El Hierro again

The Garoe

I've lost my passport.

I had it about ten days ago, because I checked the expiry date. But as I headed for the ferry port on Sunday afternoon (to visit my friend on El Hierro) it was nowhere to be found. I phoned the police, who said that I could travel on my residencia. So I heaved a sigh of relief and went to the port.

But at the ferry check in, they said you could travel on the older residencias (credit-card sized with a photo) but not the new ones (A4, no photo, nicknamed "the green monster"). In the end they let me on the ferry, but as a non-resident, and I had to pay double. Still, that was only an extra 12€, so I wasn't too bothered.

I had a great time with my friend. The spring flowers are blooming, I finally saw the famous Garoe, I took some photos of Ruben Armiche working on his huge statue of "Homenaje a la Bajada". It's something he calls "re-use art", because it's made of things like old washing machines covered by chicken wire, sacks, and finally cement. He plans to finish it in time for the big festival in July (the bajada, hence the name), so I hope to see it then. We had a delicious dinner at the viewpoint at La Peña, too. Once again, I wondered about starting a blog about El Hiero, but I really don't have time.

All too soon it was time to come home. I was worried that I might have trouble without the passport, so we went to the airport early, in case the check in staff needed to phone their boss or something.

Thank goodness we did. You can't fly without a passport. I had to go to the Civil Guard and formally report the loss. They gave me a piece of paper to show at the airport along with the green monster, and I got home all right.

Of course, I found the house grubby, the laundry baskets overflowing, and my son's friend wanting to stay the night, but it was worth it.


The Statue "Homenaje a la Bajada, by Ruben Amiche