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.

 

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!

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!