January 7, 2020: La Oliva to Antigua. Say Cheese!

Nuestra Senora de Candelaria all decked out for Los Tres Reyes

“The Church is a perpetually defeated thing that always outlives her conquerers.”
― Hilaire Belloc

Paul and I started the day with great ambition to visit four cities, three of which had political importance in years past,  and a series of interesting caves on the coastline. Instead we saw one city and some cheese! Better to live in the moment than make plans. Our first stop that took up most of the day was the city of La Oliva, only about 14 miles from our base in the surfer town of El Cotillo.

This is a relatively sleepy town, but it was once the capital of Fuertaventura in the 18th century and before that, the seat of the Guanche king, Guixe. 

There is a "tourist route" starting at the cathedral in the town square. So that's where we started as well.  Nuestra Senora de Candelaria is a 17th century church with a volcanic stone bell tower. The interior is simple but interesting. I am always impressed by the Canarian wood ceilings.

The crucifixion scene as you enter

Note the vaulted wood ceiling, a feature of many buildings of these islands.

I went to the grotto to say a prayer for some sick friends, but had to stand outside it so as not to disturb this guy sleeping on the bench.

The baptismal font is centuries old.

From here, the guidebook directed us to the Museo de Grano La Sila. This was a grain storage building during the period of the Spanish lords and colonels.  Note the similarity to our word silo, although this building was not tall and thin. 

A low Canarian stone building served as a storage area for local grains: wheat, millet, corn and beans.

It housed grain that was taken as a tax to the church and the military command. This wasn't on our plan for the day, but it ended up being a happy accident. Grain was essential here to survival in the hot desert climate. We got a real feel for how hard these folks worked to grow, water, harvest, and store the crops. 

This wooden tiller  has implanted sharp volcanic rock

The local farmers used oxen, donkeys and yes, camels to plough fields. Camels were the preferred beast of burden as they are drought resistant and can carry a heavier load than a donkey.

Besides growing the grains, the farmers had to harvest it (not on a windy day, which is a feat on these islands) and separate grain and shaft. Here are some devices used for the latter task.

I gained a great appreciation for the ingenuity and sheer stamina of these folks who grew so much in this harsh environment. Harsh years lead to famine and poverty.

From here, we walked down the road to the Casa Manes. This was a favorite of mine-- an art museum featuring ONLY Canarian artists. There was also a nice cactus garden and restaurant on the property which was once a military colonel's home, then a doctor's vacation residence, and is now nicely restored for cultural purposes. They had several temporary installations as well as permanent collection and a tienda. 

This painting and the one below were done by the same artist. This one was in the permanent collection.

The temporary collection piece by the same artist as the painting above. These pieces were more on the lines of erotica...although if you LOVE surfing, I guess the first one seems erotic too. The temporary exhibit appeared to mostly feature women artists of the Canaries.

Sculpture garden

The artist Melian has a beautiful textured technique that depicts the local landscape of Fuertaventura very well.

There was a large cactus garden. Paul liked this one because it looked like it had a tail.

The pirate hanging out in the sculpture garden.

The permanent collection was housed in this lovely subterranean area with skylights and another of their lovely wooden ceilings.

I totally fell in love with this artist, Nuria del Pino, who depicts mixed media scenes. I love the stick people at the bottom.

From here we made our way to the "big feature" of La Oliva, which once served as a capital city. The Spanish military positioned colonels here, giving them a lordship. They oversaw the grain collection, some civil affairs and protected the citizens from foreign invasion and piracy, which was rampant in the 18th and some of the 19th century. There is a record in the residence of a British ship landing with 55 men whom the Spanish military slaughtered (losing only 5 men themselves.) They divided the 155 guns, 50 rifles and various other wares, including a trumpet amongst the soldiers who fought the battle. 

Casa de los Coroneles. Much favored for its symmetry and beautiful balconies. It's big!

Interior view of Casa de Coroneles.

The courtyard

The dining room. There is an interesting record preserved of an Englishman who visited one of the last Colonels in about 1901. He states the only people in the house were a very old man, his 45 year old son and a very feeble woman servant. His description of the evening is quite comical. He was a friend of friend of a "Marquesa" but they seemed to believe he was much closer to her than he was--an error he chose not correct. He says the elderly lady worked hard to be sure his mouth was never empty. In fact, she worked so hard, he started keeping a biscuit in his pocket so that if she ever passed him, he would pull it out and take a nibble to be sure he was always eating and thereby avoid an onslaught of  food.

After seeing all these historical sites, and hearing about other people being fed at Casa de Coroneles, the pirate was inspired to find Casa de Pizza. The pizzeria we found was not much to look at, but the pizza itself was thin-crusted and wood-fired and deemed "pirate worthy."

It almost made him smile. 

Doesn't look like much but highly recommended. Across the street from the church.

From this point, we ventured to the next city of Antigua which served as the capital of Fuertaventura from 1834-5. We didn't get there in time to see the inside of the local church which is one of the oldest in the Canaries. But we did see the Cheese Museum which is set up at the site of a local windmills. Like Mallorca, grain was incredibly important in the Canaries and windmills are around every curve.

Molina de Antigua. You can go inside and see the grinding stone. 

And since this is a cheese museum, you can get a sampler. Goat cheese in this region is highly regulated and comes in three forms: Young or fresco (aged less than 20 days), semi-curado (aged 20-60 days) and curado or mature (aged >60 days). It all tasted good to me.

Cheese in this region pretty much all comes from goats. The Majorera goats come in all sizes and colors. You can see my shadow taking a picture of this "splain board." 

The unique features of this goat are pointed out. The one I note is that this goat type is the Dolly Parton of udders. There was even an exhibit that showed that the father goat testicle shape and size determines the tit size of the female goat. Then they had a game where you match the testicles to the teats...and this game was interactive for children. Oh Lord. That wouldn't fly in K town.

The Canarian sheep dog which weighs about 80-90 lbs is an integral part of any goat herd.

I learned a heck of a lot about goats, testicles, teats, milking, sheperding, cheese making process, rennet, curds, labelling---you name it. Very interesting and complicated process. But the cheese will make you smile. YUM!

By this time, the sun was low in the sky, so we headed back to El Cotillo. On the way, we visited the local lighthouse and watched the sun go down on the ocean.

El Cotillo Land of the Awesome Sunset.

The pirate in the foreground on rocky beach. Faro de Toston in the background.

We didn't walk 10 miles today, but we did get "our steps" easily. So this worked up an appetite for a stop at Cafe Romeo and Juliette. That didn't suck either. What's not to like about pasta and tiramisu?

Wild boar tagiatelle. Pirate, pizza, pasta---there seems to be a theme.

I had pasta mediterranean--tomatoes, capers and olives. A winning combo.

We have plenty more to see on Fuertaventura tomorrow--which by the way was settled by the French!

"Whilst all of the Canary Islands are stunning, it is Fuerteventura that is renowned for having the most pristine beaches. Just 50 miles from the west African coast, the entire island is a Biosphere Reserve which ensures the natural surroundings (including volcanoes, scared mountains and sand dunes) are looked after effectively.

Not only is Fuerteventura nature’s paradise, it is also rich with cultural attractions, historical monuments and religious architecture. "--------Expat News

Paul's Ponderings:  What a great low key day out on the Canaries.....after some super vigorous hiking on Lanzarote, we have a fabulous warm day of culture out on Fuerteventura.   I think we both learned a lot about the island, both about the history of the oversight of church and military as dominant institutions, but general culture as well.  What an impressive island with a rich history this island has...like a large part of Canaries, it has a long and complex history dating back to the Berbers, but dominated by an agricultural society that worked extremely hard to barely survive at times.   

Likewise, after some pretty intense hiking over the pas week, we were pretty glad to just sort of sight-see today.   

Once again, if you get a chance to visit here, take advantage of it......you won't regret it.