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.
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.
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