Saturday 20 March 2005. We left El Caldera del Taburiente and set off on the last leg of our afternoon's excursion on the island of La Palma
First we stop at the Mirador de La Concepcion. This overlooks Santa Cruz to reveal that part of the town is built within the crater of a (hopefully) extinct volcano.
If it was once a perfectly round crater then it would appear that the sea has eroded one side of it considerably. The inland side is still steep and towering.
The scar that I took to be the point from which the lava and ash cloud emerged makes you wonder why people would build so close, but then I also scratch my head at the size of Naples around the base of Mount Vesuvius - a volcano still far from extinct.
From the mirador we set off for our last point of call: Santuario Virgen de Las Nieves - The Church of the Virgin of the Snows.
The church contains this statue of the patron saint of La Palma. Every five years the statue is taken down to Santa Cruz and paraded through the port in a celebration lasting two weeks. The locals in the parade wear costumes with eye holes near the top of the characters' hats, so it looks like they are dancing midgets, or enanos.
Someone has a job description that includes dressing and looking after the statue.
The village shop looked like (and may have been for all I know, though I doubt it, especially given the cross on the roof) a bawdy house from a western movie with its veranda. Anyway there were no beguiling maidens or otherwise showing off any shockingly exposed ankle.
A last look at the surrounding countryside and then it's back to the coach to be returned to the ship.
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