Restaurante El Bernegal, Santo Domingo

We were all sad when the Restaurant el Bernegal in Santo Domingo closed a couple of years ago. It was a hugely popular restaurant with a very varied menu which included some great options for vegetarian food. 

Located in a beautiful, old Canarian house with 3 separate dining rooms, it has plenty of charm and character. Add individual dining tables covered with white linen tablecloths, an abundance of sparkling wine glasses at every place setting, hanging plants and Moroccan-esk wall tiles in the charismatic central hall and the ambience is nothing short of suggesting a high class, expensive restaurant. 

Well, you'd almost be right apart from the fact that it's not expensive at all so you can imagine how happy we were to discover that it had reopened last year.
And better still, although with a new owner, the same great chef.
A birthday was the perfect excuse to try it out once more and it's a definite thumbs up from us. But since that seems to be the general consensus of opinion, don't be too surprised if it is packed full on a Sunday. Yes, waiting times might be long so it might be better to go during the week of possible.


Here are the opening times:
Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday - 12.00 to 17.00 hrs
Friday and Saturday - 12.00 to 17.00hrs then 19.00 to 22.00hrs
Closed Monday and Tuesday
To make a reservation, phone 0034 922 40 04 80

Which is the best month in the Canaries?

When people ask which is our favourite month on La Palma, it's always difficult to answer. Each month and season has something special to recommend it!
Spring is of course fabulous for the wild flowers - great bundles of sweet peas that line the donkey paths and always in the vibrant colours of hot pink and stunning magenta, terraces blanketed in purple and yellow and bright red poppies springing up wherever they get the notion.  But then winter is pretty great - after all, the winter sun is what a lot of people come to the Canaries for. Summer is lovely with long days in the garden, swimming or beach combing down at our local beach of La Fajana de Garafia just a 12 minute drive away and the nightly chorus of crickets and frogs.  And autumn is also beautiful with the colours as the chestnut tree leaves turn to amber and we are picking baskets full of figs from the trees on the finca.
We have a special reason the look forward to May though because this month heralds the start of when we get both a sunrise and a sunset from the finca. Crazy I know!  
Here's a photo of our lovely sunrise as we look east towards Barlovento.

A sunrise is definitely worth getting out of bed for and is so inspirational. And of course for those who are planning a long walk, then an early start during summer is usually advisable - great to have bed and breakfast accommodation right by the GR130 walking route in that case!

And then in the evening, we can enjoy the sunset. And that's the great thing about sunsets, you never know if it's going to be fiery and fill the sky with the intense glow of a volcano erupting.

Or gracefully slip down in the sea.

Whichever theme it chooses, it's always a magic sight.

And to think that when we came to live here in Garafia in the north of La Palma, we didn't knkow if we would see either the sunrise or sunset at all. You can read the story about it on our 'Relocating to the Canaries' here.