Alberto is a real powerhouse

 

We are on the road again.  The ‘lifegym’ is our first port of call.  It is described as a gymnastics academy. Eight months ago Nelson wrote ‘Great gym, clean, with amazing music and very friendly instructors. Alberto is a real powerhouse. However, the weight room lacks a bit of organization and is getting too small for the number of people who come. We hope for a future expansion :)’

Bar Frankfurt is a bar and grill.  It has almost 900 reviews, of which, the total gets in at 4.4.  Pablo reckoned ‘We went for lunch and it was a great choice. The food was good and varied, and the waitresses were friendly and pleasant. Good value for money.’   You feel Luis would give six if he could do.  ‘One of the best bars I've tried in the Vega Baja area. Exceptional quality, reasonable price, and the best tripe I've ever had. 100% recommended.’

We end at the Casa Museo de Miguel Hernandez.  It is open 10 till 2 and 4 till 7 Tuesday-Saturday and only mornings on Sunday.   https://cultura.orihuela.es/?page_id=214917  

Miguel Hernández was a poet who was born in Orihuela in 1910 and died in Alicante in 1942.   He spent his childhood as a goatherd and farmhand, and was, for the most part, self-taught, . As a youth, Hernández greatly admired the Spanish Baroque lyric poet Luis de Góngora, who was an influence in his early works.  He published his first book aged 23.  A member of the Communist Party of Spain, Hernández was a member of the Fifth Regiment at the start of the Spanish Civil War and served in the 11th Division during the Battle of Teruel.

During the Civil War, on 9th March 1937, he married Josefina Manresa Marhuenda, whom he had met in 1933 in Orihuela. His wife inspired him to write most of his romantic work. Their first son, Manuel Ramón, was born on 19th December 1937 but died in infancy on 19th October 1938. Months later came their second son, Manuel Miguel (4 January 1939 – 1984). Josefina died on 18 February 1987 at age 71 in Elche.

Hernandez did not escape Spain after the Republican surrender and was arrested multiple times after the war for his anti-fascist sympathies. He was tried in 1939, along with Eduardo de Guzmán and 27 others, accused of being a communist commissar and of writing poems harmful to the Francoist cause.  He was eventually sentenced to death. His death sentence, however, was commuted to a prison term of 30 years, leading to incarceration in multiple jails under extraordinarily harsh conditions. He suffered pneumonia in Palencia prison, bronchitis in Ocaña prison and eventually succumbed to typhus and tuberculosis in 1942 in Alicante gaol.  Just before his death, Hernández scrawled his last verse on the wall of the hospital: Goodbye, brothers, comrades, friends: let me take my leave of the sun and the field.

Three days ago Jose said ‘In the end, what matters least is whether it may seem artificial or excessively well restored; the essential thing is to be able to get an idea of ​​the lifestyle that unintentionally forged an artist of letters, emotions, the senses, and a peculiar way of interpreting, understanding, and transmitting "reality."  Cecilia felt ‘The Miguel Hernández House Museum is a moving place that pays homage to the great poet from Orihuela. The poet's birthplace has been carefully restored and preserves the humble atmosphere in which this key figure of Spanish literature grew up. The exhibition includes personal belongings, manuscripts, and photographs that offer a deeper understanding of his life and work. It is a must-see for lovers of poetry and literature. The tour is both emotional and educational, highlighting Miguel Hernández's social and humanistic commitment. A place that brings pride to Orihuela and keeps his memory alive.’

And so the day ends.