The university, first with its frog on the skull façade and then it's unfathomably tall nave that breathes alive with its jeweled pattern, is the oldest in the world. (The Confucian exam hall in Dongcheng might have been older, were it not boarded up in 1905 and sacked during the Cultural Revolution. One feels dwarfed, as intended, head cocked back trying to contemplate the height of the spires and it makes me anticipate the intimacy of the adjoining Catedral Viejo, which is more of a Romanesque construction with an interesting alter of narrative paintings presumably from before Spain had gold to lavish with impunity. The girls and I enjoyed laughing at some of the facial expressions of the faithful within the Renaissance paintings in the cloister and we continued to riff on how inspid one or another facial expression was, until we were back out in the sun.
Later in the Plaza Mayor we found a place for lunch and ordered things quickly. Later when I went inside to see about charging my phone, I saw some remarkable tapas dishes laid out under the counter and went to find the waiter to order these one of these and one of these and one of these, as well. We stayed until not long after 2:30PM and then I got ready for the second time during the trip to drive out of town and conduct a conference call. Somehow the exit from the medieval garage was easier than the descent down into it.
With the day before us we went north and the west riding over and around Portugal and on towards the mysterious territory of the Gallegos. Something in the soil, certainly. Both Francisco Franco and Fidel Castro hail from Galicia. Site of Europe’s largest fishing fleet and the point from which most drugs are smuggled into the continent. And after many hours and many days considering the dry, savannah of Castile and La Mancha and Leon it is remarkable to drive over the mountains and down into the verdant, hilly territory that suddenly feels like Ireland. Something about Rias Baixias I immediately felt attracted to.
Carlos, our Airbnb host made a valiant effort to find us one or another or another reservation. How about one at 10:15PM? My older daughter sighed. I asked if we could figure out the internet first as it seemed not to be working and this would be like a house without oxygen for my family. By the time we called back to the retaurant to confirm the table was gone. Eventually we found a spot at the Castro hotel and though they didn’t recognize us at first as we walked in through the kitchen they eventually acknowledged that we had a proper reservation and could join the others on the porch over the sea and we got a lovely seat there, out back overlooking the boats in the bay. My wife wanted seafood. The food of her youth. And when she asked, I said that ‘razors’ were a form of clam. She ordered them, while I got the seabass. She was thrilled when they came. Chengzi, these were a popular dish from her childhood on the Bohai Sea which she hadn’t had for years. The local wine was really good too.
Tuesday, 8/24/21
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