Nostalgia - A love story in Puerto Vallarta
By Jesús de Avila - The Editor - May 2006.
 Upon walking the streets it is easy to notice that Puerto Vallarta has been and forever will continue to be a platform where love is found, where it penetrates and manifests itself through thousands of couples. All of them have a story to tell according to their own experiences, with the sunset, the star-filled night sky or the rain as the main witness to promises whispered in the ear and preserved in the heart as treasures.
And thus, we find a testimony of one of those love stories on the boardwalk: the sculpture of a couple, looking towards the horizon, apparently waiting for time to take them back to their promises and desires, using the wind as a messenger, making their dreams come true. It is a couple made out of bronze. Just as its name indicates, it stands out with a nostalgic touch, the couple is anxious for that moment in their lives when they can leave the bench where they are sitting in order to always walk hand in hand forever.
Since it was put up, this sculpture called "Nostalgia" is a representation of the feelings of couples in love, of what they tell each other while being seated, observing the immensity of the ocean caressed by the sun with its last rays of light which turn into silvery sparkles on top of the waves while saying goodbye. At the same time they reaffirm their promise to come back in order to shine again the next day.
"Nostalgia" is a testimony of the Puerto Vallarta love story between the sculptor Ramiz Barquet and his wife Nelly. Here a love was born that survived time and events, growing into a passionate reality.
“Nostalgia”
Nelly and I meet 55 years ago. We planned to married, but did not. Each one went his own path. Nelly got married and had four children. I got married and had three children. After a long period of 27 years we met again. This was in 1973 when I saw her at the flower market in Mexico City. And I started visiting her, coming to Vallarta for several days.
I visited the smiling little town. I climbed the mountains that surround the enormous bay. I contemplated the ocean and was marveled, astonished, breathless. Really, I couldn’t speak. I was captivated by what surrounded Nelly’s legend. And decided that some day I would come back and settle here, by her side, to enjoy the magic of this place.
To say that Puerto Vallarta is a paradise, that after traveling to so many other places, I found that there was no other place like it. The bay is beautiful, the ocean and the mountains smile in their eternal luminosity. These are my feelings.
Nature edifies the spirit; it feeds and enriches the best in us.
One night, in the eve of my return to México City, I invited Nelly to dine at the Carlos O’Brian’s Restaurant, which was at that time a peaceful spot. And we dined quietly.
Afterwards we took a walk along the “Malecon”, and finally ended sitting by de sea, on the semi round flatform which already existed, and on which one day the “Nostalgia” would be placed.
We talked about God’s beauty and of his manifestations. And little a felling of sorrow invaded my heart, as I knew well that soon I would have to leave Puerto Vallarta.
It was then, by the sea that the idea of creating a sculpture which could embrace my multiple emotions, my profoundest feelings, came to me.
And “La Nostalgia” surged. It represents two figures, gazing towards the ocean, towards the mountain, towards the “Pueblito”, with intense joy, continuing their dialogue about God’s beauty, about richness of life… Nostalgically.
Some years later, I had at last the opportunity of showing a little sketch of “Nostalgia” to the mayor. Who approved of the monument, and ordered it to be placed precisely at the same place where we sat in that memorable night.
Ramiz Barquet – Sculptor |
A pedestrian, walking along the boardwalk, will find  “Nostalgia” just upon arriving at the half moon located in front of the restaurant Carlo’s O’brian's. It is a motionless and vibrant witness that evokes in us a feeling of intense and silent love.
"Nostalgia" was created by the sculptor Ramiz Barquet and was placed on the site where it is found today in 1984 during the month of May with the cooperation of the municipality and the shop owners along the boardwalk.
The bronze sculpture can be acquired to scale in Nelly’s Art Gallery, where the sculptor presents a permanent exhibition of some of his works, sharing the space with the work of his wife, the painter Nelly Barquet.
Nelly Galería de Arte
558 Morelos Downtown Puerto Vallarta
Oppening hours Monday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. & from 4:00 a 8:00 p.m. Tel.: 223-1193 |
Jesús de Avila – Publisher & Editor
E-mail: editor@pvmirror.com
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