I came down to the bar, my favorite place in the hotel, only to find it had been invaded by AMERICANS. I can’t believe it. Herein lies the problem with hotels except in the most remote locales, of which Barcelona is not one.
However, our anti-Trump pins are a HUGE hit. Several Americans have even commented on how much they like them and wish they had one. The bellman made me promise I’d send him one. Sadly I brought a bunch but, naturally can’t find them mixed in with the dog food, makeup, art supplies, pet immigration papers, underwear, sunscreen and all the rest of the crap that occupies three suitcases. At breakfast some (here comes a stereotype) Bubba came up to me, the first American I’d recognized in the hotel until today’s onslaught, and said “So you don’t like Trump”. I replied I wasn’t able to put my true feelings on the button”. He said “well he’s the President now, so what are you going to do for the next four years.” I said, “resist every way possible.” He walked away.
I won’t lie. I love having the last word. It’s a sickness, but it’s one of many so there you go. I don’t claim to be perfect so it’s a tremendous load off my back. That’s the wonder of age. Liberating you from the “what will people think.” I guess I’m like Trump in that way. Maybe it’s the six degree thing.
Today we went to the Sagrada Familia, considered Gaudi’s Magnus Opus; a fantastic neo-Gothic masterpiece and the most visited monument in Spain. For good reason. It is everything people said and more. A blow your head off, mind boggling piece of architecture. Nothing like I’ve ever seen before or could’ve ever imagined. The genius of it took my breath away. Gaudi, its creator and practitioner of Catalan modernism never lived to see it completed since after 133 years later it is just nearing completion. He died in 1926 shortly after being struck and killed by a street car.
I admit I have a LOT of problems with churches. Not because I’m an atheist and a Jew and think religion is the cause of most of the problems in the world, BUT I can’t stop thinking about the amount of money and human labor that went into creating these extraordinary structures while the people themselves, most likely even many of the very workers who built the damn (oops) things, lived in poverty. Religion, no matter what religion, always trumps (excuse the pun) the human condition. So while I appreciate the beauty and the remarkable artistry and skill that went into its creation of places like Sagrada or the Cathedral or Notre Dame, I’m always ambivalent about visiting them. At some point, in every trip, I draw a no more churches line. This Jew has seen more churches in her life than she ever imagined even existed.
The other thing that REALLY gets pisses me off is PAYING MONEY to go into a church. I never paid to go into a Mosque or Synagogue. I’m getting off this subject because the hypocrisy of it all is enough to make me want to hurl myself off our balcony. And what the hell! Why should I let religion ruin my life just because it’s ruined the world?!
I’m going to try and ease up on exclamation points, but no promises.
One last thing about Christianity. How the hell did Mary get written out of the narrative. Typically, once the son is out of the picture, the mother becomes a non-entity. Think about it. Whatever happened to her? Did she marry? Have other kids? Convert to Islam?
No big surprise that the talk of the town is France. Hurray! Down with the pig woman Le Pen!!! The thought of going to France had she won, would’ve been such a MAJOR downer. Listening to the discourse around the election, how the European press discusses it vs. how the US press deals with our political situation is like the Paris Review vs. Mad Magazine.
The feeling in Barcelona is light and happy. The weather is gorgeous. After a delicious dinner of paella and a couple glasses of Cava, I’m listening to opera in the square below our room. An atheist’s idea of heaven.
