starts off with a procession which brings the statue of the saint from the church to the fairground. Sorry, I missed that bit (I was having a lie in)

Cattle at the fair of St. Isidore, Breña Alta

People bring their animals, and there are prizes for the best milk cow, best bull, best goat, etc. Most of the animals are tied up in big field while they wait for the judging, and you can go around admiring them. (I hope someone brings them water later.) The priest blesses the animals, and they have a competition to see which bulls can drag a heavy stone the fastest. (I missed that, too. I was teaching.) Later on tonight they'll be a dance.

Tomorrow they have bouncy castles for the kids, a cycle race, and a horse race. And at 8:30 pm, a procession takes the statue of the saint back to the church.

Labels: Breña Alta, fiesta, May 15th, San Isidro

Bookmark with:

Photos of Fiesta de la Cruz

My favourite! Of course this is the international year of astronomy.

The kids' cross beside the one above. This is GranTeCan, the (Big Canarian Telescope) which will open this year.

The Centro de Niña Jaubert (a home for mentally handicapped adults) produced this old fashioned cheese factory.

And the cross the handicapped people did by themselves. The decoration is pasta, sprayed gold.

Cruz de la Pasión. At fist I thought the background was needlepoint done in very thick wool. It's actually tiny screws of paper.

And in Santa Cruz, there's a street full of mayos again. We counted 332 of them. This time, the top end is full of Carnival mayos . This is the sardine's funeral. at the real event, some men dress as women. This guy obviously couldn't cope with alcohol and high-heeled shoes together.

Farther down, there's a protest. These are the top politicians on the island, cutting up a cake of La Palma, and the sign reads "And in LA Palma there's 9,000 unemployed."

And a nearby school had mayos too. I wonder if this represents a real person?

And in the afternoon there was a religious procession.

Some of the people following the cross were in clothes that must have been traditional centuries ago.

Labels: Breña Alta, Breña Baja, Fiesta de la Cruz, La Palma, Santa Cruz

Bookmark with:

Fiesta de la Cruz Tonight

This is a local fiesta in Santa Cruz and the Breñas, in celebration of the Sacred Cross. As often happens, the main party is the night before the public holiday. The wayside crosses will be beautifully decorated. Since most crosses are hung with gold jewelry (among other things) people stay beside them in shifts all night, and all the next day. Most holidaymakers go and admire the crosses on the morning of the 3rd (Sunday), but the locals go see the crosses starting at about 11 pm the night before, when it's cooler and more atmospheric.

For the last few years, it's been fairly common to have a few mayos or machangos beside the cross. These are giant rag dolls, something like scarecrows or the guys I used to make for bonfire night. Last year, one street in Santa Cruz was full of them.

If you've got a hire car, the best plan is to go up to San Isidro and follow the crowd down the hill. There are crosses all the way along a very steep lane, which used to be a donkey track. Tonight it'll be one-way -- downhill. (You go up the much newer, asphalted road.) As you approach each cross, you'll find a small traffic jam. You go past the cross slowly (usually saying, "Oh wow!") and drive on to the next.

If you haven't got a car, I recommend a stroll around Santa Cruz, particularly up the older bits.

Labels: Breña Alta, Breña Baja, Fiesta de la Cruz, La Palma, Santa Cruz

Bookmark with:

Twin Dragon Trees

Twin dragon trees (Dracaena draco), Breña Alta

These trees stand in Breña Alta, just off the minor road which winds over the central ridge to El Paso. They grow so close together that it's hard to tell where on trunk ends and the other begins.

Trunks of twin dragon trees, Breña Alta, La Palma

Trunks of twin dragon trees, Breña Alta, La Palma

Of course there's a legend associated with the trees. Two brothers lived nearby, and were very close, but they fell in love with the same gorgeous girl.

Oh dear. You can already tell that this doesn't have a happy ending, can't you?

The girl was fond of them both, but she had the sense not to keep them dangling. She chose one, and they were married, but as they walked to their new home in the dark, the spurned brother attacked. He killed the new bridegroom, and tried to rape his sister-in-law. She got to the kitchen knife first, so that was the end of him.

The new widow honoured them both by planting these two dragon trees. As the cuttings grew, she watered them and they grew tall from the fertile soil and her warm memories. They say that the brothers' blood still flows within their trunks and gives them life.

Twin dragon trees, Breña Alta, La Palma

Dragon trees are odd plants (see Dragon trees). Like most mature dragon trees, these are so full of nooks and crannies that they're more a micro-climate than a plant.

To see the trees, take the LP 123 between San Pedro and Monte de la Breña, and then the LP 301 up the hill. The trees are on the left, about 400 m from the junction. There's a tiny car park.
Twin dragon trees, Breña Alta, La Palma

Labels: Breña Alta, Canaries, Canary Island flora, Canary islands, Dracaena draco, dragon tree, La Palma, legends, Plants, twin dragon trees

Bookmark with:

The Cistercian Convent

The Convent of the Holy Trinity, Brena Alta

The Cistercian convent of the Holy Trinity at Buenavista in Breña Alta is surprisingly new. It was founded in 1946, and it's the only closed order on the island. I was surprised to find out that there are only ten nuns who live there.

The convent has a small shop. I first went there about ten years ago, in search of a rosary made of dragon-tree seeds, for a Catholic friend who was losing her eyesight. The seeds are big enough that you can feel your way through the prayers, and she was delighted. At the time, the shop was still in the older part of the building, and to my eyes, very exotic. The room was rather dark, and seemed darker because of the wooden paneling. The nun who came to serve me stayed behind a tiny barred window, as though she were in jail - until she saw that I had a toddler with me. Then she disappeared, and came round to my side for a good coochi-coo.

The shop of the Convent of the Holy Trinity, Brena Alta

The shop of the Convent of the Holy Trinity, Brena Alta

The new shop is much airier, as you can see. They still sell rosaries and religious medals, but they're best known for their biscuits, pastries and fruit liquors. Since they're handmade, they're a bit on the expensive side (these were €4.50), but they're delicious. My mother-in-law always used to say, "God knows what they put in them, but they taste divine."

Biscuits from the Convent of the Holy Trinity, Brena Alta

Biscuits from the Convent of the Holy Trinity, Brena Alta

The shop's open from 9:30 - 2 pm, from 3 pm - 6pm and 7 pm - 8pm. Take the road from Conception towards Velhoco, and then drive up the narrow lane almost opposite the La Graja restaurant. It's signposted "Monasterio el cister". After about 300 m you'll find the entrance on your right. It's signposted again, but much less promenantly.

View Larger Map

Labels: biscuits, Breña Alta, Cistercian, convent, Holy Trinity, La Palma

Bookmark with:

Where's the village gone?

Tourists sometimes go nuts trying to find the village of Breña Baja, or Fuencaliente.

There's a really simple reason why they can't find them. They don't exist. Breña Baja and Fuencaliente are municipalities, and their town halls are in the villages of San Jose and Los Canarios, respectively. It like driving all over the south east of England, looking for the town of Sussex.

The map shows the 14 municipalities (in blue) , with their administrative seats (in pink). Where
there's no name in pink, the municipalities are named after their chief villages, which makes things simpler. Just to keep things interesting, one, San Andrés y Sauces, is named after the two biggest villages. The town hall is in Los Sauces, which is much bigger and on the main road.

That's easy to find.

Labels: Barlovento, Breña Alta, Breña Baja, Canaries, Canary, El Paso, fuencaliente, Garafía, La Palma, municipalities, Puntagorda, puntallana, San Andres y Sauces, Santa Cruz de la Palma, tijarafe

Bookmark with:

Flags Galore

You see a lot of flags on La Palma. Most English visitors will recognise the flags of Spain and the European Union.

But the Canary Islands are an autonomous region within Spain, and they have their own flag too. You see it a lot, especially around May 30th, which is Canary Day.