Sunday, December 28, 2008

Spain Trip - Part 3

Ain't Gettin' in No Glass Elevator, Fool.

Living in north England, I don't see too many buildings with more than three storeys. This is where my fear of heights may come from. As you can see, Benidorm has a lot of tall buildings, probably nowhere as tall as ones you might find in New York or Tokyo. But they're tall enough for this vertigo sufferer.

The boats in the harbour give a sense of perspective. Just looking up at the rooftops made me feel dizzy. Is it possible to get vertigo from gazing upwards? I think so, though this was the first time I'd experienced it.

The one advantage of talls buildings is that you get a good view, at least for the brief period you dare look out of the window. My hotel room certainly had a view, it had a view of lots of concrete. The water in the pool had the same appeal as an ice bath, thus, nobody ever went in it. Why bother when you can walk in the sea without the slightest chill. And the view is better.

Spain is a deeply religious country and there are beautiful looking little churches everywhere. This religious culture might go some way toward explaining why the Spanish are so hard-working. And they certainly are hard-working; they never once complain about anything during their extremely long working day and night. I couldn't help but think that both the Church of England and the RC Churches in England have not done much to accomodate the expanding population in England, and maybe this is why Christianity is failing here; the churhes don't have the capacity for the township. Well, that and there's a stuffiness associated with some churches. I'm sure that, even if God does exists, he wouldn't mind people turning up to Church in torn work jeans and paint spattered t-shirts.

6 comments:

Michael Ogden said...

"...the churches don't have the capacity for the township." Or maybe the time-strapped people of the township don't have the capacity to be bossed around by yet another set of authorities.

RC666 said...

You can get dizzy looking up, I experienced it the first time I went to New York! I had seen tall buildings before in Chicago, but there just aren't as many as NYC.

Yeah church clothes are kind of funny, well I think churches are too. But I do like a lot of the older ones arcitecture.

PBS said...

Beautiful photos! It's fun to travel and to get away for a bit. Happy New Year to you!

dan said...

mike,interesting. i think how we manage time has changed a lot, and the people/places we tend to spend time with have changed also.

rc666, i'm glad i'm not alone in going dizzy at looking up. i like old buildings too. no matter what they are.

pbs, all the best to you too. it's a shame travel is getting so expensive. maybe i should start hitchiking again.

Anonymous said...

There are two reasons for not looking up when among tall buildings in New York City.
One, if you're not holding onto something, you will tip over. Really.
Two, if you are seen looking up at tall buildings to experience the sensation of tipping over, you look like a tourist, and immediately are descended upon by pickpockets.
Really.
And never stop to watch a three card monte.

dan said...

leslie, i always stick out like a sore thumb anyway. may as well have tourist tattoed on my head. as for three card monte, i know all the tricks and would never get involved in it. incidentally, they had the three shell and pea game in benidorm, until a policeman was in sight.