125
commandeered the official chauffeur-driven car that had been assigned to me
as IAC Director for the event, so I was left to thumb a lift home with my wife
to dress for dinner so as not arrive late at the feast. Many have been given their
marching orders for far lesser offences.
That same night a ship carrying IAC people, journalists, and invited guests
set sail for La Palma. From what I am told, the celebrations continued in
full swing.
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory greeted the day of the inauguration
with its best smile. The sun was radiant in a perfectly clear sky; there was no
wind, and a green-yellow mantle of codeso flowers impregnated the air with
fragrance, while in the distance, way below, a dark blue sea served as an aquatic
pedestal for the island. The white domes of the telescopes contrasted with a
sky saturated with blue. To add to the scene, enormous ‘flags of the cosmos’,
designed by César Manrique, undulated in a light breeze, to the accompaniment of music composed for the occasion by Carmen Hernández.
The main ceremony took place in a rustic-style amphitheatre, built on the
mountainside expressly for the occasion. Speeches were made, in order, by the
President of the Governing Council of the IAC, the President of the Canarian
Government, the Director of the IAC, the President of the International
Fig. 13.3 ‘Family photo’ of IAC staff with the heads of state attending the inaugurations of the IAC and its Observatories at the door of the Mechanics Workshop of IAC
headquarters in La Laguna. (Credit: IAC.)
13 Royalty and Heads of State Above the Clouds (1985)
commandeered the official chauffeur-driven car that had been assigned to me
as IAC Director for the event, so I was left to thumb a lift home with my wife
to dress for dinner so as not arrive late at the feast. Many have been given their
marching orders for far lesser offences.
That same night a ship carrying IAC people, journalists, and invited guests
set sail for La Palma. From what I am told, the celebrations continued in
full swing.
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory greeted the day of the inauguration
with its best smile. The sun was radiant in a perfectly clear sky; there was no
wind, and a green-yellow mantle of codeso flowers impregnated the air with
fragrance, while in the distance, way below, a dark blue sea served as an aquatic
pedestal for the island. The white domes of the telescopes contrasted with a
sky saturated with blue. To add to the scene, enormous ‘flags of the cosmos’,
designed by César Manrique, undulated in a light breeze, to the accompaniment of music composed for the occasion by Carmen Hernández.
The main ceremony took place in a rustic-style amphitheatre, built on the
mountainside expressly for the occasion. Speeches were made, in order, by the
President of the Governing Council of the IAC, the President of the Canarian
Government, the Director of the IAC, the President of the International
Fig. 13.3 ‘Family photo’ of IAC staff with the heads of state attending the inaugurations of the IAC and its Observatories at the door of the Mechanics Workshop of IAC
headquarters in La Laguna. (Credit: IAC.)
13 Royalty and Heads of State Above the Clouds (1985)