“We all need something to help us unwind at the end of the day. You might have a glass of wine, or a joint, or a big delicious blob of heroin to silence your silly brainbox of its witterings but there has to be some form of punctuation, or life just seems utterly relentless.”
― Russell Brand, My Booky Wook
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| A look down from Mirador de Time as we wound up to the only section of the island we would not visit hiking---the Northwest. The village below is Los Llanos de Aridane where we are staying in a hotel. All the white things you see are banana plantations and most bananas are NOT under cover. The number of bananas is unbelievable. |
So we decided to forgo the heroin and marijuana today is search of the Canarian culture and its wines. Many people are unaware that not only South America, but Canary islands saved the wine world from fungal infestation in the 1800s and also, it has one of the longest wine making traditions. Shakespeare and Lord Byron wanted to imbibe malmsey wine, made from the Malvasia grape. It was considered a delicacy. Today, wines are made from many grapes in the Canaries with Liston Blanco, Criollo and Negromole predominating.
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| Our first winery was Vega Norte (North Star) which has a very modern facility.and great wines |
Vega Norte had an array of "blanco y tinto" including wines aged in pine barrels (called Vin De Tea) and a late harvest wine.
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| Bottling facility at Vega Norte |
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| Amongst the tanks for our tour. They mostly use stainless steel, but they do barrel age some varietals. |
From this very modern facility, our next stop was a winery called Tindal. They also produce vino tinto, vino blanco and this year also a cider. The proprietors are part of a family run operation and studied enology in La Mancha. As thus, they also produce a traditional sherry in an open ceramic container. And it was yummy!
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| The tiny tasting room at Tindal winery. The owner were incredibly friendly and treated us to their handmade sherry which was crazy good. While we tasted the wines, we were looking out onto beautiful almond orchards in bloom. |
Our next goal was to get to the highest spot on the island, Roques de los Muchachos. We had several scenic outlooks along the way.
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| Looking out to the Atlantic from the north end |
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| The gang-- Jean and Blaine Enderson, Paul and moi |
En route to the top of island, we made a stop at the gofio museum. Gofio is a staple of the diet, although currently it is less prevalent due to western grains introduced into the diet. It is a mix of grains such as barley or wheat and corn and can be added to soups, etc or mixed in milk as a meal. I have tasted it and I don't find it overly palatable, but if you had little choice, you'd probably be happy to have it.
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| The windmill that gristed gofio at least through the 1950s |
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| Harvesting equipment |
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| Examples of grain used in gofio |
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| The grindstone |
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| Blaine and Jean in front of the windmill. ALso , this windmill is the symbol seen on the Tindal wine bottles. |
After this stop, it was up, up and away to Roques de los Muchachos which also is home to one of the world's largest observatories. Scientist live on site year round studying sun, moon, stars and planets.
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| Observatory on Lapalma. It can be toured by appointment only. We didn't have one. :( |
At the top of the island beyond the observatory, we were treated to spectacular views.
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| View from Roque de Muchachos |
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| And another one... |
After this, we were off to a nice local lunch and trip back to Los Llanos.
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| The Pines of the Virgin Restaurant serves a mean stew! |
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| The numerous thermoclines of the island give rise to many different plants. Succulents and cacti abound in some areas as do agave plants. The higher elevations are populated by Canarian pines. |
We really enjoyed our "day off" the hiking trail and the experience of views from on high as well as two very different but equally enjoyable and unique wine tastings. Very fortunate to be here enjoying this!
"I love to sit on a mountaintop and gaze. I don't think about anything except people I care about and the view."
----Julian Lennon
Paul's Ponderings: Today was a break from hiking, with a visit to a couple of lovely wineries, Vega Norte (North Star) and Tendal. Both were at a high elevation on the north of the island, so we had a drive with huge views to get there. Vega Norte produces a variety of wines using grapes from multiple producers, while Tendal is more of a "family" winery. Both were great to visit and taste wine, since the grapes and approach are quite different than the US and mainland Europe.
After that, it was up to the highest point of the island, Roque de los Muchachos, which has a number of observatories. It was a stunning view and we could see El Hierro and a bit of La Gomera in the clouds BELOW us.
After that, we had a meal on the way back, then to our hotel for a rest and dinner.
All in all, a quiet rest day livened up by wine and food.
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| Mascot at the Roque de Los Muchachos |
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