cuatro pesetas
our little plaça, right in the center of town, has quite a history. just ask our neighbor josep, who ran a bank and a bar here years ago. so many years that the brandy has a four-cent-tax sticker.
our neighbor josep (or call him jose, he doesn’t care which one you use, or call him samanyo, or pep: he answers to them all) was quite a businessman before he retired. although he’s not really retired now, just ask his wife. anyway, back in the day, two of his businesses operated right here in the center of town: a bar, and a bank. yes, quite a combination, we agree. and the bank? well it wasn’t a really bank, it was a… bank communication place. let me explain.
at the time, hace años, there were no banks with offices here in L’Albi. now, of course, there are three. but back then, none. people needed a place to keep their money, and josep needed to make money so… he opened up a little bank-of-sorts right here on the plaça. he would work with banks in the surrounding areas to help their clients have a local place for saving money, being able to get cash, and so on. this way, the banks had a go-between and the local people didn’t have to travel to another town to do their day-to-day banking business.
at the same time, around the corner, he had a bar-and to hear the neighbors talk about it, it was really the social center of town. he still has some old bottles from that bar stashed away, and when we’re lucky, one gets pulled out for us all to enjoy. to give you an idea of how long ago that bar was operating, josep likes to point out the tax sticker on the bottles. cuatro pesetas, they say. four cent tax.
there also used to be a grocery store here on the plaça, a carpenter, and… you get the idea. it was the center of town. it still is, officially. but the bakery and banks and bar and everything else… they’ve moved up the hill. now, the plaça serves as the place for events, like community dinners and official presentations. the city hall and the church use it for their occasional outdoor events.
the only regular activity in the plaça, though, is the market. every thursday, there’s a farmers market of sorts… one couple, selling fruits and vegetables, a long row of tables full of everything fresh you need to get you through the week. and one other vendor, selling salted cod (bacalao, a very traditional protein here), olives, and so on. one fresh foods stall, one preserved foods stall. that’s it, aside from the occasional visit from the knife sharpener or the congelados (frozen food, think Schwan’s but Spain) vendor or…. you get the idea.
the rest of the week, if there are no fiestas or markets, our little plaça is pretty peaceful. from here in l’Artesania, we have the best view for performances, but our day to day life pretty quiet-by which i mean it’s pretty, and it’s quiet.
it’s like having the best of both worlds—and the best neighbors.
so of course, this also brings the best of both worlds for our guests to l’Artesania: experiencing the local festivals and markets right out front, but having a peaceful day-to-day experience. this is one of the things that, in my mind, makes our place such a wonderful place to visit: there are so many things going on within a half hour from our front door all the time, sometimes even right outside our windows. but you can also find peace, get away from it all, slow down—with the pace of pueblo life in l’Albi.
this makes for a great retreat center: a peaceful escape to recharge creative batteries or hunker down to focus on a creative project, with adventures always just around the corner. inspiration everywhere, peace right here.
oh, and of course josep, with his squirreled-away four-peseta-taxed bottles waiting to become a cocktail with the neighbors at the end of the day.