Although I'd seen much of Europe as a child, I hadn't returned since visits to London, Paris and Greece the summer after graduating from college. Nineteen years later, I had a good reason, 9 years my junior: Leon, who took time off from his job in La Coruna to meet me in Madrid. We crashed at his friend's place just long enough to see the Garden of Earthly Delights at the Prado, go for a swim, eat dinner at 11 p.m. and run into a fellow traveler from the Pines (small world!) at an intimate gay club.
Madrid
 |
| Nando |
 |
| Jetlagged |
 |
| Lago Pool |
 |
| Parque del Retiro |
 |
| Botero Statue on Gran Via |
 |
| Gran Via |
Toledo
Since Leon hadn't seen much of Spain himself, I planned our itinerary. Thanks to
El Greco, Toledo was our first stop, a little more than an hour south of Madrid.
We spent much of the visit hiking around the city under the blazing August sun.
 |
| Castillo San Servando |
 |
| Tajo River |
 |
| Alcazar |
 |
| Alcazar Courtyard |
 |
| Statue Near Alcazar |
 |
| Cathedral Spire |
 |
| Cathedral Wall |
 |
| Municipal Building |
 |
| Municipal Archives Door |
 |
| Old Balconies |
 |
| Juderia Stroll |
Granada
After a six-hour train ride, we arrived at our cozy pension just in time for a "nap." We spent as much time "sleeping" as sightseeing.
 |
| Albaicin House |
 |
| No Dogs or Just No Poodles? |
 |
| Spanish Mother With Fan & Child |
Leon hated cultural stereotypes. Unless there was a camera in the vicinity.
 |
| Flamenco Studio |
I bought a straw hat to tour the
Alhambra, visible in the background.
 |
| View from San Nicholas Square |
If I could live in a palace, it would be there, the perfect nexus of location, architecture and design. No wonder you have to book your visits months in advance now.
 |
| View from Casa Real |
 |
| Casa Real |
The Moorish decorative motifs blew me away with their intricate repetitiveness.
 |
| Patio de los Leones |
 |
| Alcazaba Fortress |
Galicia
 |
| Atocha Station |
Our day-long journey to La Coruna took us from the sunny southeast of Spain to the inclement northwest, off the Celtic Sea. Carlos and Theresa, artisanal friends of Leon's former lover welcomed us to their semi-rural home. It took me a while to understand that Leon wasn't out to his family, which eventually caused a serious conflict when his brother-in-law insisted he resume teaching aerobics classes at the gym he and Leon's sister owned.
Carlos did custom carpentry work.
Note the red structure, a granary, on nearby property.
 |
| Horreo |
La Coruna would never have been on my radar. Galicia felt like another country, actually. I wasn't thrilled about relying on the hospitality of strangers, so I cut my trip short by several days.
 |
| La Terraza (Radio/TV Building) |
 |
| Park Cantones |
 |
| Not Happy |
 |
| Wrought Iron & Glass |
 |
| Plaza Maria Pita |
 |
| Old Town Street |
 |
| Indoor Market |
 |
| Writer's Square |
 |
| Riazor Beach |
The highlight of the trip was still to come, however: an overcast day at
Santiago de Compostela, which has been a Catholic pilgrimage site since the 9th century. My resentment at Leon dissipated--who could hold a selfish grudge in such a spiritual setting?
The ubiquitous clamshell motif obsessed me enough to buy a religious souvenir, completely out of character.
Leon and I spent our final day at his favorite beach
 |
| Mouros |
. . . and with his best friends in Betanzos, standing here next to a shop window displaying the local "breast cheese."
 |
| Victor, Cote & Leon |
All's well that ends well, I guess, although we didn't know this would be the end. When Leon tried to join me in the
Pines two years later, the US Immigration Service denied him entry at Kennedy Airport and sent him back to Spain because he had overstayed his first visa. The agents even seized his journal and queried him about "liking to make popcorn" with me, our euphemism for making love. Nobody in the federal government responded to my furious protests but
Barnet did manage to make me laugh through angry tears with his trademark wit, a riff on a tune from
My Fair Lady:
Leon from Spain stays mainly on the plane.
We never saw each other again. But we'll always have the Empire State Building, an impulsive visit we made on Valentine's Day, after watching
Sleepless in Seattle in bed, shortly before he left New York City for good.
Carpe Diem, indeed.
 |
| Betanzos |
More Leon:
No comments:
Post a Comment