One of the places we visited during our holiday in Spain was Alcalá de Henares. This incredibly beautiful historic town is located in the suburbs of Madrid. As you may know, Spain's riches are not limited to just Barcelona and Valencia. There are many other beautiful places: Madrid, Toledo and of course, the magnificent Alcalá. The world-famous Spanish novel Don Quixote was written here and the town generally has a historical atmosphere.
Alcalá de Henares is located to the east of Madrid and has a population of 200.000. It can be reached in about 30 minutes by train from Madrid's Atocha or Chamartín stations. From the train station it takes about 10 minutes to walk to the city center, where you'll arrive at a city renowned fr its unique Medieval architecture. Also the Universidad de Alcalá, one of Europe's oldest universities, is located here. This university has been the starting point for many talents. Today it is not so difficult to be admitted to the local university. But you mostly need a significant amount of money. However, in the 15th century being a university student was quite expensive. In fact poor students were very few and they had to meet three main conditions: they had to be Catholic, poor and not noble.
September 29, 1547 is an incredibly important date for Alcalá de Henares. But no, it's not the city’s day.It’s the day the most famous writer in the Spanish-speaking world, the author of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes was born. There had been many debates about the location of Cervantes birthplace, with many towns being suggested, even Toledo. But the truth is that he was born in this town and since he was baptized here, it has been confirmed.
I read Don Quixote again as an adult and frankly, it wasn't an easy task. Really books about the business world caught my attention more. I think it should be read because humanity doesn't change. People always remain human. I confirm this with my experiences. Over time I realize how similar we are to each other. Of course, there are cultural differences, but overall, we all resemble each other.
That's why I definitely recommend reading Don Quixote, even in its adapted version. The book contains wonderful information about Castilian cuisine and there are even places in Alcalá where you can taste dishes inspired by the book. We also went to taste delicious pastries shaped like Don Quixote's mustache, which can be enjoyed with a morning coffee. I have always been fascinated by how this city has preserved such wonderful relics from ancient times.
