Friday, February 7, 2025
One of the stipulations of my rental agreement is that the owners will send in a professional on the seventh of each month to do a thorough cleaning of the apartment including all new linens and towels.
Today was the seventh, so I needed to clear out for a few hours once our vivacious cleaning lady arrived, she did a wonderful job by the way.
Since we were experiencing light drizzle, I opted to head to an indoor attraction to beat the wet weather.
I started walking towards the old city using the five blocks of arcaded buildings as a cover from the drizzle.
The harbor was gray
I mentioned in yesterday's post that I learned a some new things about Gijón's history that I would share with you today after revisiting a few of sites.
The first insight is about this green
Ode to Sidra sculpture near the harbor
As it turns out, several years ago our Team President, Kike, was cleaning out his family's home and found many crates of empty, green sidra bottles stored in some vague nook of the property.
Instead of returning them to a sidra company to be cleaned and reused as is the custom, he took them instead to an all-purpose recycling center.
Once there, he was told about the artist who was in the planning stages of building the above pictured work of art. The artist was having trouble garnering enough sidra bottles to make his project a reality because of the way that sidra drinkers and sidra companies customarily exchange of empty sidra bottles.
The recycler told Kike that if he left his crates of sidra bottles with him, they would not be recycled in the normal sense but would instead be repurposed for this art project to benefit this sidra guzzling city.
Somewhere in this sculpture, Kike's family sidra bottles reside to this day.
A crate of empty sidra bottles
spotted this morning on my travels
Once in the convoluted old town, it
was a bit difficult finding the sheltered
facility that was my walk's goal
While stumbling about for a few minutes, I came upon a second spot with new insights in mind.
On Thursday night, Kike queried,
"Do you know why this house stands alone?"
I had walked by this building and had never really made his point.
Seemingly, all of the buildings in the older parts of the city abut each other. Recall if you will the yellow goop I've wondered about on standing buildings that outline a former now razed edifice that once stood next door.
Why was this old structure completely untouched by another building.
Kike informed that it is so because this was La Casa del Verdugo.
Now in the area where my lovely bride, Laurie, grew up there was a large thoroughfare called Verdugo Road, her family home was surrounded by the Verdugo Hills and there was even a Verdugo Hills High School nearby.
So what was the big deal with La Casa del Verdugo that left it standing alone?
What I did not know was that a Verdugo was a city's official executioner and apparently no one wanted their home or shop touching the Verdugo's place of residence.
Part of this distaste for the Verdugo was Spain's method of official execution, the garrote.
When commissioned by the courts to legally ply his trade, the Verdugo used a handheld ligature made of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line to strangle the condemned prisoner.
Rather gruesome work in my opinion.
Spain outlawed the death penalty in 1978 for all cases except for certain offenses during times of war.
In 1995, Spain banned the death penalty completely during peace and war.
Holy Mother of God, the garrote . . .
Alberto Alonso Blancó
"Rambal"
1928-1976
I posted a few days ago upon seeing this relatively new statue that has stood here since only 2022, that I thought that perhaps he was a beloved trash man.
As it turns out, Rambal is indeed beloved by the people who call Cimavilla their home as he was one of their own, but he was far from a trash collector.
Nominally, he worked by day helping the women of Gijón with their laundry.
An out of the closet homosexual during the days of the uber-repressive Franco regime, he bravely was an activist for change for the gay community when it really was not safe to be speaking out about such rights and against such prejudices.
He was assassinated in his home by means of multiple stab wounds. The killer or killers set his home ablaze in an attempt to cover up their tracks.
Although the police had two Gijón residents firmly in their sights, no one was ever taken to trial for this heinous crime due to a lack of concrete evidence.
Ever the activist, Rambal's apron has been written upon by current Cimavilla residents demanding that the refurbishing of the old tobacco factory behind this statue include spaces for local businesses and cultural uses as well as any more far reaching uses.
Again, Kike had enlightened me again about Gijón's fascinating history.
Museo Casa Natal de Jovellanos
At last, I reached my sanctuary from the wet weather, this small art museum that was the original home where Gijón's most famous son, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744-1811), grew up.
Jovellanos was instrumental in his day as a beacon for advancements in education, the arts and social justice.
The building itself dates back to 1548.
I entered to what turned out to be a good set of exhibit's by local artists through the centuries in a nice setting.
Disturbing, I thought
Even in the good old days, people
took "photos" of their food
A vase with a design that I liked
Death of a school mate
Poignant.
A view of the Gijón harbor in
days long gone by
A scene of our rugged Costa Verde
This dental pain was real!
Loading coal onto a ship
in Gijón's harbor
Loved her face . . .
. . . and these two as well from the
same large painting
A Gijón bon vivant
"Every woman's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man . . ."
The Museo's ground floor art space
A gaitero and a maiden of interest
I want a hat like his
The First Floor had more modern
works by local artists
An artsy luge
I could use a hammock like this one
I loved this stylized bi-plane
Exorcising the Plague
Intricate headboard
I would look so good in red
pants like these
An intricate inlaid bargueño
or Spanish writing desk
Early 20th century photo of
Gijón fishermen
This photo and the remarkable, huge woodcarving of the Gijón fish market to follow were both the work of Sebastian Miranda (1885-1975).
Miranda was born on July 7th so we shared a birthday bond.
So intricate that it needed to be
broken down into smaller parts
Sorting out the day's haul
Deciding what to purchase
People in the rafters watching the action
More rafters watchers of the transactions
Two children enthralled at
the Pescadería hubbub
Nursing the baby amid the fish
This art museum was well worth the visit and, as with all of Gijón's museums, there was no entry fee.
Emperor Ceasar Augustus
waving to the surfers
Looks like a spicy additive
to your soups and salsas
Asturian street art abounds
Private Detectives and Criminologists
I boarded the #1 bus for the ride to Stadio El Molinón-Enrique Castro Quini, home of Real Sporting de Gijón, our DII soccer club.
Stylized X & G for Xixon & Gijón
on the side of El Molinón
I was there to buy a ticket for Sporting's Saturday night game against Eibar.
Across the street, the fire escape
drew my eye
A restaurant sign at El Molinón's
ground level . . .
. . . and another
Having easily purchased the
desired ducat, but I still needed some
Sporting swag to wear to the game
NAILED IT!
Manolo Preciado
1957-2012
"Mañana Saldrá el Sol"
Preciado was Sporting's coach from 2006-2012.
His positive attitude was encapsulated by his catchphrase listed above, "Tomorrow the Sun Will Shine."
He died of a heart attack at the age of 54.
Sporting's all-time best player
by most accounts
More on Quini whose name
is part of El Molinón's official title
Peñas are fan clubs and Sporting has
many of them in their Peñas Federation
In the late afternoon the Sun did
make an appearance just like
Manolo said it would
On my late night walk this
Mexican restaurant sign almost
got to me but I was strong
It was a good day and I had a sparkling clean apartment, what more could you ask for on the Costa Verde?
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