No Toro, Más Dinero

Plaza de toros de las Arenas (en su máximo esplendor)., originally uploaded by xip.

Sometime next year Barcelona will have its last scheduled bull fight. The city once was home to three bullrings, Plaza de el Torin (demolished), Plaza de las Arenas (closed in 1977), and the Plaza de Toros Monumental

These massive stadiums were designed for the "national spectacle" of bullfighting. However, many Catalans consider bullfighting a tradition that is "too Spanish." The Monumental has announced that it will hold the last scheduled bullfight in the city sometime next year.

Architect Richard Rogers has signed on to a 100 Million Euro project to transform the dilapadated Plaza de las Arenas bullring into a shopping destination. Catalans and tourists alike can now shop for shoes and CDs on the very soil where matadors and bulls danced to the death.

Sri Pada, Adam's Peak

Shadow, originally uploaded by MaxxG.

No other mountain in the world is revered by as many different religions as Sri Pada. It is known as Al Rohoun to Arabs, Svargarohanam to Tamils, and Adam's Peak to English speakers. Even before Bhuddists arrived at Sri Pada (or any part of Sri Lanka, the island south of the Indian peninsula) the mountain had religious significance. An ancient and mysterious footprint was carved into rock near the mountain's peak. Abrahamic religions interpreted this as Adam's footprint, Bhuddists see it as a mark left by Bhudda himself during one of his many journeys to Sri Lanka.

Thirty miles of tiny islands seperate Sri Lanka from India. While geologists, oceanogaphers, and historians cannot agree on the age of the formation, most agree that it is a man-made structure. Hindus call it Rama's Bridge after the popular epic hero of Hinduism. Westerners typically refer to it as Adam's Bridge in order to tie together the region's religious metaphors. The water is typically shallow between these limestone islands (rarely greater than 30 feet) - this would presumably have aided human movement between India and Sri Lanka.

The Indian government has started a dredging project through the narrow and shallow strait. Although people have opposed the project on religious and environmental grounds their objections fell on deaf ears. It is officially known as the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project.

Retracing the footsteps of Alexander

This BBC documentary attempts to follow in the "Footsteps of Alexander" (the Great, as he is known in the West). You can watch the entire thing on YouTube.

The two "webisodes" above highlight Alexander's truly earth-changing force. The island city of Tyre resisted his authority in 332 BC. Alexander ordered his army to build a causeway from the mainland to the Phonecian city (in modern Lebanon). The earthworks took seven months but had the desired effect. Alexander took over the city and essentially attached it to the shore. The 6/10 mile long road collected silt from sea currents and transformed the island city into a peninsular city.

Another video in this series discusses the Egyptian city of Alexandria far more eloquently than I can. Many cities throughout the Middle East and Central Asia bear his name. This map shows where a few of them are located.

A Tale of Two Monuments

spire, originally uploaded by Peanut99.

The wedge on the right part of that photo is not an errant needle. It is the Dublin Spire, officially known as the "Monument of Light." At 400 feet tall this stainless steel spike punctures the skyline of a mostly horizontal city.

What is truly spectacular about the Spire is that it stands on the site of Nelson's Pillar. An IRA bomb demolished the top part of the Pillar in 1966 - nobody was hurt or killed by the blast. In fact, many Irish seemed happy that the monument to their British colonial past had suffered such a blow. Several folk-style songs, such as Up Went Nelson, commended the bombers and quickly rose to the top of the Irish radio.

One early morning in the year of 'sixty six,
A band of Irish laddies were knocking up some tricks,
They thought Horatio Nelson had over stayed a mite,
So they helped him on his way with some sticks of gelignite.

While the Spire has its own share of detractors, it is not nearly as unpopular as its predecessor. There is no "visitors center" or other means of interpretation on the site. A coil of metal at street-level is said to signify prehistoric Celtic megaliths. Beyond that the site is entirely void of description. As Witold Rybczynski says, the Spire "gains its power from its engineering, rather than from symbolism."

Rule of the East

Vladivostok Station., originally uploaded by chimpsonfilm.

The Vladivostok Terminal of the Trans Siberian Railway is an elegant structure. It is eight time zones and several days' journey away from it's opposite terminus.