Friday 24 February 2023

La Palma

Sunday 20 March 2005. The good ship Carousel docks in Santa Cruz on the island of La Palma.

It's a beautiful day and we are booked on an excursion for the afternoon. So for the morning we will get off the ship and wander independantly around the town of Santa Cruz.

We have a little map of the town centre from the ship and follow other passengers as they seem to know where they are going. Mind you, people have followed us in the past, making the same mistake...

However in this case we arrive safely into Santa Cruz. There's a full size galleon standing on the dockside. Not in the sea but on the dockside. It makes more sense when it is pointed out to us that it is made of concrete!

Santa Cruz is a gorgeous town. Extremely pretty, with streets and narrow alleys requiring houses with very narrow ends that widen as they get further from the junction. Houses are rendered and painted in bright colours and there is plenty of public seating provided.

The statue of a group of musicians takes pride of place in this little square with a view between the houses out to the Atlantic Ocean. It's Sunday and we presume the locals must all be in church - this being a mainly Catholic community.

In fact it's not just any Sunday, but it's Palm Sunday and we hear music and singing approaching us down the hillside of the street. The locals are parading, waving long palm fronds in a smiling procession that is delightful to watch pass by.

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