Namely Pelayo is very crossed that no one has ever asked about his homeland. He's so proud of Asturias! "Do Not Feed the Platypus, please" takes place in the north of Spain and the small town of La Riera is located near Cangas de Onís and the Basilica of Covadonga, where the Spanish Reconquista (Reconquest) began in 722.
The small town where Marcial lives is located some 50 minutes by walking from the Monastery and is almost "lost" to visitors. It is not included in most tourist visits (they all prefer to stay at Congas de Onís where the good restaurants are) but seeing it is worth the driving. Like most small towns in Asturias, it's partly abandoned and local towns do their best to attract young families to live there (free house, a job, loans, etc.)
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| Marcial's house |
The legend about drinking from the waters from the small stream that runs at the feet of the Virgin's sanctuary -lovingly called La Santina by Asturians- is partly true. In the past, girls looking for a husband used to go to pray and drink from the waters. It was said that in less than a year, they would find a man to share their lives and in a country that was losing most of his young men to inmigration, it was a considerable feat. Still some people go and hope to find an everlasting love there.
You can't ask more from 40 square metres (and this one is a big one, compared to the 25 square metres flats being sold for a little less than 140.000 Euros in 2007 in the same luxurious neighbourhood). Who paid that? Well people like Lucho and Paco got mortgages for 120% of the flat's valuation (Ever heard of subprime loans? There's some of it in Spain too).
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| Here is the reason why Marcial wants to return to his beloved forest |
After this we need to invade Konrad's "little house" in Venice or Carsten's flat in London! The Dutchman must still dream about restaurants with paper tablecloths and oily pizzas. It was a quantum leap from here to the Ritz.
Asturias is very beautiful and Pelayo has every reason to be proud :) I'm going to have to go back and re-read his story too, now that I have a better understanding of the history of Spain; especially when it was under Islamic control and the "men of the books" lived side by side. A lot of what Pelayo talked about definitely went over my head, a shame considering my ancestry ^^; It's what happens when half your ancestors tried to wipe out the history and culture of the other half of your blood line. You're a bit confused on "where" you come from haha Perhaps this is why Americans are so crazy? We're historically aimless, but not as haunted as we should be (since we have very little record of our roots in many cases) by our ancestors' crimes or tragedies. Potentially lovable, but ultimately very strange to the rest of the world I suppose hahha Thank you for this Tionne!
ReplyDelete¡Ah, Asturias! La familia de mi madre era de Soto de Dueñas, a una media hora de Cangas de Onís. La casa donde creció mi abuelo era casi idéntica a la de Marcial, pero sí, ahora ya los pueblos están casi abandonados.
ReplyDeleteAlguna vez fuí a visitar "la madre patria", y la verdad es que Asturias es, como dicen ellos, un paraíso natural. Los bosques, la niebla, la lluvia y el olor a tierra mojada... las ciudades simplemente no huelen así de bien.
Comprendo perfectamente por qué Pelayo extraña tanto La Rioja, metido dentro de un edificio de concreto en Madrid. (Y Marcial se merece un beso por hacer galletas de sidra en esa micro-cocina).
La realidad de los inmuebles en las grandes ciudades (a menos que te apellides Lintorff, ehem, o tengas una empresa de software como Carsten) es casi una pesadilla. "Gallineros" les decimos aquí, al tipo de edificios como en el que habitan/aban Pelayo y Marcial. La calidad de vida es de dar miedo, los espacios dan risa, ¡y los precios! Los créditos subprime andan por todos lados.
A quantum leap from the Ritz, indeed!