Barcelona: Money, Monks and Monarchy

Day 3 - Wednesday
I'm aware that there have been several errors in the last few blogs - typing on my my phone is quite mistake inducing.
Today we visited Montserrat (the mountain, not the volcano). Not great weather, the cloud cover was too low shrouding the top of the mountain in fog. There are multiple regious building on montserrat - we visited a monestry near the top.
What we saw upon arrival was not what I had expected at all. In fact I think it was every thing a religous building should not be. Several shops and an art gallery. Now I'm not saying that a monestry can't have a gift shop or a cafe, or that it can't be a tourist attraction. But something can be too much. Monks are supposed to be devoted to god, they should not be lining their pockets with money. Or is this a sign that money is replacing god. I'm not a religious person but I like churches and other places of worship. They have a great presence and I believe they are places to be respectful of, however this place had lost part of it's presence dispite the inside being stunningly decorated and I think this is to do with thw encroachment of the shops.
On the way back into Barcelona we were told how all the beaches in spain are public, yet there is a hotel built into the sea (like the one in dubai). It just shows that with enough money even laws are insignificant. The bit of beach that it was built on has long been known as a nudist beach, however guests complained, hotel appealled, law has been passed - it is now illegal to be nude on the beach - even though the hotel itself is illegal.
Spain has had a lot to deal with over the last century, this I never knew: WW1, Spanish revalution (Franco + Hitler), WW2 followed by a dictatorship. Until spains King restored democrasy.

Barcelona, Volcanoes and the Greeks

Day 2 - Tuesday

So the population of the world hit 7 billion yesterday - on hallowe'en - I wonder if that is the sign of things to come, the universe joking with us.
So fitting that the day after we go and look at aincent ruins - what would future civilizations make of our ruins, what would they think of us? Will we leave the planet in a state in which it is possiable for a future to exist. Maybe no one will examine our ruins. What ever any future civilization think of us, I hope we are used as an example - an example of what not to be.
The other thing we saw today was a volcano, that had been exploited, a huge chuck quarried out of it. The idea of quarrying a volcano just sounds wrong to me, even one that last erupted 10,000 years ago. But that is a blink of an eye for a volcano. I think its important that we cannot tame volcanoes and earthquakes and I don't think dormant volcanos should be ignored, even extinct ones. We need to be reminded that there is a force bigger than us - if not for the planets sake, for our sake.
The architect who designed La Sagrada Familia - Gaudi - said that there was no greater architect that god, therefore La Sagrada Familia could not be built higher than montjuic. Taking the religous statement out of that, the message is a valid one - we can't out do nature and the natural forces of the world.
After inspecting my water bottle it turns out that its a product of guess who - thats right Coca-Cola (what are the chances?).

Barcelona, Catalonia and Europe

Day 1 - Monday

The day started with a cycle tour around barcelona which was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be.
It was a good way to explore parts of the city - so long as you don't run anyone over or get run over yourself.
It was interesting to find out that st. George is also the paitron saint of catalyunia - so due to this dragons feature heavily in the architexture of the old town.
The zoo and the parliment building are in the same park - an interesting mix

The differances between mediterranean europe and the UK are still striking - you think I'd have notice the difference before now as although this is my first time in spain, i've been to the med a few times. Is the tiny bit of sea between us and france really big enough to cause such a cultural gap? I don't think it is. So what makes us so estranged - do we belong to europe, because britons talk of visiting europe (implying that they do not view themselves as european).

However dispite the difference there are issues that catalonia has faced that the UK can relate to. For example spanish is not a language, saying spanish is like saying we speak british. Spain in the eyes of the spanish is as much one country as the UK. Catalonia has a vibe that it gives off that is very similar to the vibe of independance that wales gives off.

It just shows that issues can be the same dispite all other differances. 

On a less philosophical note, I've been drinking water :o