Extremadura? More Like Extrema-cool-a

First off, an apology to Extremadura: I am sorry for thinking your name came from your hard land. Ends up the name came from the fact that it is situated at the end/extremity of the River Duera. I learned this when I was chatting with a 60-something year old Anarchist in the Bar La Rivolta.

My group went to Mérida, the capital of the region, for the first night and then toured it the following day. After lunch, we went to Trujillo and toured that and we closed out the day by heading to a nearby finca (ranch) to spend the night. The next day we went to Cáceres, toured the city and then headed home.

I am very lucky that that was the order we did things as it allowed me to have an amazing experience. That night in Mérida I headed out to see what the city had to offer and I found La Rivolta. La Rivolta is a 31 year-old bar on Calle John Lenon whose last night was the night I visited. After 31 years, the bar had become a Mérida institution. Life long friendships were started and developed in that bar and it even played a role preventing a fascist revolt in Extremadura right after Franco’s death. I met many nice Extremeñens and we talked about the history of the bar, the city and Anarchism (which is how the bar got its name). I joked that this night was so momentous that Obama sent me as a representative. They said that they really like Obama and but that Anarchy was the way to go.

The mayor, José Ángel Calle Gragera, came and gave a little speech and a plaque to the owner, Manuel Sánchez. The mayor made a joke I didn’t get and don’t recall but the punch-line was something like, “what can I say, I’m an Anarchist.” So I’ve officially met an elected official of the Anarchist party, how about that. Then they sang happy birthday to the bar and passed out birthday cake (yum!). A couple of little speeches were made by Manuel; a women who worked for the bar, whose parents were big fans of the bar, and who was born only two months before it opened; and a long time customer. I was even given a little shout out by the owner (who I had chatted with a little) saying that La Rivolta has kept old customers and even on its last night brought in new faces. It was a wonderful night filled with excellent conversation and a strong sense of community. The next day a half-page article ran in the regional paper, Hoy (Click for the Hoy report on La Rivolta.) Manuel was also listed in the “Protagonistas” section of the paper that day (sort of a cheers and jeers thing, which is in practically every Spanish paper).

The night morning we toured the city which is famous for being the spot with the most Roman ruins outside of Italy. Mérida was the capital of the Roman province Lusitania which means it was sort of a big deal. Back then, it was bigger than Athens. We saw their Coliseum/Arena, a giant aqueduct and an amphitheater. Linguistic note on the word Arena: The floor of an Arena is covered in sand, which in Spanish is arena, hence the name. A general theme in the city seemed to be if you dug pretty much anywhere you found some ancient Roman something. When their soccer team moved up to division 1 and they had to expand the stadium they found a Roman cemetery. They decided to move some of the stuff and keep building. The team was one of the worst teams in the entire league for a few years and then it was moved back down to division 2. That curse makes the Curse of the Great Bambino and the Curse of William Penn look like nothing. Supposedly, the chance of finding something is so great, and the city’s protection of artifacts is so fanatical, that people are afraid to renovate or expand their houses in the city for fear of finding something and having to put everything on hold for a while.

Some other notes on Mérida and Extremadura as a whole:

I have not been able to find any red octagonal traffic signs in Salamanca, I did find some in Mérida and they say “STOP” Why the signs are in English, I don’t know.

 

In each of the cities we went to there were either lemon or orange trees in public spaces which made me happy. I am very pro-urban gardening and it just makes sense if you are going to plant a tree in a city to plant a fruit tree.

I had my first peanut butter and chocolate ice cream in Mérida and it was pretty crummy. Darn you freezer burn!

Mérida is home to the Guinness World Record holder, Nico Jiménez, who won his spot in history for the longest pig leg, the picture says “13,90 metros” (13.9 meters, or about 41.7 feet) which cannot possibly be true. But here is the picture.

 

I saw one of the funnier pieces of graffiti I’ve seen in Spain in Méida. Here is the picture:

It means “You don’t want a girlfriend with three tits? Mutant Power!

Oh, and some Roman ruins

Comments

[Lauren]

Pig leg? I don't see a photo of a pig leg.

[Lauren]

Guinness record bid for longest slice of ham
• 02 Jan 2009 •

NEWS REVIEW 2008 / November

TORREVIEJA Council’s Commerce and Catering Councillor, Agustina Esteve, together with Andres Fernandez, the award-winning master-cutter from the local business, ‘La Despensa Salmantina’, made a rather unusual announcement at a press conference recently. At an event that will be open to the public at the ‘Despensa Salmantina’, Nico Jimenez, world and Spanish cured ham cutting champion, will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest slice of cured ham. He holds the current world record with a slice that was 19 metres and 20 centimetres in length. Agustina also announced that, on Christmas Eve, there will be a cured ham cutting class by Fernandez at La Plasa.

[NICO JIMENEZ MAESTRO CORTADOR DE JAMON]

HOLA A TODOS, FELICITAROS POR VISITAR EXTREMADURA Y DEGUSTAR NUESTROS MANJARES EN ELLOS EL PRODUCTO ESTRELLA (EL JAMON DE BELLOTA ) SI ME DAIS UNA DIRECCION DE CORREO OS MANDO LA FOTO DE LA LONCHA MAS LARGA DEL MUNDO (GUINNESS WOLRDS RECORDS). UN SALUDO NICO JIMENEZ.