Exploring Champagne during Grape Harvest

It’s been like an exotic dream for many years- wanting to experience the Champagne region during the season of the grape harvest- what they call vendange. For four years, every time I remembered to check it, through a French colleague, it was either well in progress for me to make travel arrangements and go, or was over. The vendange usually happens during Sep-Oct, the exact date of the beginning of harvest varies every year depending on the climate. Once begun, it goes on for 15days, with no break on weekends.  

I think the seeds of this urge were planted long ago, as a 10-year old when I felt fascinated looking at this oil painting on the back cover of the Reader’s Digest magazine!- a young French village lady in traditional outfits, holding her skirt aloft about her calves, merrily stomping away on a heap of black grapes in a wide wooden cask- The pre-industrial era version of a ‘wine-press’, if you will. 

Around the same time, my mother was making red wine, as a novelty by trying out what she heard or read..

By keeping grape juice in earthen pot, with the neck covered with linen.
Though it was kept undisturbed in an empty dark corner for couple of months, like it was forgotten by others;
But to my mind, that dark corner was the most "happening" place,
and one place where my mind dwelled the most,
hyper-curious about what "secret magic" might be happening there-
For, I wanted to possess such a "secret magic" Power:
The Power, to turn the most ordinary, accessible, allowed and 'meek' thing like 'grape juice',
into something with a very intriguing, exotic, Powerful character--
a Powerful "magic drink", to which access is controlled/ restricted;
which has the ability to attract people,
and the ability to even "control" people,
and "take away" their will to think and act,
to make them look sub-human creatures.


Whatever was that secret of the world,
which transforms the meek to become powerful, using which
you can transform the powerful to become meek!!!


I wanted THAT power, to turn the ordinary into extra-ordinary!.
I wanted to acquire THAT "secret magic" of the world.!
And, I never wanted to surrender my "power to think"..to any drink!! ;))

..And.. there was a power-struggle going on in my mind-

Two enemy thoughts were waging war..
One told me, To acquire that magic, I will at least have to "open it and see"..
The other told me, that if I open it, that magic might escape..
Will all powerful secrets of the world, remain such elusive beasts then ?
That only exist under the cover of mystery ?
That only act when no-one's watching ?

The 'musical version' of the trip album, set to the background score of the Eagles' song
"Welcome to The Hotel California", featuring 'Wine' and 'Pink Champagne' in its lyrics ;) ..Other puns intended in the video..;)

The Roman Connection

 The history of the Champagne region might be of interest to many huge fans of The Asterix cartoon book series like myself! ;), who sipped those hilariously intoxicating and wonderfully exotic stories (translated from the original French versions of the comic book series), taking you through much of Europe- from pompous Romans like Julius and Brutus to the gladiators and even to Cleopatra!. Without being aware of it, those cartoons had drawn me so much into Roman history! Starting from Asterix the Gaul, it tells you stories of the celtic tribe pitted against the might of expanding Roman Empire. Set in 50BC, with Julius Caesar having conquered most of Gaul (modern France), except for this small village settlement of the “indomitable Gauls” in Armorica, because the villagers could get superhuman strengths from the magic potion made by the village druid Getafix! 

It caricatured the adventures of the shrewd Gaulish warrior Asterix and his fat friend Obelix mostly pitted against the Romans- the likes of Crismus Bonus, Dubious Status, Nafarious Purpus, Marcus Ginandtonicus.. et al!, On the Gaulish side, there are some indelibly etched-in-mind characters and names, like Unhygienix the fishmonger, Cacophonix the bard/musician, Instantmix the restaurant owner!! 

Asterix always carries the magic potion, and Obelix with permanent superhuman strength as he had fallen in the cauldron of Getafix’s magic potion as a baby! So those were stories weaved around a magic potion of the French.

The story of this new sparkling ‘magic’ bubbly potion of the French, I was to find out, is also linked to the Romans and also the rebellion against the Romans by the Germanic/Celtic tribes!

The region of Champagne in NE France bordering Belgium, got its name from Campania, the old Roman name for it when it was part of what was the roman province of Gaul (Campania apparently referred to an area south of Rome of that name, with similar terrain of rolling hills). The Romans were also the first to plant vineyards in the Champagne region, with the region being cultivated by at least the 5th century.

Vineyards in Hautvillers

Wines from the Champagne region were known before medieval times. The sparkling wine which got its name from the region, had been made here since the last 3 centuries.

Mainly an agricultural area, the western end of it some 150km from Paris. Now, Reims and Épernay are the two main commercial centres of champagne producing area.. with the city of  Troyes further south as the other important centre.. 

Champagne Wine and Coronation of Kings

Cathedral Notre Dame, Reims.

.

French Kings' traditional  CORONATION CATHEDRAL for a millenium!

The real popularity of the wine from Champagne and its associations with luxury and high life came after the local wines were served during the banquets and celebrations of the Coronation/crowning ceremony of French Kings!

Through that it became a favoured drink of haute bourgeoisie and elite nobles throughout Europe.

Traditionally, the coronations of French Kings had happened in the Reims Cathedral; 

But the real reason for Reims being the chosen place for coronation can be traced back to the fag end of Roman Empire- When a leader of a Frankish tribe, Clovis I, in 486AD defeated the Roman governor appointed to rule the area. He became the King of Franks. Later Clovis conquered many neighbouring kingdoms and ruled most of Gaul, establishing the Merovingian dynasty. Belonging to the pagan tribes (in which druids were a powerful priestly class), he was converted to Christianity (Baptised as a Catholic) at Christmas around AD 498 in Reims, in a smaller church near the current Reims Cathedral. He was thus the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul (France).

[Merovingian dynasty is referred to in the novel, The Davinci Code, by Dan Brown, weaving a story that they are related to Christ’s bloodline! ;])

With the baptism of Clovis by Saint Remi in 498-499, the precedent of “royal unction”( Kings, prophets, and priests were ritually anointed with oil, in token of receiving divine grace) was established in the Reims Cathedral. Louis I (the Pious) was the first King to be coronated in the Cathedral of Reims, in 816, and an official document from the Emperor to the Archbishop made explicit reference to the baptism of Clovis in Reims as the reason for this decision to get coronated there. 

In 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France at the cathedral of Reims. Apparently most historians regard the beginnings of modern France with the coronation of Hugh Capet because, as Count of Paris, he made the city his power centre. The monarch began a long process of exerting control over the rest of the country from there.

After the first coronation in 816, in the next 1000 years, more than 30 French Kings were crowned in Reims Cathedral.

Writing about coronations made me drift to those moments I had a few years back, standing wide-eyed in front of this huge, 10m x 6m oil-on-canvas, in the Louvre- a painting of the Coronation ceremony of Napoléon Bonaparte , commissioned by  Napoléon to be painted – But that coronation was held in 1804 in the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris.

Napoléon's Coronation in 1804, Oil on Canvas from 1807, clicked from Louvre museum during one of the Paris trips some years back

Sparkling History

Even though wine is now known to have been made at least 6000years ago (News in Jan 2011 from Armenia, the earliest known record), the history of champagne, the sparkling wine is not that old- though the exact origin of this wine-with-fizz is a bit fuzzy. 

Earliest known sparkling wine is apparently an accidental discovery in 1531 by monks in an Abbey in south of France near Pyrenees mountains.

Independently, a British scientist had documented in 1662, in a paper submitted to Royal Society the method to cause 2^nd fermentation to a finished wine by adding sugar to it.

 But according to popular myths, it was in Hautvillers, a small village 7km from Épernay, that Dom Pierre Perignon(1639-1715), a Benedictine monk who served as the cellar master of the Abbey of Hautvillers, ‘created’ the white sparkling wine 3 centuries ago, in late 17^th century.

Dom Perignon's Contributions

 Apart from the myths, it is known that Dom Perignon refined and codified a lot of procedures for winemaking, at a time when sparkling wine wasn’t really made. He perfected techniques that enabled the wine makers of  Champagne to truly make white wine from red grapes. He later “perfected” the process of using the second fermentation on wine. So thought he didn’t invent sparkling wine production per se, many steps in the making of Champagne as we know it today, were introduced by him.

For this reason, the village of Hautvillers claims to be the cradle or birthplace of Champagne, and Épernay proclaims itself as the de facto capitale du champagne (the drink).

The most surprising and striking fact to know from here was that the Champagne region’s climate is not really very conducive for producing the best wine!!.

There's interesting  details here for those interested:

History_of_Champagne

Champagne_production

During the Middle Ages, the wines of the Champagne region were various shades of light red to pale pink as a bitter rivalry developed between the Champenois and their Burgundian neighbors to the south.. Unfortunately the climate of the region made it difficult to produce red wines with the richness and color of the Burgundian wines, even though the Champenois tried to "improve" their wines by blending in elderberries. Eventually their attention moved to produce white wines in an attempt to distinguish themselves from their Burgundian rivals. However, the white wine produced from white grapes were found to have a dull flavor and quickly spoiled. The most sought after wines were those "white wines" made from red wine grapes, such as Pinot noir which had more flavor, aromatics and longevity. Throughout the 16th and early 17th century, Champenois winemakers tried to produce the best "white" wine they could from red wines grapes though the results were often not white at all but ranged from greyish color to a shade of pink known as oeil de perdrix or partridge eye. It wasn't until a Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Perignon from the Abbey of Hautvillers perfected his techniques would the Champenois be able to truly make white wine from red grapes.^[2]

Champagne House

Champagne Cellars in Chalky Earth

During the customary visit to a Maison du Champagne (Champagne house)- As the champagne making facilities of different brands are referred to-  complete with vine presses, processing tanks and bottling plants, one would invariably go through the Champagne cellars.

In Epernay alone, there are underground cellars of various producers totalling more than 100kms!, with estimated 200million bottles of fizzy wine being ‘aged’. Many cellars in use now were old chalk or stone quarries, some from Roman times.

Wine in bottles are brought in to the cellars after the grape juice kept in large tanks for several months go through the first transformation and become wine. Throughout the fermentation process, carbon dioxide is released as a by-product of the conversion of natural sugars in the juice into alcohol, but the CO2 formed during this escapes. To the resulting bubble-free wine, some sugar is added externally, with some yeast, and bottled and made go through the second fermentation process in the bottle, and matured for years in the cellars.(As per law, to be called Champagne, minimum of 15months, and to be called ‘vintage’, at least 3years. Usually most companies keep 6-8years).

 Thus the CO2 gas released during this second fermentation is trapped in the bottle. Occasionally, some bottles explode in the cellars due to this gas pressure built up. To withstand this, the champagne bottles need to be thicker than the normal wine-bottles. In old times, when that was not the case, and methods were not refined and amount of sugar not precisely controlled etc, the explosion of bottles in cellars were frequent and triggering chain-reactions which could result in lost 20-90%

 During this process of second fermentation and maturation, some sediments are formed, from the used-up/dead yeast. This made the drink cloudy when disturbed and removing sediments (disgorgement) caused the gas to escape and some wine to be lost.

Rack for Remuage

To solve this problem, a method called riddling(remuage) was introduced, first by the Champagne house now known as Veuve Cliquot, who kept is a secret initially. Towards the end of maturation, the bottles are kept in a special rack which holds the bottles slanting neck-down position so that sediments are collected at the opening of the neck. The bottles are given a little shake and turn every few days for some 6-8 weeks, gradually increasing the angle each time to point straight down. This manual method is still used for premium range, otherwise replaced by automated equipment for faster completion of the process.

Disgorgement

After this, sediments are removed by the ‘disgorgement’(degorgement) process. This was initially a skilled manual process of removing cork and sediments collected without losing much liquid and gas inside. In modern automated disgorgement method, small part of bottle’s neck is frozen with trapped sediments and removed with the help of  pressure from inside as well.

 Then in what was called as ‘dosage’, a small replacement dose of wine is added with some sugar. The amount of sugar that goes in during this dosage, decides the sweetness(and dryness) of champagne and also makes different categories of Champagne.

What is labelled ‘Brut’ will have very less sugar (upto 6g/litre). With the most ‘dry’ being labelled  Brut Nature/ Brut Zero, that contain no extra sugar added during ‘dosage’ (0-3g/l). Most sweet having ‘doux’(45+g/l), and less sweet having ‘sec’ labels.

 The remuage process for collecting sediment, made the disgorgement efficient and economic, and is considered a turning point in Champagne production.

The remuage process was invented with the help of  a cellar master by Madam Clicquot, known as "Grand Dame of Champagne", a French businesswoman who took on her husband's wine business when widowed at 27. The famous premium Champagne company/brand bears her nick name, “Veuve Clicquot” (Veuve in French means Widow).

These methods together for traditionally producing sparkling wine from Champagne region, is called méthode Champenoise.   Though sparkling wine can also be made by less rigorous and quick processes like making soda by artificially infusing CO2 into wine, you won’t get to taste the quality and care that goes into this sparkling wine made in champagne- from every step of vine growing onwards.

 Marion and ‘her’ Champagne! :

During a tasting session (degustation) arranged at the tourist information, met this young lady Marion with her mother. Her great grandfather had setup a champagne brand, currently run by her father, she and her elder sister help manage. She is currently doing her special diploma degree in “Viticulture & oenology” with specialization in… champagne making, of course! ;). With her patience, kindness and attitude to listen and attempts to respond, my spontaneous queries found excuses to escape from my tongue-tips, they kept at it, and leapt out.. Finally I reined in the words straining on their leash when I felt may be it’s a bit too many, trying my “very fringe-French” to get through to her when her brows start to draw together, while she herself was straining to get some of the English words translated in her head ;) 

Marion's family Champagne house in Mardeuil village

She invited to her village of Mardeuil for meeting her next day at her family Champagne House, so she could give a walk-through or a personalised show-n-tell, rather than the rushed, rehearsed or, drab-sounding guided tours ritual with a repeated-umpteen-times mechanical feel!

But before I stopped my queries, happened to unearth an exciting fact, I could hear a ‘tonk’ in my head, of the pickaxe hitting metal while digging for treasure! ;)) -- She has a champagne named after her, Cuvée Marion , a nice pink champagne!, from their faimly’s Maison de Champagne (Champagne House/brand)  André Lenique (founded in 1768 by her great great… grandfather).

• In Champagne and sometimes in other regions producing sparkling wines by the traditional method, the cuvée also refers to the best grape juice from gentle pressing of the grapes. In Champagne, the cuvée is the first 2,050 litres of grape juice from 4,000 kg of grapes (a marc), while the following 500 litres are known as the taille (tail), and is expected to give wines of a more coarse character. Many Champagne producers pride themselves on only using the cuvée in their wine.

André Lenique  source their own grapes from family vineyards.

Pinot Meunier

 The main grape varieties grown in the Champagne region are Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier (both red grapes) and the white grape Chardonnay. Most Champagne houses make wine with a blend of these 3 varieties. Pinot Meunier is considered a very close natural genetic variant of Pinot Noir, distinguishable by the dusty/white powdery texture mostly on the underside of leaves. Otherwise both have typical, dark purple pine-cone shaped clusters. ‘Pinot’ being French for “pine”, ‘Noir’ for black, ‘Meunier’ for miller, referring to the flour-like dusty look on its leaves. 

Distribution of Grape varieties

 Marion's family Champagne house is one of almost 5000 small-scale family-run vignerons(wine-makers), across more than 320  villages of Champagne region with total of 76000 acres of vineyards. There are more than 19,000 independent growers in the Champagne region. They together produce more than 300 million bottles a year!. Most of the champagne produced is consumed within France (60~70%).

 (Currently 40 more villages in the peripheries of currently demarcated region, are being considered to be added to the champagne community, to meet increasing demand).

 Some of the biggest/premium brands include Moët et Chandon (of Epernay, 1743) Veuve Clicquot (of Reims, 1772.. now part of a Louis Vuitton group company), Taittinger (of Reims, 1734).

Champagne has been an integral part of sports celebration since Moët et Chandon started offering their Champagne to the winners of Formula 1 Grand Prix events.

Moët et Chandon's vineyard

 Champagne is usually served in a Champagne flute, having a long stem with a tall, narrow bowl, so that the escape of gas is reduced/slowed down with reduced exposed area. 

There are so many customs and procedures they follow, from planting the grape vine to taking care of it throughout the seasons, that are unique to this region. Added to it, the usual factors like soil conditions, microclimate of the local area etc, which they call as terroir, all plays a part in the ‘character’ of the grapes. Acidity/Sugar levels, time to ripen, the aroma it imparts to the finished wine etc. This part is almost towards the northern limits of climate ideally suited for vine-growing .

Champagne only from Champagne (and the Spanish Coup attempt with Cava)

Not only the French love their drink, they fiercely defend their sole right to produce it- No one else can produce anything similar and call it champagne! Under European Union law, the name “Champagne” is ‘controlled/protected designation of origin’- all wines produced and sold in the EU must not label a wine as "Champagne" unless it comes from the designated Champagne region’s AOC zone (Appellation d'origine controlee ) 

The Spanish were at it- From the Catalunya region (with Barcelona as its capital),they made the Spanish sparkling wine, made using the traditional method of the French sparkling wine. They tried the same double fermentation process, and sold it as ‘Champaña’, much to the chagrin of the Champagne Community. The Catalans were chased down by the French and forced to forgo the name champagne, through the EU laws that came into effect with Protected Geographical Status for Champagne. So the Catalans adapted the name Cava, the Catalan word for cellar, because the wine is aged in the cellars. and call it whatever else they would like. 

I had this interesting experience with Cava during Barcelona visit... As is usual in all trips trying to taste some authentic local fare, (if at all there is any local vegetarian specialities, ie!), made it a point to try very Catalan food. Ordered Cava, the small half-litre bottle with a dinner of paella. Never expected it would have so much effect, not sure if that was due to some potent combination and chemistry with that food- That was the most drunk/sloshed I ever felt in life!. With the control-freak instinct, had never felt, or rather gone beyond, more than the ‘mellow’ state, when you just start to feel, something has got into your system!, and just smooth, a touch lighter and pleasant.

 I was OK till 10min after finishing my dinner. Stepping out from the restaurant to the buzzing main thoroughfare of La Rambla, popular with locals and tourists alike, full of late night ramblers. I had a tough time browsing the shops. “Gosh, this is getting a bit too woozy”, I was telling myself, touching the forehead, when watching the interesting cartoon on a displayed T-shirt, trying to read the print below, ‘it’ started moving, trying to evade me. Tried to shake it off the head like a drenched bird. Positive, that might work!. But intriguingly, it DIDN’T! The forehead drawn, facial skin stretched, eyelids open fully, tried to see if I could really concentrate if I tried. I COULD!, but unfortunately, the world around was dodging me!.

 I had to stop for half hour, sit on a park bench, like a night-owl in its drowsy day-roost, woken up by some noise, swivelling the head slowly from time to time, from one fixed position to the other, and watch the world go by in slow motion and recover, before continuing my walk.

Had been to one end of La Rambla earlier in the evening- To get inside the Columbus Monument, a 60m tall column with the statue of Christopher Columbus. It is at the place where he landed in Barcelona on his way to meet the King and Queen, returning from the famous first voyage to the Indies/America. Got to the top of  the couple-of -meters-wide, crammed, claustrophobia inducing viewing platform inside the monument column below the statue, in the smallest ever lift I’ve seen! Evidently, either the vision of the people who designed it, wasn’t even as far reaching as the view of the city from it, or they didn’t mean to send anyone up to have lofty views!

 After half an hour into the original big plan of exploring by night following up from the successful Columbus Monument visit, I realised that the bottle of Cava —with its steady, slow, narrow and graceful stream of bubbles.. like the true character of sparkling wine made ‘the Champagne way’—  had effectively bottled all my plans!, leaving me feeling like one of those cartoons with bubbles shown over their heads. But though it had made me unsteady, slow, and rather bloated, thankfully, I could still hold on to my grace! For a control-freak, That really was the saving grace of a very unusual bubbly night! ;))

Gran Canaria/Canary Islands: Windsurfing, Trailing Columbus and Trespassing on a Space Centre

 

NewYear's eve..

Lying on the beach.. watching La Luna, the moon.. next to the Orionis..

Beneath it, the glistening silvery slivers of the heaving sea and the mild breeze..

Breathing it all in with the air filled with the sighing ocean's mist,

 Noticed this moonlit fish shaped fleecy cloud swimming in the sky..

There I listened to the heaves of waves, sharing with shore,

 Never-ending stories of yore...

These apopheniacal thoughts were floating with the winds, when I was mooning away at the pebble beach outside the 'Centro Internacional de Windsurfing'.

Inside, its walls are adorned with photos from the annual windsurfing championships held there.

Was a bustling, noisy night later on, after going to Las Palmas city half hour away, walking along the 3km stretch of promenade along Las Canteras beach, and waiting for fireworks. Returned well past 2 o’clock and slipped into the room with the view of the pebble beach.

Woke up, peeping out from behind the rug, listening to and watching the waves,

 bathed in deep ochre of the sun peeping from behind the horizon..

How uplifting to step into the fresh year's day arriving, painting me with inspiration,

 filling me in swelling waves while I stretched my wings watching the seagulls.

I was already flying into the day, still in bed ;) ..

When stretching I was feeling the strain on muscles- shoulder, back and wings,

which battled with winds to keep my balance during many a tumble n topple into the

turquoise briny water during an afternoon of windsurfing into the New Year's Eve.

"Hola!, Buenos dias!", I greeted the young lady who came and sat opposite on the breakfast table at the windsurfing centre.

Without ‘trying’, I was spontaneously saying it with a Spanish slurr in the accent- I was observing myself afterwards; But this “When-in-Rome,-Do-as…”-instinct is very strong when travelling. The instinct to Reach the other side; To see closer, to listen closer, to feel closer. To sense their pulse. To cross that ‘Alien’ bridge. To Connect!. But this accent 'stunt' or 'slur' or never happens to me in English (but is often observed in my fellow countrymen, more than even the English, with their multitude of local accents who are comfortable in their own skin, or any european speaking English, for that matter !)- May be it is naturalized to an extent in India, that most are comfortable with the local variation.

 Had just seen and greeted her, “Feliz Año Nuevo”, in the early hours, when I met her walking alone next to the beach past 2am, watching sporadic fireworks still happening. Had greeted many on the city streets on my way back from Las Palmas, as all were greeting each other.

Across the breakfast table, the morning sun's slanting soft rays falling sideways on her face, seemed to pour some vigour into her eyes languid from late night. Stirring her coffee, as she introduced, it was stirring to watch the lit details on her brown eyes, dilating and contracting pupil, as her eyes flitted from light to shade and back as she spoke.

Christine. Brazilian, working as a cook in a mountain resort town near Barcelona.

"So, do you speak Portuguese back home?"

"Ya!, Of course"

The Portuguese Connection

Everything seems connected!. The Fibonacci pattern on Cactus. Fibonacci patterns can be seen everywhere in Nature- On Nautilus Shell,and from your clenched fist to the spiral arm of Galaxies! It's on Sunflower head, pineapple and pine cone, on seeds, flowers, tree branches, leaf arrangements, fruits, vegetables.. and the related so-called Golden Ratio(~1.618) of the numbers is seen in so many proportions of the human body- made popular by Davinci's Vitruvian Man. Not just in biological systems, it is used in art, architecture, music and has been traced even in Sanskrit Poetry- arrangement of syllables in such a way that it always takes same time to recite the lines! How intriguing! 
{Check out the video link at the end of this blog for some fibonacci patterns,
 and others links after the video finishes, for Golden Average in Human body}

I was telling her, how intriguingly this world seem to be ‘connected’, and indeed ‘our worlds’ seem to be more connected than what is apparent!. For instance, 2 years before the Portuguese first landed in Brazil(1500),

they had found the sea route to India, and landed in my home state (1498) near Calicut. In fact, it was during the Portuguese’s second voyage to Calicut in India to establish a trading post, that they happened to veer off west when circumnavigating Africa, and landed in what is now Brazil! This time, under the command of Cpt Cabral (after Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal in 1499 from Calicut). After realizing that they’ve found a new land unknown to and ‘unclaimed’ by others, with just warring stone-age tribes, a supply ship was sent back to inform the King of Portugal about the new territory they can ‘claim’. Around 10days later, the rest of the fleet continued their journey to Calicut from what was to later become the Portuguese colony of Brazil!.

I told her of my surprise, couple of years ago, when I came to know that the words for

Captain (kappitthaan), and even, table (Mesa), chair (Kasera) and window (Janala) in my mother tongue Malayalam, really came from Portuguese.

That happened after a bit of etymological ‘investigation’ following a trip to Spain- The restaurant bills had intriguingly mentioned "mesa"..
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loan_words_in_Malayalam  ]

(Talking about bills, interestingly, during first Italy trip, was pleasantly ‘surprised’ to see ‘Camera’ in the hotel bills. Later showed this to my housemate to test his making-theories-on-the-go instinct and to see what he’ll come up with this time, feigning confidence; And he did come up with one theory, without a second thought- that I must have bought some camera from there!! Then I showed another hotel bill- then he came up with another theory- that must have been keeping the camera in safe locker there, and that’s the charge for it!! ;)

Christine was pleasantly surprised too.. about this 'Mesa, Kasera and Janala' episode.

Being a cook, her eyes lit up a bit more to know, that the words for even kitchen(cussini), onion(savaala), cashew(kashu-)  in my language derived from Portuguese. She said, how really excited she would be to be inside a traditional Indian Kitchen!, to watch some magic happen;), and learn some authentic recipes.

She invited me to the mountain resort town of Parque Natural del Montseny, where she works, to definitely make it there when I visit Barcelona again. That’s around 50km from the city. When she wrote her contact details in my note, it went like this..

 “CHRISTINE   VERONEZ.

 BRAZIL (FROM)/ BARCELONA ( LIVE ! )….”  ;)

Then I too extended an invitation for her to London, and said I would introduce her to my chef/restaurateur friend Das who does some magic to prepare amazingly simple Indian food, with minimal touches of spices and ingredients; he just loves creating twists of familiar tastes himself even though he runs a few restaurants and doesn’t need to cook. For him it’s a very deep and spiritual connection with the whole process, and he can talk about it, being very expressive about food. She looked engrossed listening to this.

From there, we sailed a bit off  into the world of spices, like those old Portuguese navigators did ;)).

On Columbus' Trail

When the Portuguese landed in Brazil, almost 8years after Columbus reached the Bahamas in 1492, Columbus was appointed ‘Viceroy and Governor of the Indies’ by the King of Spain/Castile.

Columbus, from Genoa/Italy had married the daughter of a Portuguese nobleman, and had intially presented his plan to find the sea route to the east, to the King of Portugal to get the backing, ships and funds, but King's advisors rejected it as all believed Columbus's estimate of distance to Asia was too short. It was rejected a 2nd time when submitted after some more years. So later he aprroached King os Spain, but the experts there also rejected it on the same basis. Only after 7years of lobbying in Portugal, his native Genoa,Venice and Spain, did he finally get the backing from Spain with funds. 

Even though the main aim was to find direct trade route to India, and access to the exceedingly expensive spices, especially Black Pepper, Europe's favourite since Roman times, Columbus had returned with no Black Pepper, but this new spice unknown to the Old World- Chilli Pepper!. Since then, Empires and cultures have come and gone; But Centuries later, or even Millenia later- since the Romans' love-affair with Piper Nigrum started- Black pepper still remains the world's most traded spice!

Interestingly, after Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies in 1493, the first "chilli peppers" were brought to Spain, from where, through the Portuguese, it reached India. The Red Indians called it only "chilli". But Columbus was after "pepper"(black).. and since chilli was also hot like pepper, it came to be known as "chilli pepper"!.

I was on my first Columbus trail 2 yrs back during Xmas time- during another solo trip of France and Spain, the last leg was driving to the beach in the village of Palos in Huelva province (bordering Portugal, near Seville in the Andalusia region of southern Spain),  from where Columbus and his men set sail to find the route to India.  Also visited the Franciscan monastery in Palos where Columbus stayed 2 years after his first proposal was rejected. It was with the intervention of the monastery, that Columbus was able to get another hearing of the King for his proposal.

Earlier in that trip, in Barcelona, visited this Columbus monument at one end of the city's most popular thoroughfare La Rambla. The 60meter tall monument is in memory of Columbus reporting to the Queen in Barcelona after his first voyage, taking with him his booty including some captured Natives, a Turkey, Pineapple fruit. Later Cocoa beans and the cold bitter spicy beverage made using that with chilli etc added- an elixir of the Aztecs and Mayans called  'xocoatl'- were to arrive in Europe first via Barcelona port, which the Europeans couldn't take in that form- They sweetened it and gradually the sweet "Chocolate" was made from it, first in Barcelona. The Chocolate Museum in Barcelona tells that story.

 Also been to the Alcázar Palace in Seville, where Columbus met the King and Queen after his second voyage.  Here there are paintings depicting the discovery of Americas and one of the earliest paintings showing Columbus. It is here that the catholic Monarchs built the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) to regulate trade with the New World colonies.

Columbus was inspired by Marco Polo's book, very popular after it was published in 1300, about Marco's travels throughout Asia, most of it by land. In one of the museums at Alcázar, saw (a copy of) Columbus' personal copy of Marco's book, with comments and notes made on its margins by Columbus.

 
 
Columbus had made 4 voyages in 10years to what is now West-Indies, Cuba and Central ‘America’. He died thinking he reached Indies of the East. Interestingly, had Columbus realized, and had he not insisted that he reached a new place and not India, the continents perhaps would have been called ‘Columbia’? ..and may be we would then have had a United States of Columbia instead ??!;))

A Yanomami Indian of the Amazon

(And of course, the people there would have been called something other than Indians! Looking at it retrospectively, had he referred to the natives -with more Mongol features- as ‘Asians’ instead, would have been more valid?!. Native Americans are now known to be tribes from Asia who crossed into the Americas through northeast of Siberia into Alaska along the Bering Strait, which remained connected by land before the end of the last ice age 12,000 years ago, after which sea level rise made the land connection disappear. Geologists say that land connection itself was made some tens of thousands of years prior to that due to a fall in sea level!).   

Columbus' First Voyage to Indies

 One of the important tourist spots in this Spanish Territory of Gran Canaria is what is now termed as Casa de Colón (“House of Columbus”- his name is written in Spanish as Cristóbal Colón). It is the house of the first Governor where Columbus is said to have stayed during his first voyage when he stopped over for replenishing supplies and ship repairs. This has museum with details of all Columbus’s voyages to Indies/Americas via Canary Islands, and so, being of strategic importance, the Canary Islands’ link with the Americas, and its essential role in the colonisation process of 16^th century. There was also an enthnographic introduction to the pre-Columbian Americas and archeological artefacts.

Distribution of Native Tribes in1492.
520 years later, to this day, in the Amazon jungles,
there still are tribes who never came into contact
 with modern civilizations-- Good for them!

 In fact something that struck me first after landing at Las Palmas airport, was the number of people there looking like Native Americans. I was to learn later, that the Spanish language here has been influenced by Native American words and expressions, and that explained something that baffled me first time when I saw this big curious-sounding sign ‘Gua-Gua’ at main Bus station of Las Palmas, capital city of Gran Canaria. Apparently, it is read Wah-wah, and means a bus! ;). Also, many Canarians migrated the other way and settled in Latin America in large numbers, and in these islands, the news from Venezuela and Cuba are treated almost like local item in the newspapers. No wonder then, that, in accent and musical rhythm, the speech of the Canaries lies half-way between Spain and Latin America.

Canary Islands, a Spanish Territory, consists of 13 volcanic islands, of which 7 are inhabited, and some still volcanically active. Starting about a 100km from the north-west coast of Africa near Morocco and Western Sahara boundary, these are a 1000km SW of Portugal/Spain(Iberian peninsula). The main islands being(from East to West,) Lanzarote, Fuerteventura,Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro. The three easternmost islands, on their eastern sides, have many sandy beaches, and their western sides and other islands in general have steeply rising volcanic rock cliffs. The islands are best known now for their excellent year-round climate on the coasts.

Some islands like Lanzarote are still volcanically ‘active’ though not erupting, with temperatures a few meters below ground reaching 120°C, that water poured into a hole would instantly evaporate!. The islands came out of undersea volcanic eruption some 30million years ago, and the last eruption on these islands, was around 300years ago.

All of Columbus’s voyages to the ‘Indies’ were through Canary Islands- for an important reason. Because of its geographical location, the so-called ‘Gulf-Stream’ ocean currents and Trade Winds aided navigation from here immensely, even though no one was aware of the Gulf-Stream at that time. Columbus had valuable knowledge about the Trade Winds that one could catch from the latitudes of the Canary Islands to sail west easily. These Trade Winds from the east, known as Easterlies, propelled Columbus’s fleet for about 5 weeks from Canary Islands to the West Indies, almost straight to the west. For his return to Spain, he caught ‘westerlies’ winds that blow eastward to the coast of Western Europe, from further upper latitudes of the Atlantic.

So in a way, the reason why these islands lured Columbus, and its becoming a strategic Spanish territory, as a conduit for the conquistadors on the way to capturing more of the New World on the other side of the Atlantic, had to do with the winds that you get here! What better way to experience the Trade Winds, the sea, and the sailing with a sense of history, than to plunge for an opportunity to try windsurfing from this very shore?! ;) So I grabbed the opportunity (sails) with both my hands the day after I landed. And where better to try it, than from 'Centro Internacional de Windsurfing'?! ;)

After experiencing it the previous day, when Christine asked about anything interesting that I did around there which is worth a try,

I recommended her to check out windsurfing, of course!

Windsurfing

My instructor  was Javier from Murcia in Spain..

(he said "HhaavierRR".. after I asked to repeat couple of times.. so could be Xavier?? ;)) He was driving his van with all windsurfing gears, to the nearby beach, Salinas de Arinaga, with a bay-like area which is less affected by strong ocean currents, unlike the beach where professionals windsurf, where I was staying.

 On our way, we were chatting away- one in English peppered with a smattering of Spanish, the other in Spanish with a smattering of pidgin language popping up every now and then.

A pleasant-looking tall hunk with compact set body, that must have been shaped by working with the dynamics of wind and waves- that kind of working with the elements seemed to give a different sort of distinct sleek athletic presence to the person, compared to say those with iron-pumped bulky contours! He was instructing one more person- a local islander lady from Las Palmas city, an intermediate level windsurfer who does fairly independently, but fine tuning her skill when going fast. 

Javier coaching the lady

When she reached the beach, we were waiting, and she came close a bit rushed ‘Hola’ to familiar Javier but with a slowed ‘Ho..laaa’ to me with warm cheek-to-cheek hugs on either side, and other greeting in espanol, while I was finishing with my Hola. Immediately she reeled off into a free-flowing spanish with me..Man!, they just love talking! ;) I just smiled. Javier laughed.
She looked at him with changing expressions on face, brows knitted but half-amused,
 half-intrigued at being laughed at.., Urging him to spill the beans. He went on unpacking the wind sails and surf boards..
Looking back at her, starting off.."habla Inglés.. Inglésss..". She looked at me, half-embarassed, bit-amused, apologetic but a tinge of confusion lingering somewhere in between those expressions and body language. “No habla Español”, I quickly confirmed, smiling, and she goes, “Oh!, perdón! ,‘parrdon’ me, I thought you speak Spanish!” ;)

Javier could only speak Spanish..

That added to the thrill, while learning the skill of managing the force of wind on the sail while balancing on the surfboard..

For the first hour, he would sail in front shouting instructions with the tug-rope tied to my surfboard trailing along.. often ending up in water when wind shear pulled me down with the sail. It was a surprise to me, how much power there is in the wind acting on a sail just twice your size!

It was reeeally energy intensive until getting to grip with the winds while balancing, getting a sense of the wind direction, and literally getting to grip with it!, for a smoother sailing..

Once you reach that stage, it's sso thrilling, sailing away from the shore all alone, facing the elements..

But still occasional toppling when wind direction or intensity may change and I don’t do necessary adjustment in the nick of time. When you read the wind, when you are ‘with’ it, it’s great and unbelievably light and smooth!, and you can gain decent speed so quickly!! Only thing is, with a novice’s technique, you can’t maintain that speed for long. When you are away more than a couple of hundred meters out from the shore, the thrill of getting back on the surfboard, sometimes after turning over the 7ft board which went upside down, then pulling the sail up and get going again on your own gave a strange high that was experienced 'never-before'-

Something that adventure often gives you!

Exhilarating, going out to the sea, accelerating, skidding along the undulating waters..

while feeling the sheer power of the elements right inside your body and mind.. with the subtle balancing act..

Wind. power. exhilaration. The feeling of ‘going out to the sea’ playing on your mind. It was all pleasantly heady, and I was still floating in waves of the whole experience, hours after the session was over!.

Space Mission and Trespassing

Dunes at Maspalomas beach

One afternoon during a bus ride along the coastal resort towns, after passing the southern tip near Maspalomas, noticed this array of large satellite antennas atop a hill, that had cranked up my curiosity- To fuel it further, the map showed a *'ed sign on with "NASA" printed there, and nothing else. Asked everyone who I felt might be in the know. No one had Any clue, as to what that ‘NASA’ is about!. So obviously not a tourist area for sure.

With the spirit of flying into the unknown, the first thing I had in mind when 2010 dawned,

was this "Space Mission"- To find out what it is about!

From the visit to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, I had known about a deep space observatory in Canary Islands- on another island La Palma. That observatory was started with the Isaac Newton Telescope moved to La Palma, from England. I would say, that was a really bright move! ;) What's the point in having an optical telescope in a place where it almost always rains?! ;)

The observatory in La Palma island, with participation of many european countries, and managed by the Astrophysics Research centre in Tenerife island, is open to public only a few days during summer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_de_los_Muchachos_Observatory

 With an array of different kind of large telescopes, it installed a new one in 2009, costing €130 million, owned by Spain, Mexico and University of Florida- the 10.4meter wide, world's largest single-aperture optical telescope!.. 

(Due to good weather all round, and due to its altitude above normal cloud cover)The seeing statistics make it the second best location for optical and infrared astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere, after Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii.

Peering through THAT must be an AWESOME experience, and I do plan to experience it some day.

Due to the climate and location, it is supposed to be the 2nd best place in the Northern Hemisphere for space observation after the one in Hawaii.

Fallen Stars?! ;)Some Starry Cacti

Was wondering, through that telescope, how it might be, to see the Orion Nebula, below the Orion's belt, where star is being formed- which could be seen with some details, the red gas cloud and all, using the lowly 70mm aperture telescope at home. As such the nebula itself is visible to the naked eye in the night sky- one of the brightest and closest at 1300light years away.

Well, Forget the stars, first time standing at one end of such a gigantic telescope, peeping deep into space, itself can give you enough high to lift yourself into a space where you’ve never been! ;))

Anyway, with such starry dreams playing in my head, I was determined to check out what this ‘NASA’ place is about, just in case there is some outside chance of peeping into deep space, I could hang around till nightfall at a nearby beach!!

Some people I asked about this 'NASA' in the map, did mention about the observatory in Tenerife island that they know of, but nothing in Gran Canaria that they’ve known.
 

Got down from the bus nearby that hill with array of antennas visible from afar after passing Maspalomas. After walking around a bit, spotted 3-4 locals sitting around and chatting near a small residential area, and I enquired about what that centre on the hill is about. As they are usually prone to do, they got into very animated conversation. One turned to me and reeled off in quickfire Spanish. I felt like a Flycatcher bird caught in a swarm of insects, waiting for its knack to catch the succulent ones. A barrage of words flew by. At the end of it, this was what I caught- my quarry from the swarm!:

“...zona prohibida... turistas !,....
....prohibida.... público !...
..... necesita..... permiso !.... ”

Hmm.. No surprise there. As expected.

“Oh!.. muchas gracias”

.

I left their locality, as if respecting their warning. Approached the hill through another side and started the trek. Midway as it became steeper, dumped the shoulder bag under some boulders, taking binocs and camera and carried on.

Every once in a while, looking for presence of security guards anywhere in sight- and since couldn’t find any, climbed on.

  (They have a threateningly fast revolving radar in the campus, apparently for security purpose ;)

Guess a ground crawler like me wouldn't be caught by it anyway..

Reached near the gate. Not only that there’s still no sign of any security guard, the main gate is left half-open! Either the security guard forgot to press the button to close the gates shut fully, probably after the last employee got in with their access card.., or they forgot to make sure it was shut completely behind them.. There is a vehicle barrier inside the gate, that was closed. Inside the compound wall, there are some flags flying- EU and some european states' flags, and one of Spain.. “INTA, Centro Espacial de Canarias”. So it IS a Space Centre!, linked to European Space Agency as well.

 I walked in, alert and gingerly inside, yet looking ignorant outside. Nothing beeped, no alarm went off! ;). Peeped into the reception. Still no sign of  anyone!. Further steps ahead.. Inside the glass window, in a room, caught the security guard napping ;) , legs on table, in front of an array of CCTV monitors.. I freshened up after the sweaty trek up the hill, relaxed couple of minutes on the chair, flipped through couple of magazines there and  flicked one magazine lying around with their annual report, to spy into what they are upto.. had a good look around the security room from behind the glass window, and then decided to wake him up..

He was stunned as a hare in the headlights!.. and bloody embarrassed but tried to conceal the tell-tale signs writ all over his face with a bravado display and started mumbling away in chaste Spanish.

I feigned total ignorance of the fact that it's not a place for tourists!.. I acted like those Italians with extravagant display of body language- Saying am innocent tourist, showed map showing "NASA" in it;With a sprinkling of scattered Spanish here and there.And made a show-off of my utter disappointment that there is no trace of NASA there, It was pure fun..  

 He said something to the effect, that ' No permission inside this area.. How on earth you can enter such a place without permission!..You could be arrested, this is offence, please make your way back..Please! Please!!'. With a camera bag on the shoulder and a camouflage design large binocs in hand, he might have suspected some spying intentions?

{The space station to European Space Agency..was apparently originally built for NASA's Mercury Mission during 1960's }

Guanches, and Cave Dwellers

After that funny ‘space exploration’- poking into prohibited space instead of peeping into the vast free Space, and its pretty theatrical climax, I wanted to explore a bit of pre-historic life, of the original inhabitants of the islands- ‘Guanches’, as the North African Berber tribes who settled there and lived in the many lava-caves, were called by the Spanish colonisers.

Agüimes

It was dark when I reached an appealing small town of Agüimes, near where the Caves were shown on the map, I was walking around and asked for directions. One chap was getting into his car at a small petrol station that can accomodate just one car. The words ‘Guanche’ and ‘Cueva’ seemed to have done the trick! His face lit up, animatedly excited. He doesn’t speak English, but urged me to get in his car, and said he is going to show me the caves!. I said it is too dark, may be I’ll visit tomorrow morning- but he insisted, that it’s no trouble for him!

“kohmo se yaama oosted?”( ‘¿Cómo se llama usted?'  )

 “Martin… Martin Tarragona.”

He said he is of Guanche ancestry! Ahh! that explained his response!.

 I probed further in sentences laced with semblance of Spanish. Sort of lingua franca created on the go. Many words will be lost in the space between us. Sometimes I would be lost trying to get my doubts across, sometimes he would be lost trying to get it through to me. But it’s all very exciting. Overall, we made sense of each other, crossed barriers with the will to reach the other side, and were able to hold a ‘conversation’ for an hour and a half, no less!!

Cave Dwelling of Guanche

 On the way he started describing the place with caves and how they are integrated into the mainstream society, though some population of around 1000 families or so still live in those mountainside caves, of course, modified for today’s lifestyles. The caves were 10kms away, stopped and walked around fro 15minutes, and he gave me a free ride and back, and dropped me at the nice cozy heritage hotel by the church, having a yard with olive trees.  

The next morning’s visit to the cave-dwellers of Barranco de Gyayadeque ended with some hours spent in the small museum inside a cave on the way back.The caves now has been modified to suit modern lifestyle of course. Just that they still choose to live there. It showed interesting geology of the place, volcanic past, and the origin of the lava-caves, to the lifestyle of the tribes who settled there 2000years ro so ago. 

When leaving the place, what lingered on thoughts was a topic, that comes often to mind when travelling to or thinking of going to far-off isolated places.. In a sense, it reflects a certain dilemma, and irony of "tourism", of exploring. It was well-captured in this poster in the museum.. That makes one ponder.

Other than the windsurfing, it is the experience of talking with people like Javier and Martin that makes the travel worthwhile. The experiences that linger for long in memory; long after the words have evaporated.

But there is one very unique experience offered by these islands that I couldn’t make it to this time- like the largest single-aperture optical telescope, that one is also on a different island- La Palma.

Then there is Timanfaya National Park, which is a ‘volcanic park’ with still volcanically active, with ground temperatures rising upto 600°C 10m underground. Been to a volcanically active island off the island of Santorini in Greece, with pungent fumes coming from the ground. But this one in Lanzarote has something different to offer-  A restaurant there, makes use of the heat emanating from ground to cook traditional dishes- on an iron grid placed on a whole in the ground!. Waiting to taste something there someday!.

So next trip will have two aims: One to peep deep aimlessly into Cosmic Space, 
and the Other, to peep down that hole in the ground, used as an "Earth Oven", if I may call it so!, and feel the heat from the belly of Mother Earth!

In a sense, Feel an eerie connection with both- One, of aimless wandering, searching for meaning of this Existance!, and the Other, the deep connection with the Earth and Nature..

If anything, this trip only whetted the appetite to learn more Spanish and travel South America.. It took me one step closer to that long-time dream!

 Reflecting, Connecting, Discovering the Self..., the journey goes on.. and on..

***