This morning my head got turned by the frivolities of shopping. The plan was to go to a modern art gallery. However, we left the hotel and we ended up going past C&A, from that point I was lost to consumerism. Pete got me a great cardigan in the sales. I have never understood why it closed in the UK but over a hundred did just that in 2000.
The shopping bug had started,so then we ended up going in and out of shops.
Coming out of C&A we looked left and saw riot police. There looked to be a stand off but in reality as in the UK it was a ridiculous over reaction and just a show of power.
It took a moment to work out what it was about,striking Amazon workers who have now been on strike for 17 days because of the closure of the hub in Barcelona. In the papers a union spokesperson said:
The closure will affect 800 workers who have been offered new roles at two new sites, much further away from their original place of work in Barcelona. Amazon cannot treat workers like pawns to be moved around a board as if they have no community, no family, no home and no ties to where they live. One of the sites is in Zaragoza, 62 km away, and the other is in El Far d’Empordà, around 121 km away in the province of Girona.
Such a similar story as in the UK, any discussion with management coming to nothing.
We sniffed out a second hand shop,Humana. Not only was it full to the brim with all sorts but there was a 40% sale. I got a tunic top -with pockets! As I say on our eBay site – what’s not to love. I got Pete some groovy in, trousers.
Walking round so more glimpses into Barcelona’s Roman history.
One thing we noticed as we were ambling around, a lot of white English loud men.
Completely disorientated we ended up at the wrong art gallery. We had found the MACBA not the MOCO – they sounded the same. We had a picnic outside, definitely a trendy part of the city, lots of bare chests, tattoos and skateboarding going on.
It was interesting so it wasn’t such a bad mistake.
Outside the gallery is a 30 metre blood red mural by Keith Haring to raised awareness about AIDS and HIV, made in the 80s.
Painting freehand, Haring took 5 hours to complete the mural which terminates with his signature and the message Todos Juntos Podemos Parar el SIDA (together we can stop AIDS).
It turns out that after walking what seemed like miles this gallery was actually only 5 minutes from our hotel!
Behind the reception are two jars full of sweets – very tempting.
Good because they are behind the receptionist and so no shame as we get a few before we go up escalator.
After a break we headed out to see a band, but I got it all wrong and there weren’t any tickets left. It wasn’t all bad as we listened to a guitarist in a local Brazilian bar. The barmaid chatted to us and said she had lived in Hull when completing her Oceanography PHD.
Some more tapas:
It became apparent as we walked the even streets that the loud white men were increasing – it had completely passed us by that there was an upcoming football match between Manchester United and Barcelona. It was horrible, the changing,the shouting and what felt very intimidating.
Took refuge in the Absinthe bar that was close by.
Random Acts of Travelling 