La Catedral: not a church La Crónica was where young Santiago Zavala worked, just like the young journalist Mario Vargas Llosa. In the novel, the storyline revolves around a four hour conversation between Santiago and Ambrosio, his father’s chauffer, that takes place in a small bar called La Catedral in the gray atmosphere of downtown Lima, although in an area closer to its original neighborhoods that were significantly run down back then, near the contaminated Rímac River, birthplace of misery and marginalization:
–“If they have cold beer, I would like that,” said Santiago. “Let’s go, Ambrosio.” It did not seem real that the boy Santiago already drinks beer, and Ambrosio laughs, his big, greenish-yellow teeth flashing. Damn, how the time flew by. They climb the stairs. Amidst the vacant lots along the first block of Alfonso Ugarte Avenue, there is a shop that fixes up Fords, and to the left, at an intersection, are the Central Railway warehouses, faded due to the relentless grime. A truck loaded with boxes blocks the
Alfonso Ugarte 203, acá estuvo ubicado el bar La Catedral, un tópico literario esencial en las letras peruanas modernas.
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