San Andres and Marine Walk to Charco Azul and Puerto Espíndola - Part II

On our way now from the beautiful little village of San Andres to the Puerto de Espíndola, this the second part of our blog post - you can see the first part here: http://holiday-lapalma.blogspot.com.es/2017/03/san-andres-and-marine-walk-to-charco.html

Although the walk is very easy and quite short, there are many things to see along the way and of course even a bit to learn. For example, you'll be able to read from one of the information boards about how the settlement of San Andres was the most important trading centre in the north-east of La Palma, especially in the 16th and 17th century. It's hard to imagine what it was like that far back!

But the tiny port of 'La Cuevita' that is passed along way was doubtless key and you can still see the winch that was used in more recent times to get boats in and out of the water. Before the advent of the fantastic roads we have now, it was

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

San Andrés, a little village in the north east of La Palma

The little village of San Andrés is the sort of place that makes you think, 'Ah, now this is a proper Spanish village.' Well at least that's what we thought when we were exploring La Palma for a place to unpack our bags for a few years at least. So when we happened to encounter San Andrés which is the equal and opposite of an archetypal British village, it seemed a fair swap.

From falling in love with San Andrés as a place to live and falling out of love with it unfortunately took less than 30 minutes which coincided with a coach full of tourists arriving. Yes, apparently we were not the only people to have noticed the immense charm of this little place. And off we trotted to go and live one-fifth of the way up a mountain in what friends call our splendid isolation (with views). But of course this doesn't stop us visiting San Andrés to do our own little bit of tourism.

So what is it about San Andrés that makes it probably the most beautiful village on La Palma? Doubtless, the little cobbled streets flanked by a selection of curious old houses helps. Along with the whitewashed 15th century church, the Iglesia de San Andrés. Plazas with restaurants and the odd cheeky bar always help of course. Admittedly, there is no village pond but it does have the Atlantic Ocean at its feet which somehow offsets any feeling of being short-changed.

But what I think probably makes it stand out is the lushness of the place. If you take a look from afar, such as from Los Sauces the town above it, you'll notice a green oasis - this is San Andrés.

So what else is there to do in San Andrés apart from walk along the cobbled streets taking photos of curious old houses, visit the church, eat, drink and enjoy the views? Setting off over the highly pleasing and photogenic bridge  ...

... takes us to the sea pools of Charco Azul and then the beach of Puerto Espindola plus a few other delights along the way. And that's probably a good place to leave it until the next blog post.
Meanwhile, want to find out what we do when not playing hookey? Check us out at our day job - www.holiday-lapalma.com

La Mata

La Mata is home to one of our great little local restaurants, a twenty-minute drive from the finca here in Franceses.  It lies just off the main road between Roque Faro and La Zarza.

When we first came here, it was a mouldy old building with an interesting green/blue mottling effect of damp creeping up the walls.  Nobody seemed to mind - or notice.  Then it closed for a while, re-opened under new management and eventually was transformed into what it is today - a jolly nice place!
One of its special attractions is the fact that meat is cooked over wood, just like it was in the old days.  If you have tried to bbq food using wood rather than charcoal, then you will realise that it is quite an art, especially in a restaurant where they don't know if and when orders will come in. But in fact, you will find that quite a few restaurants on La Palma cook in this traditional way, especially in the north, and this is still the way our farming neighbours cook their meals as routine.
The other thing about the restaurant at La Mata is that it also has a stunning view, although I have to admit that an amazing view surrounds you almost everywhere along this stretch of road.

From the outside, La Mata may not inspire you to delve inside in search of a good meal but appearances can be deceptive.  Walking through the narrow bar, past the usual selection of wine drinking, cigar smoking farmers, you will arrive at the small inner restaurant.  A door will take you through into the outer restaurant where, given some luck, you can dine in dappled sunlight.

For those that wish, there is also the garden outside where you can enjoy a drink or a meal.  And there are some nice touches here and there.

For those who would like to explore and take a small stroll past the restaurant of La Mata, you may spot something you didn't quite expect.  Surprises, I have come to learn, are the norm in La Palma so would it be a pig farm, or chickens maybe in this most simple and rural of areas.  No - ostriches! Well, why not, nobody said there weren't ostriches on La Palma!

Carrying on just a little from here, apart from a long low house which looks abandoned but isn't and a building project you will come to another slight surprise in the form of a road sign.  Now why on earth would there be an official looking sign on a dirt track?  Well, that's because this used to be the main road, the 'Carretera General.'

Sometimes we bring guests in the Land Rover along this section of  'road' just to demonstrate what it used to be like.  (Don't try this in a hire car, they are not insured for off-road driving).  Pre-1960's, there were no asphalt roads up here, just tracks and donkey paths so this makes us feel very grateful for the excellent, and improving, roads we now have.
But of course tracks like the old Carretera General are our favourites - providing there is not rush  ...