France/Spain 2011 - Day 8, Part 1 - Monastery of San Juan de la Peña

"I love the power women have. I think women rule the world because they rule men. Manipulating men -- that's our job. That's what we're on the planet for" - Isla Fisher

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Once again, I find myself with a familiar problem - I will be unable to finish my travelogue before flying off again in mid-January. So I will try and finish the March France/Spain chronicles before moving on to the August Australia tales.

France/Spain 2011
Day 7 - 23rd March - Monastery of San Juan de la Peña (Part 1)


Jaca street

We then drove to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña y Monte Oroel, composed of 2 monasteries - the Old (lower) Monastery and the New (upper) Monastery. Which was incidentally also on the Route to Santiago.


Map of area


Upper Monastery, 17th century


Front


Carved portals


This is why Spain loves the EU - money to build visitors' centres

The presentation of the area was rather strange, with us looking downwards at ghostly (white plaster has that effect) mock scenes, turning us into voyeurs. I surmise that this was the lower layer of the monastery and we were standing on the upper layer - but since everything was in Spanish I had no way of finding out.


One scene


Another

Then we got to be on the same level as the ruins.


Bodega (Warehouse)




The signs pointed us out through a door marked "Emergency Exit"


Escalera (Staircase - ???)




Baking bread


I assume he's a carpenter. He looks like a monkey - maybe it is a representation of childhood illness which hit people in the Middle Ages hard


Hnnng...


Information on the Hospital

We then went down to the lower monastery, partially carved into the rock, which despite being older was ironically in better condition (at least compared to the old parts of the upper monastery).


Swarmed by a Spanish tour group


Monks' bedroom


On the monastery


Courtyard


Mural


High Church of San Juan


More explications


"A reproduction of the Holy Grail, which was said to have been kept in the Monastery to protect it against Muslim invasions"


Noble Pantheon, with tombs of nobility


Arch to what should be the Royal Pantheon




Interior of Royal Pantheon


More information


Archway


12th century Romanesque cloisters


Cloisters from back

Some of the more impressive capitals with Bible scenes:


Jesus forgiving the adulterer


Lazarus


An angel wakes a sleeping Joseph


Valley the monastery looks out over


Valley panorama


Valley

We didn't have time to see small villages. They might be picturesque but once you've seen one you've seen them all. More importantly we had to hit our hotel by 6pm so we had to cheong.

We then stopped for lunch in some roadside restaurant.

They were out of Judias Verdes (Green Beans).


This was called macaroni but was really penne-like pasta with pork


Fish soup


This should be menestra. It translates as stew but this was very dry


Rabbit


This should be lamb chops
We also had pork chops but they looked like the lamb chops

As you can see, the Spanish cook their fries like the British cook their chips, albeit in a different shape and crispier. About the most that can be said about this approach is the fries seem fresher.


House flan, rice pudding with milk, natilla con galleta (translated as Cookie Custard)

This all cost 12,5€ per person. Lunch in Spain is cheap, with their set menus.

After lunch I beheld a city upon a hill


Town on a hill (Berdún)


Fork

At one part there was a nice lake and a ruined tower on a hill, but everyone else in the car was sleeping so no one could take a photo for me.

We pulled into Pamplona for a short while, but even the city centre was quite boring. Either that or I read the "city centre" sign wrongly. In any case we had 3 hours to travel almost 300km to the hotel with the ridiculous 6pm checkin time. So we continued on.


This should be a street sign in Pamplona. I don't know why I took


Sign in Basque! A sign that we had entered a different part of Spain.


Snack we had: tortilla with cheese and ham


Cute road safety sign
They also had "Attention: use engine brake" signs in 6 languages - Spanish, Basque, French, English, what I thought was Portuguese and Arabic. I was impressed, considering how unfriendly to non-Spanish languages Spain was.

A road sign said Paris was nearer than Santiago (our ultimate destination). w00t.


I don't know how the Spanish can be full eating tapas for dinner. Then again maybe it's because lunch is so big, they have no space for a proper dinner.

Virtually everywhere closes for lunch. Damn Spain.

Progress.

A comment I saw:

"Gay haters should all be torched alive, to death. Gay people don't kill, cause harm nor wreck havoc like how some psycho straights do."

Previously quoted:

"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things." - Russell Baker

"Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices." - Laurence J. Peter

The more things change...

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein (attr)

***

Reinstalling dictatorship ... 99% complete ███████████████████████████░ #egypt #nov20 #tahrir #army


Orange Revolution against Viktor Yanukovych, 2004


Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister of Ukraine 2006-7 and President of Ukraine since 2010


Egypt: clashes in Tahrir Square for third straight day

"On Sunday, police and military forces used batons, tear gas and birdshot to clear the central square of thousands of protesters demanding the ruling military cede power to a civilian authority.

Morgue officials said 13 people died on Sunday and two people on Saturday, sparking fears of disruptions to the November 28 legislative elections, the first since a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak in February.

Protesters fear the army is intent on maintaining some degree of power through a set of supra constitutional principles it plans to impose on the next parliament, who will be tasked with drafting the country's charter"

Shark's fin soup-eat without guilt

"There is no greater importance in all the world like knowing you are right and that the wave of the world is wrong, yet the wave crashes upon you." - Norman Mailer

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Shark Finning: Shark's fin soup-eat without guilt
By Giam Choo Hoo, For The Straits Times

"REPORTS which attribute shark decimation to the consumption of shark's fin soup show that Western activists have succeeded in convincing the public that sharks are killed for their fins only, and that all fins are cruelly cut off while the sharks are still alive.

They paint a distorted picture. There is no reason to be ashamed when ordering the popular soup at a restaurant.

Sharks are caught in virtually all parts of the world - by fishermen in poor countries and by large fishing fleets from developed countries. No state has banned shark fishing and only a few have set limits in certain areas. Indeed, some members of the European Union are catching, consuming and trading sharks on a big scale.

The Shark Alliance points out that 'Spain, Portugal, the UK and France are among the world's top 20 shark-fishing nations that are responsible for 80 per cent of the global catch'.

Despite the strongly declared objectives of the Fisheries Commission in Brussels, there are very few restrictions on fishing for sharks in European waters.

The meat of dogfishes, smoothhounds, catsharks, skates and rays is in high demand by European consumers. The situation in Canada and the United States is similar: The blue shark is sought after as a sport fish while the porbeagle, mako and spiny dogfish are part of the commercial fishery. Other species are caught, either targeted or as by-catch that is unintentional or incidental, during fishing operations.

It is a serious problem in most European countries. Fishing fleets targeting tuna and swordfish take substantial numbers of high-sea sharks . Nonetheless, sharks are not as endangered as other wildlife, for example, the sturgeon, which is sought after for caviar.

There are over 400 species of sharks, and to claim they are on the verge of extinction is to make a sweeping but inaccurate generalisation equivalent to claiming that all birds are endangered.

The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES) lists only three sharks in its Appendix II. The consumption and trade of species in this category is subject to certification. The three are the basking shark, the great white shark and the whale shark.

The remaining 397 shark species are not classified at all and can be freely traded and caught.

Fins are by-products of the fishing industry. Though they are valuable, sharks are not normally killed for their fins. A fishing fleet specialising in catching sharks only for their fins would quickly go out of business.

The perception that it is common practice to kill sharks for only their fins - and to cut them off whilst the sharks are still alive - is wrong. No one denies that such cruelty exists. The footage of 'live-finning' has been shown all over the world.

However, these sensational pictures obscure the fact that many within the industry are against such practices. The vast majority of fins in the market are taken from sharks after their death. This is the preliminary finding of a review made with the assistance of shark experts, fishermen, captains of big fishing ships and representatives of fishery departments, the fishing industry, fish markets and fishing ports.

The barbaric practice of 'live-finning' is done by some long-line fishing boats, principally targeting tuna. When they get the less valuable sharks in their hooks, they cut the fins and throw the sharks into the water to make room for tuna. This deplorable practice is outlawed in many countries.

The anti-fin group has misrepresented the facts. By aggressively flooding print, TV and Internet media with selective images, they have portrayed an untruth: that all fins are derived from 'live-finning'. Their aim? They want shark's fin soup to be shunned.

The truth is this: Sharks will continue to be caught and killed on a wide scale by the more organised and sophisticated fishing nations. Targeting shark's fin soup will not stop this accidental catch.

The fins from these catches will be thrown away or turned into animal feed and fertilisers if shark's fin soup is shunned. The practice to salvage and sell the sharks' fins gives value to discards from the fishing industry of the world, benefiting both poor and rich countries .

I am not an advocate for greater consumption of shark's fin soup. I am saying that it is not a shameful culture.

The writer is a member of the Cites Animals Committee and a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, England."

(This is an article from 2006)

"Will fight giant monsters for food"

He said only he got it because it was cute

Australia 2011 - Day 4: Pictures from MR

"One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done." - Marie Curie

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Here are more pictures MR took that captured a side of the day I didn't manage to:


Flight to Alice Springs


Our rental car


'Jim's Place' - Stuarts Well Roadhouse


Emu at Stuarts Well Roadhouse


Our gritty license plate


Watermelons in scrub


Desolate wilderness: 'You see that tree over there? Run over there and touch it!'


"Fasten Your Seat Belt" in 4 languages


Sign warning us that there're speed cameras in the bushes


A 5 minute commentary from me to kill time and entertain ourselves:

"If you think it is very sian to drive 5 hours from Alice Springs Airport to Uluru, there are worse fates out there. For example just now at the counter at the deli, there was this Malaysian Girl who was on Working Holiday. So imagine she has to be here for at least one month. And you don't even have handphone reception. How sad is that? So sad...

When you're on Working Holiday you do low-paid, boring jobs that the locals don't want to do.

So there was the aborigine family that was trying to start their car just now... I don't think they managed to get the car started did they?... Good for them...

Wait I think that was the [aborigine] family from just now... You just saw the family from just now. I was going to u-turn but then there's another group which I hope will give attention. Us being stupid Asian tourists we don't know what to do... and it looks like - yes, he has attention. I feel less guilty now. Wait, no, the vehicle just disappeared over the horizon.

Err, should we go back?... I don't know what we can do... Okay nevermind. This is a very trafficked road so hopefully someone will come and help them...

Hopefully our car won't break down... In Hertz we trust"


Footprints in the sand


Ayer's Rock


Watching Ayer's Rock sunset


Various starry sky shots - some by me, some by MR
The nice white cloud you see could be another galaxy, but that seems improbable
Oddly though I rested the camera on the ground, the shots with 10s and up of exposure were blur - microtremors (I stopped scurrying away before the shutter flicked, so it wasn't me)? I thought it might be twinkling stars but the streaks were not characteristic of twinkling.

"It is what's on the inside that counts."

As I pointed out to someone, the small carrot is a lot sweeter and more tender.

Links - 20th November 2011

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." - Oscar Wilde

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Greg Mankiw's Blog: Educating Oligarchs - "Paul is making an implicit assumption--that the return to education is deterministic. If indeed a year of schooling guaranteed you precisely a 10 percent increase in earnings, then there is no way increasing education by a few years could move you from the middle class to the top 1 percent. But it may be better to think of the return to education as stochastic. Education not only increases the average income a person will earn, but it also changes the entire distribution of possible life outcomes"

I Was Wrong, and So Are You - "Under the right circumstances, conservatives and libertarians were as likely as anyone on the left to give wrong answers to economic questions. The proper inference from our work is not that one group is more enlightened, or less. It’s that “myside bias”—the tendency to judge a statement according to how conveniently it fits with one’s settled position—is pervasive among all of America’s political groups... More than 30 percent of my libertarian compatriots (and more than 40 percent of conservatives), for instance, disagreed with the statement “A dollar means more to a poor person than it does to a rich person”—c’mon, people!—versus just 4 percent among progressives... Consistently, the more a statement challenged a group’s position, the worse the group did... the fact that a college education showed almost no effect—at least for those inclined to take such a survey—strongly suggests that the classroom is no great corrective for myside bias. At least when it comes to public-policy issues, the corrective value of professional academic experience might be doubted as well"

Housing chief admits demoting Christian to protect award from gay charity - "A housing association that demoted a manager for speaking out on gay marriage has admitted that it feared losing a coveted award from a gay charity. Father-of-two Adrian Smith, 54, was found guilty of misconduct and had his salary slashed by £14,000 after saying on his private Facebook page that same-sex weddings in churches would be ‘an equality too far’... Gay activist Mr Tatchell said: ‘Mr Smith was not threatening or intimidating. In a democratic society, he has a right to express his point of view, even if it is misguided and wrong"

The Other Myth Busters
Men think about sex only twice as often as women (i.e. once per hour)

Bulk Homeopathy - "Learn the secret that Big Alt Med doesn't want you to know! You can acquire high volumes of homeopathic remedies at a tiny fraction of the cost by bypassing an expensive and unnecessary process. Traditionally, the tedious process involves taking a substance, diluting it with distilled water, pouring most of it out, and diluting it again many times until the substance has been completely washed away. Why bother with such an expensive and unnecessary process when the end product is the same. And to any naysayers, I challenge you to tell the difference in a double-blind test"

Men Victimized By Facebook Data Theft More Than Women - "Women tend to be more cautious on Facebook than men... Men are more likely than women to:
- Accept friendship requests from strangers;
- Announce their location;
- Ignore privacy settings;
- Leave their account searchable to all, and
- Avoid reading privacy policies on social networks...
When a photo of a hot-looking woman accompanies a friend request, men are likely to click the “confirm” button, whereas the opposite rarely happens"

PETA targets Mario over raccoon suit - "According to a PETA website titled "Mario Kills Tanooki," the character's outfit "is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur""

The Fixed Price Paradox: Conflicting Effects of “All-You-Can-Eat” Pricing - "Does the fixed price a person pays for an unlimited service, such as an all-you-can-eat buffet, influence how much is consumed and the perceived quality of the experience? We show that when a person’s choice is conditioned on them selecting a fixed price plan, their desire to get a “good deal,” can lead them to eat more and possibly enjoy it less. A study is reported in which decreasing the fixed price of a zero marginal cost good also decreased its consumption. Specifically, when the price of an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant was discounted by 50%, customers who were randomly given the discount ate fewer pieces of pizza (2.95 vs. 4.09) than those who had not been given the discount. Price level should have no impact on how much of an unlimited resource is consumed or on one’s perceived quality of the pizza. Thus we provide evidence of the sunk cost fallacy in a food consumption context."

Students plan ambush for pervert-stalker - "A group of students ambushed a stalker who has been harassing a fellow undergrad for a year... The man arrived at about 4.30pm and texted the girl, "I'm here. I'm wearing a polo t-shirt and blue uncle shorts." (He was actually wearing a blue polo tee and shorts)... The students swiftly alerted the school's security officers and the police to nab the man. However, when the police arrived, an officer only asked the man some questions before letting him go. The students were left puzzled as they were hoping the police will arrest the man for his acts of harassment. It is understood that the police will not be pursuing this case"
I am very surprised by the outcome of this case. It seems some police officers have some sense, after all (IIRC harassment is a civil case, not criminal, and besides a warning could suffice)

Why Millennial Women Are Burning Out At Work By 30 - "Men are twice as likely as women to advance at each career transition stage. One rationale is that men are more likely than women to do things that help their personal wellbeing at work, thus negating burnout, according to the Captivate Network. Men are 25% more likely to take breaks throughout the day for personal activities, 7% more likely to take a walk, 5% more likely to go out to lunch, and 35% more likely to take breaks “just to relax.” It seems relaxation is something Millennial women have never experienced. One reason that women are burning out early in their careers is that they have simply reached their breaking point after spending their childhoods developing well-rounded resumes. “These women worked like crazy in school, and in college, and then they get into the workforce and they are exhausted”... "These students are totally unprepared for the real world. The reality for women who want to work in PR is that they are going to be working with 24 catty [women] who will backstab and compete with them. No one will say thank you. You will eat lunch at 5 p.m. It sucks and it’s hard work""
More non-discrimination-related reasons why women are lagging behind in the workplace

Long history- Bangkok, hub of sex tourism - Sex tourism is vital for Thailand... Sex is the lifeline of Bangkok's economy... "the global economic downturn has taken a toll on the thriving sex industry in Bangkok. The impact is so huge that bars have been forced to launch promotional schemes to woo customers, and sex workers are offering service at a much subsidised rates"

Parasites drove human genetic variation

Congress Reaps Pizza Harvest - "Tuesday, by act of Congress, pizza was declared a vegetable. The Spending Bill before our elected officials contained an Agriculture Department provision recognizing that school kids are dangerously obese, and that subsidizing school lunches of frozen pizza and french fries is unwise and unhealthy. The Congressional response: a slice of pizza = a serving of vegetables."

Bald eagles by Charles Glatzer - Amazing Pics

Dh300 fine for falling asleep on Dubai Metro - "Penalty for dozing off on Dubai Metro more severe than carrying weapons"

mrbrown: L'infantile terrible of Singapore: Bye bye Rochor Centre - "First it was Bukit Brown, now it's Rochor Centre. Singapore: No space for the old and living, no space for the dead and buried. But always time for more highways. For cars that have become increasingly out of reach for most of us."

The Psychology of Sunk Cost - "In a field study, customers who had initially paid more for a season subscription to a theater series attended more plays during the next 6 months, presumably because of their higher sunk cost in the season tickets. Several questionnaire studies corroborated and extended this finding. It is found that those who had incurred a sunk cost inflated their estimate of how likely a project was to succeed compared to the estimates of the same project by those who had not incurred a sunk cost... The sunk cost effect was not lessened by having taken prior courses in economics."

Sex zone plan leaves Taiwanese cold - ""Punishing the clients is worse than punishing us because the clients will not come for fear of being caught and fined and we won't be able to make a living"... Some women's rights groups oppose the government plan for fear that red-light districts would breed more crime and human smuggling. "We cannot eliminate the sex trade but we can reduce its scale. It is wrong to legalise prostitution which exploits and discriminates against women," said Chi Hui-jung, head of The Garden of Hope Foundation. Chi said the central government should have passed a law punishing only those who buy sex services"

Am I Wearing Pants? - "Every day girls around the world unwittingly leave the house without pants on. Confused at the difference between jeggings and jeans, seduced by the comfort of stretchy leggings—we've all seen victims of GLHP (Girls Leaving the House Pantsless) Syndrome. Am I Wearing Pants? is a self-check guide for girls to help end the see through clothing, visible panty line, camel toe nightmare."

St Paul's staff having to clean up human waste INSIDE the cathedral as protestors 'use it as a latrine' - "Meanwhile, vandals have spray painted '666' next to the main entrance.The provocative 'number of the beast' was daubed in silver paint on a wall to the left-hand side of the Christopher Wren masterpiece"
"Poppy sellers were branded 'baby killers' by anti-capitalist protestors outside St Paul's."

How most Shark's Fin is harvested nowadays

(followup on previous post: On why the Shark's Fin Industry needs PR help)