Don Quixote Figures - Undoers of Injustice - Many Cultures

This is a look-back to our trip, spurred onwards by some considerations of today's (2010) American politics - The puzzle and even the inspiration of an Alvin Greene who won a substantial primary election seemingly out of nowhere, and is staying in the race for the duration, against the Biggies. Go, Alvin.

SPAIN'S MAN OF LA MANCHA; 
MEET AMERICA'S MAN OF THE PEOPLE

Cultures and empires and religions are  built upon wrongs.  Periodically, people arise to right them, with varying results. Who pans out.  Who is the actor, who the genuine. 

In Spain, think of Don Quixote: the righter of wrongs, the undoer of injustice - see ://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Let Sancho Panza himself introduce him, in straightening out which is which to those who did not know:

"And the real Don Quixote, of La Mancha, the famous, the valiant, the wise, the lover, the righter of wrongs, the guardian of minors and orphans, the protector of widows, the killer of damsels, he who has as his sole mistress the peerless Dulcinea Del Toboso, is this gentleman before you, my Master, all other Don Quixotes and all other Sancho Panzas are dreams and mockeries."

Read the book - start here: at page 197, at ://books.google.com/books?id=UzsMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA197&lpg=PA197&dq=righter+of+wrongs&source=bl&ots=jKSn4bH-DW&sig=snEL23icA2JSuXsPQ_OXND6zb7o&hl=en&ei=92U_TM2GLoaglAfhgL39Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCUQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=righter%20of%20wrongs&f=false/

A Righter; one who sets out to fix.

Saint Nicholas was a Righter. when he was Bishop Nicholas, did that at Myra in intervening in the imminent execution of three innocent men, and securing their release, see ://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=59/. But Don Quixote holds our attention most, because he was dedicated to that principle. Read an okay summary at ://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/Best/RaleighQuixote.htm/ Best to read the book.

Who is like unto Don Quixote?

Shall we try America's Alvin Greene, who, by fluke or fate, won the Democratic party nomination primary for candidate to the United States Ssenate, and noone yet has found trickery or fraud or exploitation. It may still happen, still, enjoy the ride.

Is he a fraud or genuinely disingenuous.  A plain man, with education but few skills in presenting himself, awards in the military, and erroneous roads taken in his life, little stellar about him from information to date, but still he seeks to fix the things that went wrong in his life, the institutions that did not recognize him, the jobs that did not come about, etc. See the amazement at The Fey in Religion and Politics.

Spain has many legacies, but the Don Quixote story of human connection, endeavor, effort directed at windmills, is worth our best attention. See America Road Ways, Washington DC

Puerto La Pice, El Toboso - Don Quixote in La Mancha

The La Mancha area is south of Madrid, a broad area of reference points that people have tied together loosely, as having stimulated the imagination of Cervantes in creating the fictional Don Quixote. See quixote.mse.jhu.edu/.

I. PUERTO LAPICE, SPAIN - LA MANCHA

Puerto LaPice, Spain, Street scene

Puerto LaPice is a small town, see Don Quixote on the stucco on the side of the building - its favorite fictional son. It is hard to time your visit so the recycling bins are out of sight, so enjoy.

We forget over here what it is like without most everyone owning some kind of car - note there is no traffic at all.

Don Quixote, Puerto LaPice, Spain. Trough.

The Don Quixote country - the book "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes 1547-1616, at ://www.online-literature.com/cervantes/- remember that he is a fictional character, but there are towns associated with his adventures, and those of Sancho Panza, his companion; and Dulcinea, his heart's desire.

Here is the statue of Don Quixote at Puerto La Pice, where someone has set up a commercial enterprise to serve you lunch, a reconstructed sample Inn of the period, but clearly geared to provide the buses with a stop point: the Venta del Quijote.

Do go to the gift shop - really. Some people are gifted at selecting good goods to sell. They are here. Skilled entrepreneurs without borders.

We are not shoppers, but the black silhouette of Don Quixote and the head-down horse on a plain white thin mug was worth the buy. This commercialism is not a negative - the area does not offer many focal points, and we do enjoy lunch. Go anyway. There is a map at this site to get you oriented - .karenbrown.com/City/Spain/STATE/Puerto_L%C3%A1pice/000000000000085.php. Dulcinea's home, at El Toboso, is not far. These are not well marked, so enjoy the roads.

EL TOBOSO

Here is Don Quixote in the town of El Toboso. See www.answers.com/topic/alcazar-1.
.
Don Quixote and Dulcinea, El Toboso, Spain

There is also a very fine art/gift shop in El Toboso where you can dress up as Don Quixote and Dulcinea and have your picture taken. Everybody needs good kitsch.

Other spots are Campo del Criptana with its windmills, for the rest of the Don Quixote circuit. If this is new to you, do see Man of La Mancha, 1972 film and later Broadway musical, at ://broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/mancha.htm; and sing "The Impossible Dream."