I have found my local

02/09/12

Well, as the title says, I have found my local.  I did a quick search of Irish pubs in Oviedo and two appeared side by side on Calle Jovellanos, Paco’s Pinte and L’esperteyu; a real Irish name indeed.  I arrived at L’esperteyu and ordered a pint.  I was given a pint glass of Amstel, the beer had a head on it the size of a doorstep.  After downing such a ‘heady’ beverage I realised I was hungry.  They didn’t serve food but luckily there was snack bar down the road a bit that offered kebabs, hmmm… kebabs, cheap and nasty.  One kebab and a bottle of Heineken cost €5.30, good value.  With the hole in my stomach filled I headed for Paco’s.  When I ordered a bottle of beer Paco smiled and asked me what part of Ireland I was from.  We struck up a conversation then. He told me he had lived in Galway for eight years and that he was in love with Ireland.  He also gave me the names of the siderías to visit and more importantly the ones to avoid.

 

Later, while I was sitting outside alone having a smoke, he came out with a large hardback book about Asturias.  It is full of glossy photos of the region and gives a lot of details and suggestions of where to visit.  When I gave it back to him at the bar he told me to hold on to it for a while and to return it to him some other day when I was finished reading it.  Soon I witnessed another act of kindness by this man.  A young girl in her late teens or early twenties came in and stood at the bar.  She didn’t look very well, there were dark rings under her eyes and she had a tired and sad look upon her face.  Paco greeted her and then proceeded to collect the remaining sandwiches he had for sale, place them in a bag and hand them to her.  She thanked him and left without paying him or saying another word….   

 

Paco is an excellent host and seemed to be very aware of my sitting alone at the bar.  He called a guy over and introduced him to me with instructions that he speak to me and explain to me what he does for a living.  The guy’s name is Ángel (26 yrs) and he plays the organ in the local church.  When I expressed interest in what he does he asked me if I would like to hear him play.  I said that it would be nice to hear him play someday.  He explained that he could play for me now, no problem, and went home to get the keys to the church. 

So, approaching midnight Ángel opened the doors to Iglesia de la corte and introduced me to a church built in the early 1700’s.  Asturias pretty much held out against the Moorish invaders for 800 years and the church itself has no Moorish influence in its architecture.  It is hard-core Roman Catholic.  There are two organs in the church and a harmonium.  Ángel played the harmonium first, showing me how the notes are produced by air driven through metal reeds by foot-operated bellows.  Then we went to the side of the altar and he played on the electric organ.  I have posted a video of his playing; make sure your PC is audio enabled when you view it.  The other organ up on the balcony at the back of the church is from the 18^th century and is gigantic.  There are workmen in at the moment and so the organ is covered in plastic to protect it.  Ángel insisted I come upstairs with him to see it.  I stood on the balcony overlooking the pews below while he knelt down and reached under the plastic to play the small keyboard.  The sound of it nearly knocked me off the balcony.  I can’t express in words the feeling of the sounds travelling from the pipes through my body and resonating around the empty church.  What an unexpected experience, to be slightly inebriated and standing in an old empty Spanish church at midnight listening to the church organ being played.  I didn’t take a photo of it as it wouldn’t do it justice being covered in plastic.  Ángel informed me that it would be uncovered in a week or two and that I could come back then to see and hear it properly.

 

I asked him if he played anywhere else besides in this church.  Smiling, he told me that he had played for the Pope in Rome and also he had played in France and Belgium.  He explained to me that playing the organ was his life and that the large organ he had just played was his novia (girlfriend). 

We headed back to Paco’s then so that I could buy him a beer.  Standing outside for a smoke I took a photo of Paco and Ángel, then Paco took a photo of myself and Ángel.  He explained to me that he had just taken a photo of all three of us together.  I was confused and wondering if I hadn’t understood exactly what he had said.  He pointed to the stencil on the wall behind me, it is a picture of him done like the famous image of Che Guevera by Jim Fitzpatrick.

 

 

Ángel had to leave then.  We shook hands and I thanked him for his time and we agreed that we would meet up again soon for a beer.  When I had ordered one more beer for the road Paco introduced me to a girl who was sitting alone at the bar.  With two paper roses in her hair and a cup of herbal tea in front of her she smiled warmly as we shook hands.  Paco explained to her where I came from and that she should speak slowly to me.  She was very chatty and a few times I had to ask her to slow down as I wasn’t getting anything she was saying.  She gave me her email address but I didn’t understand why she would think I wanted her email address.  Eventually it became clear to me; she ‘reads’ people and if I would like a proper reading I was to email her.  I thanked her but explained that I thought all that stuff was a load of nonsense.  She insisted on giving me a quick reading there and then.  She wrote it down for me as follows….

La verdad te persigue pero tú eres más rápido que una liebre.  Conduces con cordura tu amplio destino.  Porque eres el mensajero de tus antepasados.  No debes en el camino que tienes que elegir.  Porque siempre sabrás que camino escoger.  Luchaste contra Dragones y mazmorras en el destierro de una vida pasada.  Ahora queda la dulce apariencia de un ángel.

Make of that what you will.

 

I am delighted with the friendliness and warmth of the people I have met so far in Oviedo.  Even when I am struggling to say something in Spanish they smile and wait patiently for me to finish the sentence.  Moises thought nothing of showing me around the area and helping me to carry my groceries back to the flat.  Paco has loaned to me a beautiful and expensive looking book on our first meeting and Ángel was only too happy to show a stranger around a church late at night and María was happy to give me a reading, whether I wanted one or not.  I shall return to my local on a regular basis and anyone who comes to visit me will be introduced to Paco, (as well as all the other bars on that street).

Hasta pronto.