The other Santiago and the other woman

Santiago de Chile was named after Santiago, the patron Saint of Spain, by Pedro de Valdivia and the "other" woman, Inés Suárez with whom he had an extramarital relationship. But rather than reading their quite remarkable story from me, I would recommend you read the novel by Isabel Allende, Inés del alma mía (Inés of my soul) - she writes better than I do and was also related to the President of Chile, Salvador Allende.

Santiago is different from other Latin American cities. Even though it can become quite lively, as you can experience in the rowdy bars of Bellavista, on the whole I found it to be a relatively tranquil place, especially if you wander around the upmarket Las Condes district, where you can also find an open air antiques market in Plaza Peru every Sunday. It is also quite easy to get around and the underground is clean and efficient.

Visit the Cathedral; the sadly famous Palacio de la Moneda, bombed by General Pinochet during his coup d'état and where Salvador Allende died; the central market; the Cerro San Cristobal - a hill dominated by a large statue of the Virgin Mary; the Cerro Santa Lucia, where Pedro de Valdivia was pinned down by the native indians for 2 years; and the home of the poet Pablo Neruda called "La Chascona" the nickname of his lover at the time. Another site that you will not easily forget is the closeness and the immensity of the Andes.

Going up Cerro San Cristobal

La Chascona- House of Pablo Neruda

View from Cerro Santa Lucia

View of the Andes from shopping mall of  Las Condes

The town of Mystics and of someone who was played by Mel Brooks and Monty Python

The mystics were Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross; the other was Torquemada, the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, and the town is Ávila. St. Teresa and St. John were both born in Ávila and Torquemada, famously played by Mel Brooks in History of the World, Part I and by Monty Python in one of their sketches, died there. There is an even weirder relationship between St. Teresa and Torquemada. The grandfather of St. Teresa was a converted Jew who was accused by the Spanish Inquisition of re-embracing his faith and was condemned to walk in procession, together with other condemned, wearing what was known as a sambenito.
The historical centre of Ávila is small and pleasant. The town is best known for being the birthplace of St. Teresa and for its medieval Walls that span 2.5 Kms. encircling the town.
A good option to stay in Ávila is the Parador, set in a restored 16th Century Palace, adjacent to the Wall and with a very pleasant garden and where you can also savour the local food, famously, the Chuletón de Ávila if you like meat and the sweet Yemas de Santa Teresa.

Stand in Piccadilly and meet everyone you know

It used to be said that if you stood long enough in Piccadilly Circus you would eventually meet everyone you knew. I am not quite sure whether that is still the case today with all those thousands of "friends" that suddenly appear in Facebook. What is the case, though, is that London continues to be a great place to enjoy things from all over the world. A few of the things we enjoyed during our last trip:
- Delicious Japanese sweets at Minamoto Kitchoan. I try and visit on every trip. Besides the sweets, just looking how they gift wrap is an experience akin to a tea ceremony.
- Dim Sum in Chinatown. Service in the many restaurants in Chinatown can sometimes be erratic. We ate at the Golden Pagoda in Gerrard Street. Another option is CCK in Rupert Street.
- Coffee at Amalfi. A classic in Soho since 1963. There was a time when it was one of the few places in London where you could get a decent espresso or cappuccino!.
- An oriental dinner at Bam Bou in buzzing Fitzrovia.
- A visit to the Tate Modern and to the British Museum.
- Strolling along the many parks to be found in London, with Regent´s Park being a personal favourite.
More to follow!!!

Courtesans and Saints along the River Tormes

Salamanca in Spain has not one, but two cathedrals. In addition, in the nearby town of Alba de Tormes there is a monastery that is the final resting place of the Spanish saint Santa Teresa de Jesús or, rather, just parts of her, since other parts of her body can also be found in other Spanish churches as well as in Rome, Paris and Lisbon - it is even said that the dictator Franco had her right hand tucked away in his bedside table. Salamanca was also the city that had been chosen for the wedding in 1543 between a very pious Phillip II and Maria Manuela of Portugal. You would think that all these facts would make 16th Century Salamanca one of the most somber cities in the world, however, the city was also, and continues to be, a university town. At the time there were around 8.000 students in Salamanca and to give you an idea of the magnitude, the capital city of Madrid had a population of 11.000. All these students were attended by an army of courtesans (and I use the more polite term) that made some observers compare the city to Sodom and Gomorrah. Amongst those that held this view was Phillip II himself, who passed a law forcing all the courtesans to be taken to the other side of the River Tormes before Lent and not to allow them to return until a week after Easter Monday. This imposed period of "fasting" meant that the return of the courtesans was celebrated raucously by the students who came out to the river to welcome them back with wine and food. The parties that ensued are part of the legend of the city but nowadays the festivity, which is called "lunes de aguas" ("Monday of waters"), is still celebrated by students and families alike by having a picnic with friends and eating Hornazo, a pie which the students shared with the courtesans.

Monastery in Alba de Tormes

Monastery in Alba de Tormes

Bridge where students waited with Cathedral in background

The River Tormes

Fiddler on the Roof

If you happen to be in Madrid, you only have two days left to catch the Marc Chagall exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. The exhibition is in two venues, the other being at the Caja Madrid Foundation and ends on the 20th of May.

Photomontage in Cuenca

An exhibition at the Fundación March in Cuenca exploring the beginnings of the photomontage.

Cuenca revisited

In a recent post entitled Babylon in Spain,  I wrote about the town of Cuenca. We recently drove by the town and decided to stay at the Parador for the night and revisit the town. Some pictures of our visit.

Astrid y Gastón - The World´s 35th Best Restaurant

The 2012 winners from The World´s 50 Best Restaurants awards have been announced.
At number 35 the Peruvian restaurant Astrid y Gastón mentioned by us in our post Cebiche and Pisco Sour.
Our congratulations to Astrid and Gastón!