The term "bubble" is very apt on college campuses. At school in DC everyone but politics majors are likely to forget about the intense political climate surrounding them. As a student studying abroad, that disconnect is heightened by the fact that most news here is in another language. Current events reach the masses through free publications like the "Express" or "Metro" or "Red Eye". One such periodical in Barcelona is called "20 Minutos", claiming triumphantly that anything they have that's worth reading can be absorbed in 20 minutes.
Most of the news from home is negative. Economy. War. Now when Yahoo! news blips inform me of these troubles, it comes as the only connection I have with home. Barcelona is full of other foreigners: Brits, South Americans, North Africans, and a sizeable amount of American college students. We are here as a stop over, four months of our lives. They are here for any amount of time- most for as long as they can make a living here. Do they seek out news from home? Family definately but what connection do they have with their old countries? Do they hold pride for their former countries? Seems so. Here in this cafe there are plenty of Pakistanis, some calling home, some talking to each other in what I suppose is Urdu. For them national news from home probably revolves around war and conflict (I hope not). Maybe thats the only part of their lives western media cares about.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
This week is a traveling week. Right now I´m in internet cafe in Madrid (and the time is running low). Madrid is a nice city, but I definately prefer Barcelona. The museums have been impressive, both architecturally and in terms of the collections. I finally saw Guernica in person. Next stop is Cordoba
Monday, February 2, 2009
Zaragoza
I spent almost all of the weekend at Zaragoza, leaving Friday morning and returning Sunday evening. The train there was a nice express, two hours total. The train back was another story. It was a local, stopping at more than five stations (I slept through the rest). That train looked like it had been commissioned in the late 60s, and was well past its prime (full of character).
Friday started out sleepily, with fog blanketing most of the city. By 1 o'clock the fog had lifted, leaving a slight haze over the city. The old city stands where the Roman forum once stood. There is a museum in front of the Cathedral dedicated to the ruins of the Roman Forum. Below the plaza is an excavated portion of walls and corridors, with an accompanying movie that was entirely in Spanish. The Cathedral was once a Mosque, and like many others, was converted to a Catholic house of God after the Reconquest of Spain transferred power from the Moors to the Spanish. The Cathedral is filled with ten side chapels, each of which had its own unique and opulent full height entry. I snuck in a few photos, but couldn't get a good shot of these entry ways.
The focus of the plaza is the Basilica del Pilar. It's built on the site of a appearance by the Virgin Mary in the 1st century. Various shrines were built around the pilar on which Mary appeared. No mater what ended up happening to the surrounding structures, the pilar survived. The current church was started around 1675, and is immense. About 15 major spires rise from the church, joined by many other smaller ones. From the exterior, from the right angle, the many mosaic covered domes almost resembles St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (not for long).
The rest of the city was filled with many small surprises. An excavated Roman theater sits within the urban fabric, next to one of the many small, intimate squares that dot the old city. The IberCaja Bank sponsors a few free art museums throughout the city, and the Museum of Zaragoza has an impressive collection of Goya's paintings, including a number of his dream (or nightmarish) illustrations. This museum ended up being the most expensive at three euro (after student discount).
Zaragoza held the 2008 World Expo, the permanant installations of which were a definate point of interest. The hostel had bike rentals available for one euro an hour. The river, which happened to be at a very high flood stage, had a bike trail and river walk on either side. Expo instalations extend the city north of the River Ebro. The Expo is long over, however, and the future plans for the buildings have yet to go into effect. The 'Disney World on an off day' feel was prevalent, but so were the photo ops.
Sunday brought with it a 2:45 train and a last chance to catch up on sights (the Zaragoza Museum with Goya). The final visit of the trip was to the Palacio de la Aljaferia. The palace started as a Moorish outpost, a fortress with interior courtyards and a small mosque (a mini Alhambra). Now it's the seat of government for Aragon (the state that Zaragoza is in).
I highly recommend a trip out there, and three days seemed sufficient. There are enough attractions to occupy someone for a week if need be. There were friendly people at the hostel, american girls from Madrid and two frenchies from Lille. The Madrid girls took a bus, and the frenchies took a plane. I slept fine on the train.
Friday started out sleepily, with fog blanketing most of the city. By 1 o'clock the fog had lifted, leaving a slight haze over the city. The old city stands where the Roman forum once stood. There is a museum in front of the Cathedral dedicated to the ruins of the Roman Forum. Below the plaza is an excavated portion of walls and corridors, with an accompanying movie that was entirely in Spanish. The Cathedral was once a Mosque, and like many others, was converted to a Catholic house of God after the Reconquest of Spain transferred power from the Moors to the Spanish. The Cathedral is filled with ten side chapels, each of which had its own unique and opulent full height entry. I snuck in a few photos, but couldn't get a good shot of these entry ways.
The focus of the plaza is the Basilica del Pilar. It's built on the site of a appearance by the Virgin Mary in the 1st century. Various shrines were built around the pilar on which Mary appeared. No mater what ended up happening to the surrounding structures, the pilar survived. The current church was started around 1675, and is immense. About 15 major spires rise from the church, joined by many other smaller ones. From the exterior, from the right angle, the many mosaic covered domes almost resembles St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (not for long).
The rest of the city was filled with many small surprises. An excavated Roman theater sits within the urban fabric, next to one of the many small, intimate squares that dot the old city. The IberCaja Bank sponsors a few free art museums throughout the city, and the Museum of Zaragoza has an impressive collection of Goya's paintings, including a number of his dream (or nightmarish) illustrations. This museum ended up being the most expensive at three euro (after student discount).
Zaragoza held the 2008 World Expo, the permanant installations of which were a definate point of interest. The hostel had bike rentals available for one euro an hour. The river, which happened to be at a very high flood stage, had a bike trail and river walk on either side. Expo instalations extend the city north of the River Ebro. The Expo is long over, however, and the future plans for the buildings have yet to go into effect. The 'Disney World on an off day' feel was prevalent, but so were the photo ops.
Sunday brought with it a 2:45 train and a last chance to catch up on sights (the Zaragoza Museum with Goya). The final visit of the trip was to the Palacio de la Aljaferia. The palace started as a Moorish outpost, a fortress with interior courtyards and a small mosque (a mini Alhambra). Now it's the seat of government for Aragon (the state that Zaragoza is in).
I highly recommend a trip out there, and three days seemed sufficient. There are enough attractions to occupy someone for a week if need be. There were friendly people at the hostel, american girls from Madrid and two frenchies from Lille. The Madrid girls took a bus, and the frenchies took a plane. I slept fine on the train.
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