From my journal, Wednesday, August 23, 2000
At 11 a.m. the Centro Cervantino opened up.
The museum
displays some 273 editions of Don Quixote from all over the world and
translated into some 43 languages. The oldest editions are from the 18th
century.
Many of the books are donated and signed by leaders from all over the
world and from decades past. Among the world leaders donating signed copies of
Don Quixote: Ronald Reagan, Moamar Qaddafi, Benito Mussolini and King Juan
Carlos I.
I asked the woman in charge about Alcázar de San Juan's claim to be
Cervantes's birthplace. She said a local academic claimed that the church in
Alcázar had Cervantes's baptismal record, but as far as she knew it has since
disappeared. The plot thickens...
After El Toboso we checked out the windmills
at Campo de Criptana. What can I say? They are windmills. Actually, the
hillsides all around this neck of the woods bristle with windmills, some still
with their original mechanisms, some, apparently, just for the benefit of the
tourists. We toured one windmill. At the top we could see how the sails turn
these massive gears, which in turn move the millstones to grind the flour. The
next floor below had a chute which would channel the flour into bags. The guy
selling post cards said this mill was 400 years old. I don't think it's still
in working condition. But it's still mightily impressive.
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