~ Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke statue in Ronda
In April, when Radical Restoration goes to Spain to write, a one-day excursion to this magical city is planned.
After a day of literary and historical touring, we plan an evening of flamenco and dinner at El Quinqué.
Here’s what some well-known people have said about this city:
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
“The spectacle of this city, sitting on the bulk of two rocks rent asunder by a pickaxe and separated by the narrow, deep gorge of the river, corresponds very well to the image of that city revealed in dreams. The spectacle of this city is indescribable and around it lies a spacious valley with cultivated plots of land, holly and olive groves. And there in the distance, as if it had recovered all its strength, the pure mountains rise, range after range, forming the most splendid background.”
James Joyce (1882-1941)
“… and Ronda with the old windows of the houses, the eyes which spy out hidden behind the latticework so that their lover might kiss the iron bars and the taverns with half-closed doors in the night and the castanets and the night…”
Jorge Luis Borges (1896-1986)
“it is here, in Ronda, in the delicate penumbra of blindness, a concave silence of patios
leisure of the jasmine and the light sound of water, which summoned up memories of deserts”
Luis Cernuda (1914-1964)
“Strolling round Ronda at dusk. The cypresses, the palaces, all of that air not far removed from the Courts of Cadiz; and a sky of an inexpressable colour, neither pearl grey nor silver; a touch of pale blue which a particular white force of the light rubbed out and compensated for with its irradiation. At night, on the great balcony overlooking the garden, with almost no moon, all of the landscape of mountains in shadow, it seemed as if I were at sea; the wind made the murmuring of the waves and the darkness only allowed one to make out an enormous deep and distinct mass…”
and finally…
Orson Welles (1915-1985)
“A man does not belong to the place where he was born, but where he chooses to die”
There are still spots available for this week of writing, yoga, art, and history.
Come, join us for a magical week! April 19 – 26, 2020