Tyler had two full weeks off over Christmas and New Years (he had to take the time or lose it). We were on La Palma for just the week of Christmas so the following week we had a staycation. We went to the movies, enjoyed some lovely hikes around town and made a good start on watching the Making of a Murderer documentary on netflix! However, with cabin fever starting to set in, at the last minute we decided to explore a bit further afield.

Since the weather had been so mild I was jonesing to have my Swiss alpine fantasies realized. These fantasies are rooted in my childhood memories of spent at Long Barn (Tuolumune County) or Lake Tahoe. Those were my formative snow experiences. My mom and aunt would, some Christmases, haul us girls and and all of our gifts and embark on a 3 plus hour car ride to the snow so we could have a white Christmas. We’d usually rent a lodge room or a cabin and search out a Charley Brown tree (a fallen pine branch) to decorate with tinsel and a string of colored lights we brought along. Both Long Barn and Tahoe featured lots of faux Swiss chalet chic architecture and decor. Living in Switzerland is weird for me because I understand intellectually that Swiss alpine architecture is not inherently kitschy but it always has the look of artifice to me. I imagine that inside every Heidi looking facade there is a cozy room decorated with birch wood framed cross stitch scenes of bear, fish or moose, vintage snow shoes on the wall and plush shag carpeting underfoot. Traditional Swiss architecture delights me and triggers wonderful memories.

The Hannas at Long Barn

And so with these visions of holidays past I looked for a nearby ski village for us to explore. Since there had been so little snow this year, many of the resort areas were hurting for trade. I figured we could get a good last minute deal. And so we did. I booked us a room at a place called The River House Hotel in the town of Andermatt, about a 2 hour train ride from Zurich for the next night. Not really knowing what to expect we packed an overnight bag and headed to the train station the next morning. To my delight, the weather report said to expect snow overnight and into the next day. Just the frosting on the fantasy I wanted!

There was no snow to be seen for most of the train ride up into the mountains. Not until we changed trains and ascended on small part of the famed Glacier Express route did we see a marked change in the terrain.

We got off at the little train station and walked into town. What a delightful surprise! It was just as I had hoped. Andermatt is a small, high alpine village (population 1,200) in the canton of Uri. A river runs through the center of town which our hotel abutted. The hotel is in a beautifully restored 250 year old house in the village center.

The red building is our hotel.

Our room retained it’s original wood floors and ceilings and even had antique skis on the walls to give it that extra kick of kitsch and nostalgia. Once we arrived we put our things away and went for a short hike around to get our bearings just as a light snow began to fall.

Andermatt from above:

After our walk we had a rest as the snow continued to fall. Before heading out for dinner we stopped in the town’s little museum. We didn’t expect much from the size and description. It seemed very random. Here’s the description:  “The museum hosts various permanent exhibitions. These include everyday domestic living during the period 1780/1800, the history of the valley and its culture, the skiing legend Bernhard Russi, tourism, the military, mountain agriculture, Alpine animals, mule transport, and a natural history collection. In addition, temporary exhibitions are displayed in the basement.”

Well, this museum turned out to be delightful and excellently curated. The building itself was a marvel; an fine restored house built in 1786. For most of our visit we were the only guests. Each room housed a different type of exhibit and in front of each room was a basket of absurdly large slippers to put on so as not to damage the original parquet floors. And as advertised it had it all; geodes, Olympic medals, arrowheads, army cots and beautiful antiques.

That night we had a splendid dinner at a Ticino restaurant (Ticino being the Italian speaking region of Switzerland which we were bordering). The waiter encouraged us to try the rigatoni with marmot ragout, the chef’s specialty. How could we say no?

The snow kept falling softly through the night.

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast and took one last walk through town (mostly so I could get use of the snow boots I bought but had not yet gotten to use). We also peeked into the big fancy new luxury resort they have on the other side of the village. It was super tacky and oh so “fancy”. A lot of foreign investors wanting to cash in on the ski trade here but it seemed like much of the new construction was vacant. We weren’t sure if the boom was just ramping up or slowing down. At any rate, Switzerland is very protective of it’s heritage so our last impressions of Andermatt were decidedly old fashioned, and romantic. In the case here, the modern resort hotel held all the kitsch and the Heidi alpine chalets of my memories held all the charm.

Tyler and I have inadvertently begun a tradition of having an island Christmas. It started with the idea of taking a trip somewhere new over the holidays. On our first Christmas trip we went to New Mexico where we had snow, breathtaking scenery and lots and lots of green chilies. The following year we went to The Big Island of Hawaii where we exchanged snow for sand and Portuguese sausage for green chilies (we kept the stunning scenery though). It’s hard to say no to surf and sun so last year found us in the Caribbean on the island of St. John. This year the cold and dark Swiss winter had us googling “sunniest place in Europe December”. The results were The Canary Islands, a place that had been in the back of my mind since my first visit to Spain in 1994. If you don’t know, The Canary Islands have been a part of Spain since the early 1400’s and are located in the Atlantic ocean directly off the coast of Morocco and Western Sahara. After further research we learned that the Canary Islands are a popular tourist destination for British and German tourists and can be a bit of a party scene. There was however one island that stood out from the rest as the quietest and least developed; La Palma. La Palma is known for it’s recent volcanic activity (last eruption was in 1971), unique and diverse geography, agriculture (primarily wine and bananas) and wonderful hiking opportunities. Sold!

We booked a traditional Canarian stone house located in the very small town of Las Indias on the southern tip of the Island.

As you can see we had a lovely sea view and a small vineyard next door. Each evening the workers (usually 3 or 4) would gather for an outdoor meal and to play dominoes.

It was raining when we arrived but we had variable weather throughout the week with some days of perfect, tropical sun and others that were cloudy and overcast. The temperature ranged from low 60’s to high 70’s. The wind was the only constant.

On our first full day we explored the main city of Santa Cruz. It’s known for it’s traditional Canarian architecture, especially for the ornate wooden balconies.

We visited a very good museum (housed in a scale replica of Christopher Columbus’ Santa Maria) which told the maritime history of The Canary Islands. It was fascinating to learn just how important these islands have been throughout history.

We got a two-fer and visited another smaller museum which was just bizarre. It focused on Santa Cruz’ Ascension celebrations held every 5 years. It’s a huge bash that includes lots of historical reenactments and features dancing dwarfs which are the city’s de facto mascots.

The dwarfs appear everywhere from manhole covers to t-shirts to various statues around town.

The following day Tyler and I got up before the sun to catch a cab that would take us to the trail head for a hike along the spine of the island called the Ruta de los Volcanes. It’s a 12 mile journey that is supposed to have extraordinary views but unfortunately for us the weather was not on our side for the first half of the hike. It was cloudy and incredibly windy. Like scary windy. I had to take my glasses off because I was afraid they would blow off my face. We hiked over jagged volcanic rock and up a grueling sandy trail without being able to see more that a few feet in front of us. We made he most of it and were laughing our asses off at the sight of us.

It was literally raining inside of one of my lenses.

Eventually the clouds lifted and we came out of the worst of it and were treated to the spectacular views we were hoping for.

Totally worth it but man we were sore the next day. The second half of the hike was nearly all down a steep rocky grade and our calves got a real work out. The rest of the week found us taking things a bit easier. We took a day trip on an old fishing boat one day and visited a black sand beach another.

We also ate a lot. Typical Canarian food is simple. A grilled meat or fish served with “papas arrugadas” or wrinkly potatoes. These are small waxy potatoes cooked in heavily salted water (sometimes sea water is used) until it evaporates and served whole in their skin. They also make a lot of goat cheese and this is served fried or baked until brown on the outside and topped with either red or green mojo sauce and perhaps some local honey. Mojos are ubiquitous and served with every meal. The most unique national dish is gofio and is really only eaten in The Canary Islands. It is a hold over from the native tribes and is a toasted grain meal to which hot broth is added. It looks like refried beans but is very thick and starchy in texture. It took some getting used to but we really enjoyed it!

gofio with green mojo sauce.

I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to visit this unique place. Back in 1994 when I had first heard of The Canary Islands it seemed incredibly exotic, far-flung and out of reach. Now that we are living in Europe we are able to explore these types of places with surprising ease: A direct flight from Zurich to Madrid and then a short jump from there to La Palma. Everything was relatively inexpensive, including the flights (of course compared to Zurich, anything seems inexpensive!). Even so, it still has the charm of the exotic and remote. The day before we left all flights off of La Palma were grounded because high winds in Western Sahara were blowing too much sand in the air. What a world!

*For those interested, here is a link to my full album of photos from La Palma. Enjoy!